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

Going back to the court case, states that consider they have a legal basis for intervention in the ICJ must seek the court's permission to intervene. This is typically done in all cases. Nothing new is happening here. It is typically done after the court has made any provisional measures orders. The court is now saying it will deliver that tomorrow. What are the provisional measures South Africa has sought? It has sought an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access, both of which we agree with. We agree with everything South Africa has sought from the court in terms of provisional measures. We have been seeking these in advance. Then South Africa has to file a memorial, which is the substantive case. We anticipate it will share that with us. That will provide us with the basis to legally intervene. The court is not a political chamber. It is not a debating chamber. It is about arguments that speak to the convention and enable us to actually successfully prosecute a case at the convention. That is the distinction we are making and that is exactly what we did. Ireland intervened in Ukraine's refutation of Russia's allegation of genocide against Ukraine five months after the provisional hearing was provided. I am extremely concerned about what is going on. I have already called out announcements by two Israeli government ministers that I believed were genocidal in their content in terms of calling for displacement of Palestinians and the elimination of Palestinians from Gaza.

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