Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Two weeks ago, during the pre-European Council statements, six Opposition Deputies raised the situation in Palestine and in his closing remarks, the Minister of State did not mention Palestine once. He completely ignored six Opposition Deputies. Will he do the same today in his closing remarks? Will he just stick to the script?

I just listened to Deputy Haughey. The Government is talking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to Palestine. We hear really strong words with absolutely no action. The international community and particularly the European Union need to act in a responsible way about Israeli aggression and oppression and must defend the rights of the Palestinian people. Ireland must lead the way. The Government must now move to recognise the state of Palestine formally. My colleague, Deputy Carthy, raised this last week during Leaders' Questions with the Tánaiste. He responded by saying that there is a strong argument to join forces with other European partners and collectively recognise the state of Palestine. I want to ask about the strong collective voice the Tánaiste was talking about last week.

I went through the reports of the European Council's conclusions. I did not see one mention of recognising the state of Palestine. How will Ireland join forces with other European countries and recognise the state of Palestine if it is not even being discussed? Dialogue is key in this. Ireland is absolutely failing every time we go to the European Council by ignoring Opposition Deputies. There have been some strong words from Government party Members but no action. This needs to be put on the table immediately. At the next European Council, they need to have that conversation and see where it goes.

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