Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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8. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the recent announcement by Israel that it intends to build nearly 300 new homes in the West Bank; his views on the way this will impact upon peace efforts in the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23349/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I dealt in my earlier reply with the issue of settlement products as one response to the continuing destructive impact of settlements. Labelling of settlement goods, and possibly at a future stage a ban on settlement goods, can send a strong political and moral message. As I have stated before, however, we should not focus disproportionately on this one aspect. The key issue is the very existence of these settlements and their continual expansion. Every settlement expansion makes more difficult the issues which have to be resolved to achieve peace, and undermines belief that Israel is serious about a solution. Settlements are now also very close to making a Palestinian state, and thus a two state solution, physically impossible to achieve.

Specific settlement announcements can be misleading and the same proposal can be announced repeatedly at different stages in the planning process. The 300 units referred to by the Deputy were first announced last year to accommodate and supposedly compensate settlers who were finally obliged by a Supreme Court order to leave an illegal settlement outpost. The contrast between this case and the treatment of a Palestinian family evicted because the house they have lived in for 40 years did not have planning permission is striking and eloquent.

The tempo of settlement announcements has clearly quickened, however, in the past year or more, and the timing of many of these strongly suggests that they were intended to hinder efforts in the peace process.

With our EU partners, we are working on a range of issues and measures relating to settlements, including evictions and dispossessions, planning rules and master plans in Area C, water and other infrastructure issues, and the treatment of Bedouins and other vulnerable people. This is an area to which I will continue to pay the closest attention.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Tánaiste for that answer and welcome the sentiments in it. He said he would be in favour of a ban but said it is unlikely the European majority would row in behind that. I agree with the Tánaiste on that given there would be many large states in Europe that are not as neutral as Ireland. We have always prided ourselves on our neutrality and I wonder if the Tánaiste has considered the idea of expressing our sovereignty by going alone on this. The Tánaiste said he did not think it would be necessarily a great idea but it would emphasise our neutrality in the strongest manner.

It was interesting to see the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem concluding that most of the 167 Palestinians killed last November when Israel was bombing Gaza were civilians and that Israeli forces acted contrary to the laws of war. The reported missile attacks on Syria are also contrary to the laws of war and I wonder if the Tánaiste has expressed his disapproval of Israeli encroachments on Syria and if he has discussed this matter with the Israeli Ambassador.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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On goods from settlement areas, I do not think there is a realistic prospect of agreement on an EU-wide ban on settlement products. It is for that reason that I have concentrated our efforts on securing a labelling regime, and we are making progress on that at EU level. I hope it will be possible to agree a Europe-wide labelling arrangement. I am in discussions with other Departments about how such a labelling regime would operate in practice in Ireland.

The Deputy raised the issue of Gaza. We have continued to keep an international focus on the continuing problems of Gaza. While there was some easing of the blockade in recent years, it is far too little to allow the Gaza Strip to resume normal life. Economic activity remains almost moribund, leaving the population dependent on humanitarian assistance and smuggling controlled by militant groups.

We have made it clear, both to Israel and internationally, that the continuing restrictions in Gaza have no security justification and are unjust and counterproductive. I was glad to see some further easing of restrictions at the end of last year following the brief, but intensive, exchange of firing in November. These related to practical issues such as fishing limits and access to farmland near the border fence. They were small but important steps and they need to be developed and extended further. It is disappointing that some of these have been reversed after recent rocket firing from Gaza.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Has the Tánaiste expressed his disapproval with the Israeli ambassador to the incursions into the Syria? Even if the Israelis do not admit to those, would he strongly express the Government's disapproval of any future incursions that might be made into Syria by the Israeli military?

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Am I correct in stating that 16,000 new settlement units have been either announced or approved over the past two years? Two days ago, there was a young Palestinian man in here. He came from Beit Ummar. He spoke in terms of the problems being encountered by his family and community between Hebron and Bethlehem. He was asking for help, and what the Irish people can do for his situation. He spoke of their fruit trees being cut down, of the difficulty encountered by those who go in to buy the fruit and to ship it to the market, and of raw sewage being poured over their crops. He stated that this was the norm in that part of the region. That should not be the norm in any part of the world. I would say the people in Israel would be as horrified as people anywhere else in the world at that. What is going on is not right for the Palestinians; it is not right for the Israeli people. Would the Tánaiste agree there is an onus on Ireland as an independent country to raise its voice in support of those suffering under this type of arrangement?

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Israel has not acknowledged or claimed responsibility for the military attacks on Syria. It is believed that Israel is responsible. It is also believed that it may be due to the movement of weapons to Hezbollah which, in turn, would be used against Israel. As I have stated, the further militarisation of the conflict in Syria, including militarisation by the intervention by other states in a military fashion, should not be happening.

On the issue of what, at a practical level, we do to help with what Deputy Crowe described graphically, the big effort that we are making as a state is ensuring that this issue is not forgotten. There are so many different conflicts taking place, including conflicts in that region, that there is always a danger that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the requirements of the Middle East peace process drops down the list of priorities and the political agenda. I see it as my responsibility as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure that the issue does not slip down the political agenda or the order of priorities within the European Union. We have worked, probably more than most, to keep that issue alive, to keep an EU focus on the necessity to work for a peace settlement, to highlight the illegality of the settlements and to keep a strong European Union focus on it, and we will continue to do that. As I stated earlier, I hope that we will discuss the issue fully at the June Foreign Affairs Council and by that stage, I would also hope that some further progress would have been made in efforts to get serious peace negotiations under way.