Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to make a statement to the Seanad. I also welcome the Senator's initiative in raising this matter on the Adjournment.

This year has been a difficult one for the Middle East and, in particular, for Palestine. The difficult and often desperate situation of the Palestinian people is of grave concern to the Government. Ireland has provided development and humanitarian assistance in support of the Palestinian people since 1993.

In 2006, we provided €6.4 million to meet the humanitarian and development needs of the Palestinian people, an increase of over 40% on the previous year and the highest level of assistance in the history of our aid programmes. Ireland's core objective in providing assistance to Palestine is to alleviate the consequences of the conflict by enhancing the capacity of Ireland's partners in Palestine to respond to the current crisis and, where possible, to begin to meet future development needs.

Irish Aid does not provide direct support for maternity services. Support is provided through Bethlehem University to a wide range of training in the health sector, including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, emergency nursing and midwifery, including some support provided through the Order of Malta. Ireland has supported Bethlehem University since 1987, the longest period of support for any institution in the aid programme.

Since 2000, more than €1.4 million has been provided directly to Bethlehem University from Ireland's bilateral aid programme. The overall objective is to enhance the effectiveness of Bethlehem University as a medium of assistance to the Palestinian people by assisting the university with its community outreach projects. The focus is on the development of local capacity and assistance to the most vulnerable sections of the community.

Under Ireland's three-year country strategy for bilateral aid to Palestine, which runs from 2005 to 2007, funding of €225,000 was allocated for Bethlehem University. All this funding has been paid in full. I am aware of the particularly difficult situation in which the university now finds itself, given the severe humanitarian crisis which has affected the provision of services.

In light of the current emergency, I am conscious of the difficulties being faced by the university and I assure the House that I will continue to provide funding. Clearly, Palestine is in an extraordinarily difficult situation. The severe and intractable humanitarian crisis is rooted in a territorial conflict that is fundamentally political. 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.

In 2007, the Government will maintain the level of assistance which is being provided for humanitarian and development assistance in Palestine. We are committed to the provision of support for the United Nations relief and works agency, UNRWA, which is a key partner for Ireland in the delivery of basic services to the refugee population there. We will continue our support to the United Nations development programme for programmes in rural development and to the UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs — known by its acronym UNOCHA — for its important co-ordination function. Last week, in New York, I discussed the Palestinian situation in detail with Jan Egeland who is the under-secretary general of the United Nations.

We will also continue to support human rights, democratisation and social regeneration programmes through our support for civil society organisations. I assure Senators that Ireland will continue to do everything within its capacity to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Senator Henry has raised a matter, which, if I had known about it in detail, I would certainly have included in my reply. I will seek an answer from my officials and from Irish Aid with regard to the midwifery courses she mentioned. We provide financial assistance to Bethlehem University for such courses. I will check the details. It may be that the college authorities, or someone acting on their own behalf, decided to drop that course. I will certainly inquire into the matter, however.