Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

Successive Governments have ensured that Ireland has made an important contribution to development of EU policy on the rights of the Palestinians. The EU has steadfastly supported the Oslo process, which is based on the Israeli-Palestinian accords which have been negotiated since September 1993. No process that is based on the need for compromise and accommodation will perfectly meet the sincerely held positions of both parties. It could be argued that the temptation to follow a unilateral approach in recent times was born of the frustration of the Israeli public at the slow pace of the process and the growing perception among the Palestinians that the process was being applied in an unbalanced and unfair manner. It would be dangerously irresponsible of those who wish to help the various parties to cast aside the achievements of the past 12 years because of serious setbacks and slow progress.

The democratic elections in Palestine in January of this year were held under the Oslo process. Rightly, there was universal praise for the manner in which they were conducted in difficult circumstances. Hamas, which won a clear majority of seats and formed a government in March, is a movement in transition. It is not long since it was engaged in a campaign of terrorist violence, including suicide bomb attacks, against Israeli civilians. Such attacks have been alluded to during this debate. Hamas undertook to observe a suspension of violence last year. It showed some political pragmatism by using the Oslo process, which it had rejected, to achieve power by democratic means. Hamas must complete a full transition to democratic politics and commit to the peace process.

The EU and the wider international community have set out the steps which Hamas must take. It must give up violence, recognise Israel's right to exist and commit to the agreements which were negotiated by the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. We have strongly supported the courageous efforts of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, to persuade Hamas through a national dialogue to commit to the platform of peace on which he was directly elected and to accept the objective of a two-state solution.

The agreement that was reportedly reached by most of the Palestinian groupings at the end of June has not yet been finalised. Having studied the main elements of the initial agreement, we are convinced that, if followed through, they have the potential in the right circumstances to help all parties to move on from the current deadlock. The crisis in Gaza has inevitably halted the internal Palestinian political process. We must do everything possible to support President Abbas as he works to conclude that process. We fully support him in that regard.

It seems clear that the agreed document does not represent full adherence by Hamas to the three principles outlined by the international community. However, the Government has consistently stated that if there is clear and significant political movement by Hamas in this direction and there is an absence of violence it will argue strongly for an appropriate EU response. It is a matter of public record that the Government has signalled that clearly within the EU and at UN level.

The EU will continue to encourage positive political movement by the Government of the Palestinian Authority. It is committed to preserving the democratic functioning of the authority's institutions. I cannot accept that it is reasonable to argue that we should continue to provide capacity-building assistance to the Hamas Government, irrespective of its attitude to the peace process. That would not be possible. The EU Commission has suspended its provision of direct assistance to the Palestinian Government since last April. I stress that the EU has not suspended its provision of assistance to the Palestinian people.