Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept the Deputy's assessment of the Government's response to the genocide in Gaza and the appalling carnage and slaughter of innocent children and civilians. It seems to me that from the get-go the Deputy's primary focus has been to drive a wedge between the Irish people and the Government as opposed to focusing on the atrocities themselves within Gaza and the responsibility of the Israeli Government in respect of those atrocities. The Deputy throws language about with a carelessness that is unacceptable, such as "complicit in this" and "complicit in that". This Government has taken initiatives on a whole range of fronts in respect of endeavouring to create leverage and pressure on Israel to stop the war, and also on Hamas to release all of the hostages, which should be done. The condition of those hostages now is quite shocking, but the slaughter of innocent children and the slaughter of residential units, housing, schools and health all point, as the UN commission has said, to genocidal behaviour.

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