Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Relatedly, did the Taoiseach raise with Keir Starmer the need to stop arms exports to Israel? Britain is a major arms supplier to Israel. Five days before the Taoiseach's meeting, the British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, announced the suspension of only 30 export licences out of 350 to Israel. He was at pains to emphasise that this was not an arms embargo and that the point was "in no way to punish Israel". He claimed that Israel must have the so-called right to defend itself. The vast majority of people in this country would certainly agree that Israel has gone many light years past any point of defending itself. It is massacring tens of thousands of innocent people across Gaza. It is now invading Lebanon, shooting children in the head, stripping people naked, lining them up, throwing them into mass graves, using chemical weapons against UN peacekeepers and burning people alive. It is carrying out a holocaust. Did the Taoiseach ask Keir Starmer to stop all arms exports to the genocidal Israeli state? Did he back out of raising it as he did with President Biden?

Deputy Barry used an appropriate turn of phrase when he spoke about the postdated cheques being written by the Government. One of those postdated cheques relates to the occupied territories Bill, which has been before the Houses of the Oireachtas for six years now. A statement just out from the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs states that a review of the occupied territories Bill will be commenced, giving people the hope that this may actually be implemented, but not until after the election. Does the Taoiseach really expect people to believe that?

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