Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

I thank everybody for contributing today. All of their contributions have been genuinely heartfelt and reflect the established opinion in Ireland for quite some time, which is the opinion of the Irish Government, too.

It is a year ago to the day that the Government took a very important decision to recognise the State of Palestine. The decision was taken in the spirit of peace, in the spirit of keeping hope alive and in the spirit of believing - we have always believed this and were the first county to propose it - that a two-state solution is the only way for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace and security.

As outlined by Deputies across the political spectrum, Government and Opposition, over the course of the debate, the situation is one of horror. It is tragic and unacceptable for the people of Gaza and the West Bank and it has deteriorated considerably since we recognised Palestine. The House is united in our collective outrage at the scenes we continue to witness every single day of innocent civilians being bombed out of their homes, of children starving and of people fleeing their homes time after time.

On behalf of the Government, I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion today. Every Deputy has spoken sincerely. As I said last week, the Opposition is entitled to criticise, call for more or say we have not done enough, but there is sincerity on behalf of the Government and its backbenchers, and sincerity and genuineness in the leadership Ireland has shown on the international stage on this issue. We are united on the fundamental view of the conflict. We all unequivocally condemn the terror attacks by Hamas and other terrorist organisations against Israel on 7 October 2023. We unequivocally condemn the taking of hostages and we have consistently called, and still call today, for the release of all hostages. Let us be clear that Hamas is not the future for the Palestinian people. It offers no future.

We have consistently called for all parties to return to talks aimed at immediately agreeing a ceasefire and hostage release deal. We have called for a massive, unimpeded scale-up of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles. The Taoiseach has been one of the strongest voices on the global political stage on this matter. The UN and other humanitarian organisations must be enabled to work independently and to do their job. We reject proposals to distribute aid that do not conform with humanitarian principles or that undermine the UN or other humanitarian partners. Ireland has, both bilaterally and multilaterally, including yesterday while I was at the General Affairs Council, called on Israel to comply with international law while stressing the universal applicability of international law, including humanitarian law, and the Government fully concurs with the sentiment of the Labour Party’s motion in this regard. We will double down on our calls. We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to hold Israel to account.

It is for these reasons the Government is not opposing the motion. The motion raises issues that are already being addressed by existing initiatives at United Nations level, including by Ireland. Indeed, some of the initiatives are taking place within the framework of the uniting for peace Resolution 377. For example, there is already an emergency special session dedicated to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. This is the tenth emergency special session, which was established in 1997 under the uniting for peace resolution, the same one to which the motion refers. At the resumed tenth emergency session in October 2023, Ireland was among the first countries in the world to call for a ceasefire. Our leadership contributed to momentum towards the eventual call by the General Assembly for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority in December 2023. At the resumed session in May 2024, shortly before we, along with Spain and Norway, recognised the State of Palestine, Ireland strongly supported a resolution to upgrade Palestine’s rights at the UN as an observer state. Ireland urged the Security Council to give favourable consideration to Palestine’s request for full membership.

This Government and our diplomats, on behalf of all of us, are currently playing a leading role in the preparations for the UN high-level international conference for the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of a two-state solution. This includes the Government supporting the conference co-chairs, France and Saudi Arabia, by acting as co-chair, with Türkiye, of one of eight working groups at the conference. The overall aim of the conference is to forge a pathway towards a sustainable peace in a comprehensive manner. This will be an important moment for the international community to come together, demonstrate the political will to implement the two-state solution and bring an end to the current cycle of violence. Our focus is on preparations for the conference, as is the focus of Palestine at the moment and like-minded partners.

We are also working in other international forums on initiatives aimed at addressing the situation in the Middle East, including through the international courts. In this regard, Ireland filed a declaration of intervention at the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention in January.

We know that the policies of the Israeli Government, and nobody else, have led to a looming famine in Gaza. We have witnessed innumerable breaches of international law and international humanitarian law and we have called them out. We respect the authority of the ICJ on the matter and await the outcome of the South African case.

We are using all of the diplomatic channels available to us in response to the situation in Palestine. As has been mentioned, last week, a majority of EU foreign ministers - not all, but enough - called on the EU to conduct a review of the EU-Israel association agreement. This is important because it reflects the grave concerns held by member states regarding the ongoing war by Israel, the blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and the horror at seeing this. Ireland, together with Spain, called for this last year when the then Taoiseach and the Spanish Prime Minister wrote to the President of the European Commission requesting an urgent review of whether Israel was complying with its human rights obligations. At the time, we were the only ones. Last Tuesday, a clear majority of member states voiced their support for such a review. To Deputy Heneghan, who stated that this was what we should be doing, this is a strong example of what we have been doing in various forums at various levels. We have been clear-eyed in our assessment of the facts and regarding our objectives. It speaks for itself that steps being taken now by Ireland and international partners were proposed by Ireland months ago. That includes the recognition of the State of Palestine on which other countries have followed suit. There may be others to come.

Ireland unequivocally supports the right of the State of Israel to exist. From what I am seeing in its media, certainly not all of the Israeli people support what is happening. There are many who are extremely critical within Israeli society. We have also unequivocally supported the right of the State of Palestine to exist. This was not always the norm. We want the Palestinian people to have peaceful self-determination. Some 12 months after Ireland recognised the State of Palestine, we see the question of recognition again at the centre of the international debate. Malta is going to do it and others may as well. Despite our small size, Ireland has not been afraid to speak out loudly or to take action. Deputies O'Donoghue and McGrath mentioned other conflicts. People are killed in the six figures in Sudan and Ireland has been really strong on that as well in terms of humanitarian aid and on using diplomatic initiatives. We are not afraid to take action on these global issues that we are appalled by.

We are leading the way in terms of domestic legislation. The Government has agreed to bring forward the occupied territories Bill, which is coming, and it will work with Members across the House as the Bill advances to pre-legislative scrutiny stage in the coming weeks. The horrific scenes we continue to see cut across politics, including party politics. The world is appalled by what it is seeing. The House is united in its desire to find a lasting political solution. The world does see that the Irish Government is one of the strongest supporters in the western world of the people of Palestine, of the State of Palestine and of the two-state solution. That is simply a fact. I have no problem with the Opposition telling us we need to do more but I reject the idea, which I heard once here today, that somehow the Government is complicit in this. It is not the case. There were media reports only last month that Benjamin Netanyahu did not fly over Irish airspace because he feared arrest. Among the biggest critics of the Irish Government's response to this has been the Israeli Government. The ambassador was recalled after we recognised the State of Palestine. While there will always be politics in Dáil Éireann, we are doing a huge amount. We will absolutely continue to take pressure from the Opposition and all of that but I am proud of the work the Government has done.

We want Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace and security through the two-state solution. To put it bluntly, we need peace, we need food, we need humanitarian assistance and we need to see the war end. We need to see urgent humanitarian aid at scale into and throughout Gaza and we need to see the release of all hostages. We need to see a pathway to a political process that can lead to a solution to the conflict that has gone on too long and for which the people are paying too high a price. Ireland will continue to use all the political, legal, diplomatic and humanitarian tools at our disposal towards these goals. The Irish people support these goals.

I again thank the Labour Party for tabling the motion. I look forward to continued co-operation between the Government and Deputies as we strive to secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

See this speech in context