Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Recent comments from the EU Commission stating that the EU will move to importing natural gas from Israel to reduce the EU's dependency on Russian gas are demoralising. It has to be made clear at the next European Council meeting that one cannot replace dependency on one rogue state with dependency on another rogue state, the other rogue state being apartheid Israel. The Government is opposed to using gas from Russia because Russia annexes and occupies Ukrainian territory, but it wants us to replace it with gas from Israel, which annexes and occupies Palestinian territory. Where is the consistency in this? Again, Israel is getting a free hit.

During her recent trip to Israel, Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU and Israel are bound to be friends and allies. Israel is a state that operates a cruel system of apartheid that is completely at odds with the values of the European Union. Israel should not be welcomed as a friend and ally. We must ensure that the EU stands up for freedom and justice and does not cosy up to apartheid states such as Israel. Ireland must lead the way on this. It must let its voice be heard. It must lean forward and take a risk. This gas comes from an apartheid, terror state that steals Palestinian land and executes journalists, women and children with impunity. That seems to be okay for this Irish Government. It will condemn, but there will be no consequences.

To follow up on the comments of my colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, the British Government's decision to extradite Mr. Julian Assange to America to face the rest of his life in prison is disgraceful. Julian Assange is being extradited to the US not because he committed a crime, but because he exposed a crime. Nobody should be imprisoned for shining a light into dark corners. Julian Assange should be freed, not thrown to the wolves, which is what is happening now.

The Helms-Burton Act introduced by the United States has been causing hardship for Cubans for decades. It has had a crippling effect on how Ireland and the EU support trade and solidarity with Cuba. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has spoken out on the Irish position on the US embargo of Cuba. He said: "[Fundamentally,] Ireland believes that the [US] embargo [on Cuba] serves no constructive purpose and that its lifting would facilitate an opening of Cuba's economy, to the benefit of its people." These are important words, and I commend the Minister on calling it out as it is. However, we have to see continued pressure from the EU and the US to bring an easing and eventual end of this brutal embargo. I commend the members of the Cuba Solidarity Forum Ireland, who have been securing medical supplies and personally transporting them to hospitals in Cuba. In recent weeks, I read how the children's transplant waiting lists in Cuba were growing longer due to the Helms-Burton Act. The tactic of the US is one of the most cruel and inhumane possible. We must see an end to the blocking of sales of medical supplies from Ireland and EU member states to Cuba.

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