Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I am grateful to the Members of this House for, once again, devoting time to consideration of the situation in the Middle East. It remains the most serious challenge to international peace and security.

The events of recent months in Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and across the region, serve to confirm an essential point, namely, there can be no unilateral or military solutions to the interlinked problems of the region. Lasting peace and security will be achieved only through a credible process for a comprehensive settlement. At its core must be a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The need for a settlement is now more urgent than at any time in the past 60 years.

The Middle East has 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 and have no selfish national interest to pursue. However, we have a clear interest as Europeans in a democratic and peaceful Middle East in which the rights and security of the Arab and Israeli peoples are secured. Along with our partners in the EU we are determined to work with all parties in the region on the basis of respect for fundamental principles and rights.

The fraught situation across the region, which continues to blight the lives of so many innocent people, imposes a clear and compelling obligation on the international community to come together in a major effort to launch serious negotiations for a peaceful settlement.

No one can remain indifferent to the suffering witnessed in the past year. Lebanon has experienced violent death and destruction on a wholly unacceptable scale and the Palestinians continue to face a security and humanitarian crisis. Israelis feel insecure and unsure about the political path forward. The daily toll of violence and death in Iraq has reached previously unimaginable proportions and efforts to encourage Iran to play a positive and constructive regional role seem to have reached stalemate.

Against this bleak background there are some signs of hope. Agreement on Security Council Resolution 1701 created the conditions for an end to the conflict in Lebanon. It was provoked by Hizbollah and accentuated by the harsh and disproportionate Israeli response. The ceasefire, which we had called for unambiguously from the outset, is holding well but there is no room for complacency and the national Government of Prime Minister Siniora requires, and deserves, the full support of the European Union in the difficult period ahead. There is now a credible international framework for a stable peace based on Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity. All parties in the region have a role to play in support. This includes Syria, which has an opportunity now to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the search for regional peace and stability.

The EU has demonstrated in Lebanon an ability to act with clarity and conviction on its stated intentions. The member states are providing the backbone of the strengthened United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, which has, so far, deployed more than 5,000 troops in southern Lebanon, alongside units of the Lebanese army. This has enabled the withdrawal of the Israeli army and full deployment of UNIFIL will be completed during November.

Ireland is making an important contribution, building on years of commitment to UNIFIL and to the people of Lebanon. Following our Government's decision and the approval of Dáil Éireann, a contingent of 150 members of the Defence Forces will deploy, as part of a joint Finnish-Irish unit on 31 October.

The EU will use all of the instruments at its disposal to support the reconstruction of Lebanon and the full implementation of Resolution 1701. Our Government has responded rapidly and effectively to the needs of the Lebanese people. During the crisis we committed a total of €1.3 million in immediate emergency humanitarian assistance and we have also pledged a further €2 million for longer-term reconstruction and assistance in Lebanon and the occupied territories over the next two years.

Our UNIFIL contingent will also engage in humanitarian work, including the dangerous work of clearing unexploded ordnance. Our Government has made clear its very serious concern at the terrible risk posed to the civilian population of the area by the large number of exploded cluster munitions and we have backed the UN in its criticism of the Israeli army in this regard. We have also been active on the issue at international level, along with a small group of other states. At the forthcoming Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva we will again call for agreement on the opening of negotiations for a legally binding international instrument to address the humanitarian concerns posed by cluster munitions.

The violence in Lebanon shocked the world, however it pales in comparison to the daily slaughter in Iraq. There are no simple solutions to the increasing divisions in Iraq and there is no sign at present that the insurgency and the inter-communal violence are being brought under control. The EU continues to support the efforts of the national unity government formed last May on the basis of democratic elections. The reality is that this government has requested the continued presence of the international force, which is mandated by the UN Security Council, until the end of 2006.

Iraq has vast reserves of natural resources which should provide the basis for its prosperity and stability and the Iraqi people deserve a better future after years of war and dictatorship. The historic divisions between the communities of that region of the Middle East are deep. Nonetheless, the EU remains convinced that Iraq's future will be assured only through its territorial integrity and the development of strong political and economic links with all of the countries of its neighbouring region.

It is obvious that Iran has a particularly important role to play in relation to Iraq and it can also play a leading role in underpinning regional security. Iran could be a hugely constructive influence in support of a historic settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the EU wants to develop a closer, more productive, relationship with that country. We believe it is possible to develop such a relationship through patient and constructive diplomacy on all sides.

We have, at the same time, serious concerns about Iran's role in the region and about the deterioration in the Iranian human rights situation. I therefore welcome moves towards a meaningful resumption of the human rights dialogue between Iran and the EU.

Inevitably, however, our current concerns are dominated by the nuclear issue. Our Government, in common with our EU Partners, wants to see a diplomatic solution to this serious matter. We call on Iran, even at this stage, to respond positively to the imaginative and wide-ranging proposals which have been presented to it. We fully support the efforts of the EU three on behalf of the EU. We share the disappointment at the lack of progress in the sustained efforts of High Representative Solana to encourage Iran to address the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, and the UN Security Council and return to talks on long-term arrangements. The core issue remains the suspension of enrichment activities.

At its meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, the General Affairs and External Relations Council, at which I represented Ireland, agreed that Iran's continuation of enrichment related activities has left the EU with no choice. The EU will support consultations in the UN Security Council on further action, including some form of sanctions. We deeply regret that this impasse has been reached. However, it is essential that the will of the international community and the authority of the Security Council be respected. At all stages in this process the preferred option of negotiations will remain on the table.

The Government shares the grave concern about the continuing crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories. The situation in Gaza in particular is unsustainable. Our Government has been among the strongest supporters internationally of the establishment of a democratic, sovereign and independent Palestinian state, living in peace and security alongside the state of Israel. Since 1993, the EU has taken the lead under the Oslo process in supporting the building of the institutions of a future state.

The process has reached a critical point this year. The democratic Palestinian elections in January last gave Hamas an absolute majority of seats in the legislative council. The Quartet set out clearly the principles which Hamas must adhere to in government if it is to engage with the international community. There is a strong international consensus that Hamas must complete its transition to politics and commit unambiguously to the peace process. Despite the efforts of many, it still has not done so. The terrible violence since last June has further undermined the prospects for political progress. We continue to give strong support to the courageous efforts of President Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate a Palestinian Government of national unity committed to a two-state solution and reflecting the Quartet principles. Progress has been slow.

There have been setbacks. The President's work has been complicated by the recent violence between armed Palestinian groups in Gaza and the West Bank. However the Government has stated consistently that if President Abbas succeeds in forming a government seriously committed to the peace process and based on an end to violence, Ireland will argue strongly for a positive and creative political response by the EU.

The political hopes of the Palestinian people have been disappointed repeatedly but it is clear that they remain committed to the vision of a two-state solution. In Israel the limits of the temptation to unilateralism have been revealed by the dreadful violence of this past summer. The EU now has a central role to play with its international and regional partners in encouraging Israeli and Palestinian political leaders to take the difficult decisions required for peace in the region. We want to see an early and substantive meeting between Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas and an active commitment to a solution based on the essentials of the Quartet roadmap.

This roadmap, international law and the requirements of peace and security impose obligations on all of the parties. The Palestinians must ensure an end to violence and terror against Israel and Israelis. The Israeli Government must end the illegal construction of settlements, stop the illegal construction of the security barrier on occupied Palestinian land and end activities in and around East Jerusalem which threaten the viability of a two-state solution.