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

We will propose an amendment to People before Profit's motion tonight in which we will call on the House to deeply deplore the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the death of more than 11,000 people, almost half of whom were children, as a consequence of Israel's military actions in Gaza, condemn the barbaric acts on 7 October by Hamas in Israel and specifically condemn the killing of children and civilians.

We will raise our very deep concerns about violence in the West Bank, in particular settler violence against Palestinians. We note that an investigation is being carried out by the prosecutor of the ICC. We also note the additional funding that we have provided for the ICC, and add to our call for all hostages to be released.

While the Deputy is very welcome to put down his motion, it does not mention, at all, Hamas or the human rights abuses committed against Israeli citizens. We think that is an omission. That is why we cannot support the motion and why we have put down our own one. We do not believe what happened in Israel - the killing of 1,200 people, the killing of children and the taking of hostages - is so insignificant that it does not merit even a line in the motion. That is why we are not going to support it and why we have put down a countermotion which we think is more balanced. I hope, even if the Deputy cannot vote for it on the first vote, that he will at least vote for it on the second vote.

In relation to Shannon Airport, under the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly and land in the State require diplomatic clearance from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. This is subject to strict conditions with full respect to Ireland's policy of military neutrality, including that the aircraft is unarmed, that it carries no arms, ammunition or explosives, that it does not engage in intelligence gathering and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation. The policy is well known and fully understood by the United States and other international partners, and is done in compliance with Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality.

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