Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thought the Tánaiste's contribution was poor but then the Minister of State finished his contribution with the statement that while the Government will not oppose the motion, nor will it support it. That can only be described as some form of Schrödinger's cowardice. It was outrageous. The motion tabled by the Social Democrats speaks of our obligations under the Genocide Convention, particularly Article 1, and I want to be very clear about what that article states. It states that all state parties have an obligation not only to punish but to prevent genocide. You cannot prevent genocide after the fact when people have been massacred and all memory has been erased. This is why we, as signatories, are in contradiction of our obligations.

What we heard from the Government today, or from the Ministers who showed up, is its contentment with being the least worst. All the false indignation in the world and all the accusations against the Opposition that we are playing politics does not separate us from that. We have acknowledged that the rhetoric of the Government and State has stood out because the bar was so low. There is no glory in that, however, and there never will be.

The Tánaiste pointed at us today and said we should ask the Palestinian officials because they think we are great. In the darkest cave, people will seek the smallest glimmer of light but do not ask me to be grateful for it. That was an outrageous contribution. We and Sinn Féin were told we were playing politics because we simply offered time to allow the Government, of which Fianna Fáil is a member, to progress a Bill that the party brought to the Dáil six years ago. For doing so, we are accused of playing politics rather than being collaborative.

We were told there was no time for the amendments needed to the occupied territories Bill to be constructed. The Tánaiste said the ICJ judgment in July changed the legal context of the Bill. That is fine, and I absolutely accept that. However, it was only in October that the Tánaiste instructed his officials to look at where those amendments might be needed. He said earlier that some of the signatories of the Bill accepted that substantial amendments were needed. I was at the meeting of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on Tuesday, and that was not what Senator Black and her team said. They very clearly stated that when the Bill that Senator Black brought to the Seanad and Fianna Fáil brought to the Dáil was being developed, it was to be brought to the committee and some amendments could be made. They said they already had some legal arguments regarding amendments and should they be needed, they could have been progressed quickly. However, the Tánaiste sat on the ICJ judgment since July before bringing the Bill back in October for nothing more than a conversation. Now we are being told that it is all very complicated and we would not understand it, so we will have to do it at some point in the future. It is absolutely shocking.

The Minister of State said we did not refer to the fact that Ireland intends to align itself with South Africa's case before the ICJ, as if we were somehow overlooking that. That is not the case. When South Africa made its case to the International Court of Justice, we specifically said that we should not wait to align ourselves but should submit our own case and add weight to the case. South Africa's case is built on rhetoric. It is built on the genocidal statements of Israeli officials. That is what they are debating at the moment. We could have added weight by submitting our own case based on any number of things, including famine, which is so important to the Irish tradition. We could have added huge weight by bringing a case based on famine.

What about a case built on large-scale munitions being used in an urban environment, a concept that is a foreign affairs achievement of the Irish Government? Instead, we are going to wait until some undefined point at the end of this year to submit our actions. All the while, buildings are being blown up and children are starving. All we offer is rhetoric and the Palestinian people are supposed to be grateful to the Irish State. It is horrific.

Then the Government tells us that we recognise Palestine. The line the Tánaiste used in his speech was incredible. He said: "The timing ... was carefully calibrated with other partners to build momentum." We recognised the Palestinian State, while at the same time Gaza was being obliterated. At that point, over 30,000 people, including women and children, had been killed, mosques, hospitals and centres of education were being bombed and all memory was being wiped out, and we put a flag up saying "Now we recognise you." Ten years after the case and four years after Government had provided for it in the programme for Government, yet we are supposed to ask Palestinians to be grateful. It is horrific.

I reiterate that our obligations under the Genocide Convention are to act to prevent genocide. We talked of complicity today and of not willing to be complicit in a genocide that is being carried out on the people of Gaza by Israel. The Tánaiste pushed back and said that was outrageous and that the Government was not complicit. We are complicit when planes carrying munitions fly through sovereign Irish airspace and we turn our gaze away. I have heard the Government condemn more the journalists who broke the story than the transport companies breaking the rules. That is extraordinary.

I do not accept for a second the Government not recognising that a genocide is taking place and not supporting us. The people in Gaza are being obliterated. We are watching it being filmed live. They do not have time to wait for undefined periods in the future when we can be brave or courageous. We are a small state. I accept we are limited in what we can do but the Genocide Convention has more than 140 signatories. That means some of us can stand up collectively, call it for what it is and be braver. At this point, we have failed in our obligations and the Irish Government has failed in its duties. It wants to be praised because the bar is so low. I do not think we will do that. Words no longer matter. About six months ago, the Taoiseach said "You cannot build peace on the ... graves of children". Those graves have increased in number in the time we offered words and nothing else.

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