Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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99. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will meet with the Irish activists who were on board the Sumud and Thousand Madleen vessels of the freedom flotilla to Gaza to discuss their experiences, and the urgent need for a sustained ceasefire and full humanitarian access to Gaza; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57135/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Ba mhaith liom labhairt faoi rud éigin atá i mbéal an phobail agus is é sin go raibh go leor daoine ó Éirinn a bhí sa turas ar an flotilla go dtí Gaza, where the Israeli Government illegally captured us all in international waters, completely broke international law and obtained Irish citizens. I am in a group chat with many of these Irish citizens and they would love to meet the Tánaiste to discuss this and the current, very delicate ceasefire, which I have heard him talk about. Will the Tánaiste be willing to meet these Irish citizens, who left their mothers, fathers and sons and daughters to risk themselves to break an illegal siege?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Heneghan. I am really pleased that all of the Irish citizens detained following their participation on the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition have now returned home. I thank them, and the Deputy as part of that flotilla, for what they did to highlight the horrific humanitarian catastrophe, the genocide and the famine in Gaza. It takes guts. It was an act of courage by a well-meaning, peaceful global citizens who posed no threat whatsoever to Israel. That is the very clear position. I also thank officials in my own Department, including our embassy team in Tel Aviv, led by our ambassador, Sonya McGuinness, working in conjunction with our international partners, because I know they put a lot of work into ensuring the release and the well-being of our citizens. The Deputy will be aware that my clear priority throughout this was to ensure the safety and well-being of Irish citizens. As such, officials from across my Department, including our embassy teams in Tel Aviv, Amman, Istanbul and Ankara, provided all possible and appropriate consular assistance to all of those affected. I also thank those involved in the flotilla who acted as liaison points with my Department. I had an opportunity to meet some of them and some of the families who were gathered in the Gallery here. I and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, met them at a time of great worry and anxiety.

As I have repeatedly stated and will restate this evening, I understand that the peaceful efforts of all those on board reflect an absolutely understandable human desire by many people around the world to urgently address the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza. I am certainly happy in due course to meet people. I welcome that opportunity and I would perhaps suggest as a first step that my officials could meet with participants as well if that happens in a speedier manner. I will link with the Deputy's office in that regard.

In terms of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, I can assure the Deputy that this was at the centre of discussions at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg yesterday. We welcome the fragile ceasefire and the hostage release deal. Our focus now is on preserving the ceasefire and flooding Gaza with desperately needed humanitarian aid.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I welcome the fact that the Tánaiste spoke to me while I was on the flotilla and spoke to a Member of the other House, Senator Chris Andrews. I know that the Tánaiste and the Department over there and here did a lot of work.

The Irish media sometimes portrays this as our having been detained. We were not. We were illegally captured in international waters. We have international law protecting us. That clearly was not even taken into account by the Israeli Government.

On preserving the ceasefire, 45 UN experts called for the Uniting for Peace Resolution 377(V), part of the UN Charter, to be invoked on 5 September, before the UN General Assembly in New York, which the Tánaiste and the Minister of State attended. It will ensure lasting peace and can be enforced by the international military presence of the UN. What is unique about this is that it can be passed by a two-thirds majority of the UN members in an emergency special session of the General Assembly, outside of a Security Council. Other governments are calling for this and I urge the Irish Government to do the same.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have been very clear and reiterated again that I believe - we can call it whatever word we wish - the detention of our citizens was illegal. These were peaceful citizens who posed no threat or risk to Israel - quite the opposite, in fact. They were going there on a humanitarian mission. I reiterate my view on that, and I have discussed that view with others, including my Spanish counterpart, and have articulated it to many, including Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs. I will always give consideration to work we can do with others at the UN. We continue to look at that. Our priority at the moment is supporting the New York declaration. It is quite an important moment to have so many countries sign up to that and the implementation now and the delivery of it, which is all about a two-state solution and working with the very fragile and evolving peace plan.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I welcome that, and my office and Senator Andrews will definitely be in touch with the Tánaiste's officials about organising that.

Resolution 377(V)A of the UN Charter bypasses a veto and is brought by vote through the General Assembly, not the Security Council, so it avoids P5 members. It cannot be voted against. Members can only vote for it or abstain as it ensures peace and security. The Tánaiste has spoken about this before. It has been used in Korea. The UN needs to be able to avoid vetoes. If the UN can continuously be vetoed by one of the P5 members, that goes against the original reason the UN was set up, which was to prevent genocides and humanitarian catastrophes from occurring. I urge the Irish Government to join multiple other UN governments and officials who have called for the Uniting for Peace Resolution 377(V)A.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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.