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

These are the Tánaiste's words:

Children are starving. Basic painkilling medicine cannot be accessed. Hospitals are being bombed and the scale of death and destruction in Gaza is almost unimaginable. It is certainly unconscionable. Famine is a real risk for many Gazans and children are even dying as we speak ... We cannot and will not stand idly by and let this happen.

These are the Tánaiste's words, but standing by is exactly what the Government is doing regarding the thousands of tonnes of weaponry flown through Irish sovereign airspace since October 2023 to the Israeli military, namely, F-35 combat jet components, munitions from Lockheed Martin and IMI Systems, missile launchers, Smith and Wesson handguns, ammunition primer, detonator, detonating fuses and teargas. I could go on. Multiple airlines are doing it repeatedly, namely, Lufthansa, Delta Airlines, FedEx, Challenge, Silk Way Airlines and EL AL. They are flown without permission from the Irish State. It is a criminal offence which carries a three-year prison sentence for the owner or hirer of the aircraft. The Tánaiste is not just turning a blind eye to it; he is gaslighting us about it. He told the Dáil last June that "no ... Irish sovereign airspace is being used to transport weapons to the conflict in the Middle East." Last Friday, on "The Late Late Show", the Tánaiste said he does not believe that Irish skies are being used to transport weapons to Israel. Now he tells the Dáil that it is hard to have the level of knowledge that we need to have about these flights.

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