Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

What is happening in Gaza is horrendous. The intentional killing of non-combatants, the collective punishment, the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure, forced displacement and the prohibition of access to food, fuel and water are illegal under international law. Any perpetrators should be stopped immediately and held accountable by all available means, but this is not what is happening. We have a situation where the EU is distorting Ireland's foreign policy at the moment. Ursula von der Leyen has distorted this policy significantly. Indeed, her latest pronouncements as she visited the United States of America were that she would stand shoulder to shoulder with the US position in relation to Gaza and Israel. The EU has just vetoed a resolution that basically looked for a pause in the fighting. Again, that distortion continues. Outsourcing foreign policy to the EU is a mistake. The Government counters this to say that the pooling of foreign policy with the EU significantly increases our voice. The latest crisis, however, has shown that this has actually distorted our voices. Where will the accountability lie in the context of Ursula von der Leyen's position and the distortion of our foreign policy?

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