Jim Higgins (Fine Gael)

I fully agree with Senators Ryan and Lydon that there is a need for a debate on Palestine. When Minister of State at the Department of Defence, I undertook two trips to south Lebanon where I witnessed at first hand the tremendous work of the Irish troops under the banner of the United Nations with UNIFIL. While I returned home with a great sense of pride, the visit left me with one of my most lasting memories. I was taken to the site of a shelter where over 120 women and children were the subject of an attack as deliberate as yesterday's. To see on a wall the blood of innocent women and children brings home forcefully the need for a debate in this House to discover if we can help to bring sanity to bear in a small and modest way. These circumstances are intolerable and they will escalate with consequences for everybody involved.