Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to make a statement to the House on developments in the Middle East peace process. The process has reached a critical point and I know there is concern, and some unease, at recent events and their implications.

The search for a lasting and peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has for many years been a central concern of Irish foreign policy under successive Governments. We are consistently active on the issue in the European Union and at the United Nations. This will not change in the difficult weeks and months ahead. Despite the often dramatic developments since the start of the year, the basis of our policy approach remains clear and unchanged.

The Government and its partners in the EU are convinced that the only route to a just and lasting settlement is through the negotiation of a mutually acceptable two-state solution. This must lead to the coexistence of two viable, sovereign and independent states with agreed international borders. The EU should stay actively engaged, with a clear and balanced approach. We will work to promote an environment for negotiation, despite the obstacles which are so obvious at this point. We will urge that the short-term temptation to pursue the interests of either or both parties through unilateral actions must be avoided. Peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian people will only be assured through negotiation and compromise, based on adherence to fundamental democratic principles.

In the current difficult circumstances, the continuing relevance of the Quartet roadmap of 2002 has increasingly been called into question. None of its detailed timelines has been fulfilled. It will need to be revisited and recast if the peace process is to achieve momentum again. However, it continues to represent the essential set of principles and sequential parallel steps required of Israel and of the Palestinian Authority if there is to be a settlement. The European Union must support Israeli and Palestinian political leaders who recognise the desire of their people for a just solution, and the inevitable need, sooner or later, to meet the obligations identified in the roadmap.

The prospects for a lasting settlement have been seriously complicated by the decisive victory of Hamas candidates in the Palestinian elections in January. Hamas achieved a clear majority of seats in democratic elections, which were freely and fairly conducted in difficult circumstances. The conduct of the elections and the subsequent peaceful transfer of power is a tribute to the Palestinian people, especially to the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas is a tough and a disciplined organisation. It has engaged in the past in a vicious campaign of violence, including suicide bombings aimed at Israeli civilians. It has been included on the European Union's list of terrorist organisations. However, it has maintained a ceasefire for over a year. It has also displayed a degree of political pragmatism in participating in democratic elections under the Oslo process which it claims to reject. Ireland has been to the fore in arguing that the EU and the international community should give the Palestinians time and space to come to terms with the consequences of the election outcome and the political transition which Hamas urgently needs to undertake.

Hamas is now in government and that brings with it great responsibilities. Regrettably, to date, the new government does not appear to have taken account of the clear messages set out by the EU, the Quartet and its neighbours on the basis for engagement with the international community. Nor has it heeded the consistently courageous messages from President Abbas on its obligations to the Palestinian people.

The EU has consistently been the strongest supporter of the Palestinian people internationally. Since the signing of the Oslo accord in 1993, the Union has worked politically and provided significant assistance to build the democratic institutions of the future state. The Palestinian Authority was established as part of this process. Ireland strongly supports the requirement that the new Government of that authority fulfils a number of basic principles that any democratic government anywhere would be expected to honour. The EU and the Quartet have made it clear since 30 January that the new Government should renounce violence, recognise Israel's right to exist and accept the existing agreements reached between the PLO and the Palestinian Authority with Israel.

Unfortunately, Hamas has not yet responded. It would have been encouraging, for instance, if it had recognised its responsibilities and condemned last week's horrific suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv which took the lives of nine Israeli civilians. Instead, it sought to justify the unjustifiable. I emphasise, however, that the EU will judge the Government on its actions. In the period ahead, if there is any evidence of a willingness to make progress to meet the principles set out by the Quartet, and with an absolute requirement that Hamas continues to refrain from violence, Ireland will argue strongly for an appropriate response from the European Union.

I am aware that considerable concern has been expressed in recent weeks at reports that the EU has decided to freeze its assistance to the Palestinian Authority. The funding situation is more complex than this. In recent years, the EU and its member states have provided some €500 million annually to support Palestinian institutions, NGOs and civil society, and for humanitarian assistance. Approximately half of the annual funding of about €250 million per year administered by the Commission has gone to the UN and NGOs and on food aid, and the other half on assistance to the Palestinian Authority. On 27 February, Ministers agreed on the early delivery of some €121 million in aid by the Commission.

At the meeting of the Council I attended on 10 April, it was agreed that the EU would review its assistance to the Palestinians against the new Government's commitment to the principles set out by the Council and by the international Quartet since 30 January. There was also agreement that the absence of commitment to these principles will inevitably affect direct assistance to the government. Since early April, the Commission has temporarily suspended its direct payments to it, but the Council stressed that the EU will continue to provide necessary assistance to meet the basic needs of the Palestinian population.

