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

I am just making the point it is open to countries to apply if there are United Nations training programmes. We do not get to decide who is or is not a member of the United Nations, although we can have a say in it if there are votes and so on.

To respond to Deputy Ó Snodaigh, again, the trade law is there with respect to public procurement and tendering. I certainly have reservations in respect of Israel generally in terms of the arms industry and procurement but there is the broader context of the UN, the OSCE and the European Union, and it is European Union law that we be fully merit based in procurement. I think it is a stretch to suggest that somehow any knowledge of how we use the UAVs would be subsequently used in an attack on Gaza. I do not think that is credible, to be frank, but there is a broader question of procurement from a country that is engaging in what we are very clear is an illegal occupation.

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