Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 151, 152, 195 and 238 together.

Ensuring the safe exit from Gaza of all Irish citizens who wish to leave, and their accompanying dependants, has been a priority of the Government and my Department since the outbreak of the current crisis. For the past seven weeks, officials at Ireland's embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, our representative office in Ramallah and our consulate directorate in Ireland have been in daily contact with Irish citizens in Gaza to provide them with consular assistance and support. As soon as a clear process was put in place by the relevant authorities for the exit of foreign and dual nationals from Gaza, my Department and I worked tirelessly to facilitate the necessary clearance by the relevant authorities for Irish citizens together with dependent family members accompanying them.

I spoke by phone with foreign ministers from across the region and I visited the region particularly to meet the foreign ministers of Israel and Egypt. The Israeli authorities are the authority with influence in terms of the clearing list. I want to pay tribute to the ambassadors in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah for the work they have done. The first group of 23 Irish citizens came out on 15 November, during my visit. To date, we have secured the exit of 56 Irish citizens and accompanying dependants from Gaza. I met a group of them last Friday and asked them to share their experiences with me. I learned of the horrors they experienced in the context of the war.

Our embassy in Cairo has been present on the ground at the Rafah crossing to receive Irish citizens as they enter Egypt, and to facilitate their onward travel to Ireland. A multi-agency response, co-ordinated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has been put in place to manage the arrival, reception and support of citizens and dependants in Ireland.

As I said, I met a group last Friday. I was deeply moved by their stories. I am conscious of the devastating losses many of them have suffered. One citizen lost his wife, mother and brother. We managed to get his two children out. It is a very sad situation. We always have to be conscious of that. There were others present who still have family in Gaza. We continue to pursue those cases with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. A small number of Irish citizens remain in Gaza. We will work consistently with the authorities in those cases. In my previous reply, I outlined the consular responsibilities. Both authorities made it very clear from the beginning that it would only be Irish citizens and their immediate dependants who would be allowed to leave. We have some Irish visa holders in Gaza. We will facilitate these people if we can persuade authorities to allow them to exit Gaza. In collaboration with the Department of Justice, we have provided dependants with emergency documentation to facilitate their exit from Gaza also. We will continue to work to see if we can get others on the list and get them out of Gaza. We have to work with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. They have their systems and processes and that is the nature of how we engage on the matter.

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