Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I am aware of those discussions and we will always keep all that under active consideration. I believe, as I know the Deputy does, in multilateralism, and the world has never needed that more. At a time when it is under attack from many quarters, it is important that Ireland take every opportunity to demonstrate our support for multilateralism, the work of the UN and the UN General Assembly while also putting our money where our mouth is in practically providing additional funding to the work of the UN and its agencies.

To try to find a ray of hope after an extraordinarily grim, dark, horrific time, with genocide taking place in our world and man-made famine, we now have a fragile ceasefire. It is no more than that, but we have seen hostages released, we have seen aid flowing, we have a New York declaration, we have a majority of members of the European Union now recognising a State of Palestine and we have a peace plan. Yes, it may be President Trump's peace plan but it is backed by Arab nations, many of which share our views on the future of Palestine.

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