Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)

I will begin by joining Deputy Gibney in welcoming her friends Bushra and Mohammed to the Chamber. Their presence here is really welcome and we hope they will be joined by Bushra's other children very shortly. I will also acknowledge the 22 citizens who are on board the flotilla heading for Gaza, two of whom are colleagues of ours. They are bringing medical supplies, including prosthetic legs. All of us across the Chamber who know the people on board are genuinely fearful of what might happen to them as a consequence because we know who they are facing.

Ireland's voice has stood out on Gaza precisely because the bar has been so low. In a sea of silence, or worse, complicity, Ireland has spoken at times with clarity and humanity. That is something we absolutely should be proud of. However, two years on, thousands upon thousands of people have taken to the streets of Ireland to demand that we turn those words into actions. There is still so much more we can do.

Across the European Union, too many member states have failed the test of conscience. Countries that define themselves by the principle of "never again" continue to block the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, even as evidence grows of genocide, of the war crimes we are witnessing every day and of collective punishment. Others are hiding behind process or empty declarations but the effect is the same; Europe has chosen trade and politics over human rights.

It was almost a year ago to the day when the Taoiseach came before the foreign affairs committee and promised us that the enactment of the occupied territories Bill would be one of the first acts of the Government should he be re-elected. That promise has not been fulfilled.

We are now presented with a US plan that is dressed up in the language of peace but which, in reality, entrenches injustices. It proposes outside control over Gaza, foreign overseers to manage reconstruction and an economic package without political rights. It speaks of stability but offers no genuine sovereignty, no pathway to Palestinian self-determination and no accountability for those who have unleashed devastation upon devastation upon its people. It is not a plan for peace. It is a plan to manage occupation under a new banner but, even still, we all hope for its success just so it can bring the genocide and slaughter to an end.

We should lead the call for the suspension of the EU trade agreement with Israel every single day. We should call for international law to be respected, continuously amplify calls for accountability at the International Criminal Court and stand against attempts by powerful states to repackage injustice as diplomacy. Ireland's voice matters because we know what it means to depend on law and not money. If the EU cannot or simply will not act and if the US proposes only management of the status quo, then Ireland must continue to insist that Palestinian lives are equal and that international law must mean something real now more than ever.

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