I have argued for — and in the review process Ireland will press for — a flexible and wide-ranging definition of what constitutes necessary assistance. We want to look in particular at provisions for support in the areas of health and education. We are under no illusions about the difficulties facing the Palestinian people already in their daily lives or about the dangers of a sudden and rigid freeze of essential assistance. We will work to ensure that the EU meets its responsibilities. Positive movement from the Hamas Government would greatly facilitate the process and directly serve the interests of the Palestinian people. It is not reasonable to expect that those elements of funding aimed directly at building up the Palestinian capacity for self-government should continue unchanged if Hamas does not respect the peace process.

Nationally, Ireland will continue to do all that is within its capacity to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. The Government is firmly committed to maintaining its bilateral assistance, which amounted to over €4 million in 2005. In response to an appeal from the UN, the Government has already provided €1.5 million in humanitarian assistance this year. Depending on developments, it may prove necessary to redirect funding of some €1 million earmarked for the Ministry of Education. However, we are determined to maintain the overall level of our assistance during 2006.

It is essential that the EU does not address only one side of the equation. Indeed, it is arguable that one of the reasons for the success of Hamas in the January elections was the perception among many Palestinian voters that the obligations of the peace process were being imposed in an unbalanced manner and that the conditions of their daily lives and the prospects for their children were deteriorating as a direct result. In this context, the April meeting of the Council stressed the responsibilities on Israel to improve the humanitarian and economic situation of the Palestinians.

In the short term, the EU needs to work with its international partners to persuade the Israeli Government to find an acceptable way to reverse the decision to withhold €50 million in taxes and customs duties that it collects every month on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Progress in the implementation of the important agreement on movement and access brokered by the US and the EU last November is also essential. The only element of the agreement which is being implemented at present, with the assistance of an EU mission, is the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah.

We welcomed the peaceful and smooth withdrawal of Israeli settlers and troops from Gaza last summer. Gaza must be allowed to develop as a society, with effective links, including trading links, to the outside world and an end to its isolation from the West Bank.

Ireland has rightly been regarded as sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people. We are also good friends of Israel. The Government has developed a good working relationship with recent Israeli Governments, which has enabled us to speak directly and constructively on important issues including Israel's obligations under the roadmap and international law. Following the Israeli elections in March, it seems certain that Prime Minister Olmert will form a coalition government, once the current interparty negotiations have concluded. I am encouraged by his statement in his victory address on 29 March that his new Government will work for the establishment of the final borders of Israel through negotiations and an agreement with its Palestinian neighbours. He correctly stated that "there is no good alternative to a peace agreement". We and our partners in the EU look forward to working closely with his new government on this basis.

The credibility of the EU's role in the peace process, and of its relationship with the Israelis and the Palestinians, requires us to be honest in our dealings with both parties. We have been particularly clear in recent times in setting out the conditions to be met by the new Palestinian Government. It remains essential that we also impress on the Israeli Government its responsibilities in the search for a peaceful settlement. The EU has stated consistently that all parties should refrain from any unilateral action that will further jeopardise the prospects for a two state solution. It is an essential element of the EU position that the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 boundaries other than those agreed through negotiation. Crucially, the status of Jerusalem can only be decided through agreement in final status negotiations.

We remain very seriously concerned at Israeli practices in the occupied territories which are against international law, bring further hardship to the Palestinian population and create a pernicious and dangerous atmosphere of bitterness and alienation. I believe it is important the EU makes it very clear that there is an obligation on the new Government to end settlement expansion, to remove all illegal outposts and to end construction of the illegal security barrier or wall on occupied Palestinian land. We recognise the obligation on any Israeli Government to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks but we will continue to make the point strongly that measures taken to strengthen the security of Israeli citizens must not be at the expense of the basic human rights of Palestinians. In particular, we remain seriously concerned at extra-judicial killings, which are contrary to international law.

I have stressed the obligations that rest on both Israelis and Palestinians in the difficult circumstances they face but I also wish to emphasise the obligations that history and geography impose on us as Europeans to continue to work with our international partners to promote the achievement of an historic two state solution to the conflict. A stable, peaceful and just region is in the interests not just of its own peoples but of us all. The Arab-Israeli conflict has threatened international peace and security for many decades. This dictates that the search for such a solution cannot be abandoned. The Government, acting with its partners in the EU, is determined to maintain its engagement in this vital political process.