Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Israel and Palestine, the Government response is very clear. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, answered a number of questions in the House two weeks ago in his slot for questions on his portfolio. My view, and that of the Government, is that we favour a two-state solution. We are very clear that the aggression and the violence we have seen over the past number of weeks towards Palestine is totally unacceptable; especially at religious sites where the status quo should be respected, as should people's rights and their faith. That is an extremely serious situation. The Government has raised it on a number of occasions right around the world with all international actors. We really need to see a de-escalation and get it on the political horizon again to try to achieve peace. What is going on and what the Palestinian people are enduring now is very serious and is in no one's interest. I am not sure what more I can add. The Tánaiste has answered a number of questions in the House on this.

Regarding businesses and the US Inflation Reduction Act, at the outset we have to see what comes out of the legislation I referenced in my earlier remarks. If we can get a situation where it is very innovative, where there are impact assessments, where there is high-end green technology and where some subsidies are potentially needed, that is one marker. If it is wide-ranging and going to distort the Single Market, that is what we have to fight against. That is what we are fighting tooth and nail against. That is why, as we go around having bilateral meetings with our counterparts, we are building coalitions to ensure the interests of the smaller countries, which have smaller open economies and do not have the capacity to compete at that level, are protected. We then restart the focus on expanding the Single Market and reforming the services side of it. There are so many barriers to the passport of services right around the EU in the different member states - in insurance, as we all know, and in many other areas. We can also look at reforming the goods aspect of the Single Market. There is a huge amount of work to do in relation to that. Over the 30 years that has not been involved and I think we can really work on that.

On the approach to the Black Sea grain initiative being taken by other countries, I know from my EU colleagues that there were concerns over the quality of the produce coming in. However, we have raised the point that when one is talking about grain and food, that should not be the case and we will continue to do that. I will raise that and Deputy Howlin's remarks at my next meeting of the General Affairs Council.

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