David Norris (Independent)

The matter suggests that we are not committed to the highest standards in business, which is a pity and damaging to our economy.

I ask that the House considers non-Government motion No. 13 on the Order Paper which states:

That Seanad Éireann requests the Minister for Foreign Affairs to seek the establishment of a monitoring group to supervise the implementation of the Human Rights Attachments to the External Association Agreement between the European Union and the State of Israel.

I raise the matter in light of an excellent position paper released yesterday by the Roman Catholic bishops entitled Palestine-Israel, Principles for a Just Peace. The spokesperson for the hierarchy stated on the radio this morning that he was not seeking any punitive action against Israel and did not want to be seen as anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic. However, gross violations of human rights are taking place. Yesterday, I received a telephone call in regard to the continuing illegal demolition of houses of elderly subsistence farmers in the villages around south Hebron. It is intolerable that violence is being visited upon children and the elderly or that the most rudimentary sanitary facilities are being demolished in order to degrade the Palestinian people. The issue also highlights a element of hypocrisy. We claim to have standards but do not operate according to them.