Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Brendan Smith mentioned the Dublin-Monaghan and Belturbet bombings. I concur with his remarks and want to reassure him we continue to raise the issue bilaterally and at Head of Government level and foreign minister level as well. A comprehensive review of the Belturbet bombing investigation was carried out by An Garda Síochána, which identified several lines of inquiry.

A senior investigating officer was appointed last year to lead the investigation and an incident room has been established at Ballyconnell Garda station. The investigation is open and active and any new information or evidence will be thoroughly investigated. I call on anyone who has information to make that available to the Garda authorities even at this very late date.

Deputies Barry, Paul Murphy, Boyd Barrett and others mentioned the right to protest. I believe in free speech, in freedom of assembly and in the right to engage in peaceful protest and any restriction on any of that needs to be rare and needs to be fully justifiable and warranted. It is not this Government's policy to ban or discourage pro-Palestinian marches, nor will we be doing so. The same applies to pro-Israeli marches. The same applies to marches that are just pro-peace. We will not be banning any national flags or any national symbols. That is our position. Other governments can make their own positions, of course. I have to say, however, I am concerned about rising anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world, some of it sparked by the events in the Middle East. That is not justified. I am concerned about rising Islamophobia as well. I am also concerned about what is, quite frankly, the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people in some of these debates because Palestinian lives matter as much as any other life, in my view.

In answer to Deputy Haughey's question, I cannot speak for Prime Minister Sunak but I believe he is committed to the Good Friday Agreement and wants to get the devolved institutions up and running again. I hope to have a chance to talk to him about that in the next few weeks as well.

On the legacy Act, we have received the legal advice from the Attorney General, AG, in relation to a possible inter-state case at the European Court of Human Rights. This is an essential contribution to our consideration as to whether or not we take a case or support a third-party case. We are studying that advice and considering the next steps, looking at all the implications of such a decision including the potential impact on the bilateral relationship, broader political and civic concerns in Northern Ireland and legacy issues among victims' groups and families. I stress that the initiation of an inter-state case would be a significant step, one which would have to be taken on solid grounds and not taken lightly. A decision has yet to be made.

Finally, I restate the very strong view of the Government that Israel has a right to defend itself but that has to be in accordance with international humanitarian law. Do people who are occupied have the right to resist that occupation? Of course they do. All over the world, people are occupied and resist occupation. Of course, they have the right to do that, but I think we all agree that what Hamas did on 7 October was not resisting occupation; it was a terrorist act.

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