Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

The are real fears about the danger facing Irish troops from Israeli forces. We still have flights carrying munitions through Irish airspace to arm a country that is pointing tanks at our troops and firing on UN positions. We recognised the State of Palestine and that was an important act of solidarity. The next step is to immediately pass the occupied territories Bill and ban all trade with illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. To trade with such a brutal system engaged in such blatant brutality makes us complicit in the murder of every child, woman and man in occupied Palestine. The Government has guillotined the planning Bill and is rushing through the Social Welfare Bill and the Finance Bill. Why can Government policy be rushed through but such haste is lacking when it comes to sanctioning illegal settlements by a state that is threatening our troops while targeting civilians in Lebanon and committing genocide in Gaza? Senator Frances Black has pointed out that the occupied territories Bill has been passed by the Seanad. Will the Government now allow a vote on the Bill in the Dáil and deal with it at the Business Committee tomorrow?

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