Results 6,121-6,140 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Official Engagements (5 Dec 2023)

Micheál Martin: The 'Triple Lock' provides that contingents of the Defence Forces may only be despatched for overseas peace support operations where that deployment is (i) approved by the Government, (ii) approved by a resolution of Dáil Éireann if the proposed deployment if of more than 12 personnel and (iii) that the operation is mandated or authorised by the United Nations As I indicated in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: Yes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: For clarity, UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted on 23 December 2016, calls on all states to distinguish in their relevant dealings between the territory of the state of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967. This resolution reflects the position already held by Ireland, the European Union and the UN for many years. Ireland regrets that the main text of the agreement does...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I take the Deputy's point. There is a genuine view in Germany in respect of its relationship with Israel that I would say transcends economic issues and is rooted in the historic position of the Holocaust and Germany's role in the Holocaust. Many current leaders, and, indeed, those before, including Chancellors Merkel and Scholz, from different ends of the political spectrum, would be clear...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: We do not do sanctions on our own. We do sanctions with the European Union and United Nations. We pursue those sanctions. At UN Security Council level, we secured an important clause to ensure that, in any sanction regimes, there would be a provision for humanitarian corridors in situations of dire humanitarian need. Our best role in the European Union is to bring about influence on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Meetings (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have witnessed very good progress on the EU issue and the membership application by Ukraine to join the European Union. Ukraine has made significant progress in fulfilling the key recommendations set out for it. In June 2022 candidate status was granted to Ukraine on the understanding that it would undertake reforms. On 8 November 2023, the European Commission published its annual...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Meetings (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: First, to speak to Deputy Devlin I condemn the use of cluster bombs. It is reprehensible and cluster munitions are shocking. They have terrible impacts on children and on families after the war. Ireland will help in any way we can to de-mine the battlefield. Deputy Griffin also made a very important point to maintain momentum in this war. This is a horrible war. Some 7 million...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: First, a trilateral memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt on co-operation relating to trade, transport and the export of natural gas to the European Union was signed by the European Commission on 15 June 2022. Ireland supports the agreement, which is a timely initiative that will strengthen energy security across the European Union. The legal framework for the EU-Israel...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan it was regrettable that Israel was not present at the Union for Mediterranean regional forum last Monday. I picked up a determined approach from the Arab states that were available and other states in terms of the need for a credible pathway to peace. Egypt and Jordan's foreign ministers in particular have been active on this and put a lot of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: Yes. I have said that repeatedly. That is a European Union position. There cannot be displacement of Palestinians. There cannot be reoccupation of Gaza by Israel. Europe agrees with that principle. The High Representative, Mr. Borrell, has made that point, but we believe there should be a Palestinian Authority in Gaza delivering services to Gazans, from medical health to education....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Meetings (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Kyiv was a crucial moment in this war and was a resolute demonstration that the future of Ukraine lies within the EU. This was the first Foreign Affairs Council to take place in such conditions, which reflects the special circumstances we are facing. Russia is showing no signs of relenting in its pursuit of a war of aggression against a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for their kind comments and appreciate their supportive comments. In response to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, EU member states are supportive of a two-state solution. The issue is how we follow through on it and give heft and a sense of urgency to bringing it about. Part of that will be pressure on the Israeli Government to move on what is happening in the West...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for their comments. I will certainly convey their compliments to the ambassadors in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah, who are still working hard and have worked very hard, and also to our team in headquarters, who co-ordinated it all and have maintained almost daily contact with our citizens. As I said earlier regarding the release of Emily Hand as a hostage, I think it is a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: In response to Deputy Haughey, we are very much working with other like-minded European Union member states to push for a roadmap to a two-state solution. We can never again allow this to happen and we can never again go back to a situation where, essentially, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is put on the backburner. There has to be very proactive international diplomatic and political...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 153, 156, 157, 178, 184 and 215 together. I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I have been engaging intensively with EU, regional and international partners since the beginning of this crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. During all of these engagements, I have conveyed the same message: there is an urgent need for a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 151, 152, 195 and 238 together. Ensuring the safe exit from Gaza of all Irish citizens who wish to leave, and their accompanying dependants, has been a priority of the Government and my Department since the outbreak of the current crisis. For the past seven weeks, officials at Ireland's embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, our representative office in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. Ireland remains committed to advancing a peaceful and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis based on a two-state solution in line with the agreed parameters and international law. Our central focus right now is on a durable humanitarian ceasefire. The international community must bring all of our collective weight to bear to secure that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is, and we are doing it. Israel did not attend the meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean Regional Forum, which is composed of EU member states and regional partners. The sole topic of discussion was the Middle East and the war in Gaza. With like-minded EU member states, we are pushing hard to get a credible pathway to peace, one that involves a two-state solution. That is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: We are. It is the entire focus of our diplomatic endeavours. In my work and the work of the Taoiseach and the rest of the Government, we have tried in the first instance to work with other EU member states to push towards a permanent cessation of the war. It cannot be said often enough how savage the Hamas atrocity at the outset of this war was. It had an impact on the Israeli psyche...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I want all the violence to end. That is why I went to Israel. It was not only to help to get Irish citizens out of Gaza, who at that stage had not left. It was also to speak directly with the Israeli Government and say we believe a humanitarian ceasefire is the only way and to put our point of view. We also went to other states and to Ramallah in the West Bank as well. Members of Deputy...