Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Yesterday evening I opened a debate in the other House in the immediate aftermath of the events off Gaza. I am glad also to be able to participate in the Seanad's consideration of this important issue which has generated a great deal of public interest and concern both here and elsewhere. This debate also gives me the chance to update the Oireachtas on the information I have to hand.

The Government shares the widespread shock and horror at the outcome of the Israeli military storming of the Free Gaza movement flotilla early on Monday which has resulted in the deaths of a reported nine people and the injury of many more. I share the sense of outrage that what was intended as a humanitarian act and a response to unacceptable policies on the part of Israel should have ended up this way. I express our condolences to the families of those who have been killed and our best wishes to all those who have been injured.

In the early hours of Monday morning Israeli naval vessels intercepted the Free Gaza flotilla in international waters between Cyprus and Israel, informed the six vessels in the convoy that they would not be allowed to proceed further towards Gaza and ordered them to proceed to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The exact details of what followed have yet to emerge, not least because the accounts of those on the boats are only beginning to be heard now as they begin to arrive home. Following the boarding by Israeli commandos of the largest vessel, the Turkish MV Mavi Marmara,firing by the commandos resulted in nine persons on board the boat being killed and a larger number being wounded. Exact numbers are as yet uncertain, but the number of dead appears to be nine. All of the dead identified so far were Turkish. The vessels arrived in Ashdod on Monday afternoon and the injured were taken to various Israeli hospitals. I again condemn the physical force methods used by the Israeli military in dealing with this situation which cannot be justified.

The Seanad will wish to be updated on the position on Irish citizens, our first concern in the immediate circumstances. The vessel owned by the Irish Free Gaza movement, the MV Rachel Corrie, which sailed from Dundalk in mid-May and on which a number of Irish citizens were embarked, had not yet reached the eastern Mediterranean and was not part of the flotilla. The MV Rachel Corrie is still at sea and understood to be continuing towards Gaza with five Irish citizens aboard.

Four Irish citizens were known to be on Challenger 1 which was intercepted and taken into Ashdod. Three Irish citizens were aboard other vessels and one further citizen, a dual national, had joined the flotilla among the large Turkish contingent. Of these, two were taken directly to Ben Gurion International Airport, having apparently agreed to immediate deportation, where they were visited yesterday morning by Ambassador O'Reilly who then informed their families. Both men have now been deported, and one, Mr. Shane Dillon, arrived back in Dublin last night. The dual national citizen was deported, at his request, to Lebanon.

I met earlier today with Mr. Dillon, following his return to Dublin late last evening. He provided in a calm manner a disturbing account of what he witnessed on board the MV Challenger I and also of the initial assault on the MV Mavi Marmara, the Turkish cruise ship on which were most of the flotilla participants. It was clear from what he described that the level of the force used by the Israeli forces in mounting the assault was totally excessive, with widespread and unacceptable use of such weapons as stun grenades, tasers and high velocity paint-ball guns on board the MV Challenger I.

It is extremely important in the coming days that we hear the testimony of those directly involved in the Gaza flotilla in order to build up a more accurate picture of what actually happened. Those accounts now beginning to emerge, including that from Mr. Dillon, are, to say the least, not very edifying. It remains imperative that there should be a full and proper international and independent investigation into last Monday's events which can command wide international consensus.

The other five citizens arrested on Monday were taken to a detention centre in Beersheva, as part of some 600 or more persons detained on the ships. An officer from the embassy visited them there, and promptly informed their families.

It appeared yesterday that some days would pass in arranging the formalities for the deportation of these persons, and there were even reports that some of them may be subject to charges for illegal entry or obstruction. I clearly demanded, in public statements, directly to the Israeli ambassador and through our embassy in Tel Aviv, the immediate and unconditional release of our citizens. Late last night, the Israeli Government took the sensible decision, which I welcomed, to arrange for the immediate deportation of all the detainees without further ado. Arrangements for this were being carried out before I came to the Seanad.

The Turkish Government has sent charter and military aircraft to convey the detainees as a group to Istanbul, and they should reach there later tonight. The embassy in Tel Aviv is seeking to confirm that all of the Irish citizens are being deported. An officer from the embassy in Ankara is travelling to Istanbul to assist them there.

I should also clarify that an early report on one Israeli television channel that the injured included one Irish person does not seem to have been borne out.

On receipt of the emerging news of the tragic events on Monday morning, I made a statement condemning what happened and I summoned the Israeli ambassador to a meeting at my Department that evening. When I met the ambassador I conveyed a number of important points to him, which he has conveyed to his Government. First, I conveyed the Government's condemnation of the use of military force in this fashion against the flotilla, which was unacceptable and which had led to this tragedy. It will be some time before we have a clearer picture of what happened. I made the strong point to the ambassador - similar to what I said at the time of the assault on Gaza in January 2009 - that when you use excessive military force among civilians you cannot expect to control all the outcomes, and you must accept responsibility for the results of your actions. Who now could possibly argue that preventing this cargo from reaching Gaza was so important that an outcome such as this could be thought to be reasonable force?

I further made clear, as I said, that all of the Irish citizens involved should be immediately and unconditionally released. At that time, I was also angry that full consular access was not being allowed to our embassy, as provided for under the Vienna Convention, and I demanded such access immediately for those citizens in detention. That was largely secured, although there are still issues around that.

I made clear to the ambassador my strong view that these citizens were constrained to enter Israel, which was not their intention, and therefore questions of illegal entry should not arise. Irish citizens were effectively seized by the Israeli forces and forcefully brought into Israel against their will. With the mass deportation operation now under way, it appears that this issue may now also be resolved.

I took issue with the description by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel of the flotilla as "an armada of hate and violence". We know the Irish activists involved to be sincere committed people, with deep humanitarian convictions and concerns, who were committed to breaking the blockade of Gaza but in a peaceful, non-violent way. Some Members of the Oireachtas had been with them and intended to join the flotilla.

Senators will be aware from my earlier remarks that uppermost in my thoughts now is the progress of the ship that sailed from Ireland, the MV Rachel Corrie, on which a number of Irish citizens are continuing towards Gaza. It is thought that she might be approaching Gazan waters as we get to the weekend. I spoke yesterday with the former UN senior official, Mr. Denis Halliday, who is one of the Irish citizens aboard the MV Rachel Corrie and earlier today with Mr. Derek Graham, the Mayo-born skipper of the ship. They made clear to me that they are passivists, they do not want confrontation and they do not want conflict, and they will make that clear to the Israeli authorities in direct communications. I accept that fully and have conveyed that to the Israeli authorities.

I asked Ambassador Evrony to convey to his Government my request that, following the tragedy which has occurred, the MV Rachel Corrie be allowed to continue unimpeded and given safe passage to deliver its cargo to Gaza. Unfortunately, the Israeli Government has stated it will continue to enforce the blockade, but we continue to insist that no violence be used against this vessel and that restraint apply. We will be watching this situation closely, as indeed will the world, and it is imperative that Israel avoids any action which leads to further bloodshed or confrontation.

I have focussed on the situation of Irish citizens and on the immediate events, but I am also deeply conscious of the wider context. Indeed, I find that issues I have been raising since the Gaza war last year have come to the fore again.

Israel must be brought to understand that military force is genuinely a last resort, not to be resorted to if any other method is available. It has been said in Israel that when you have a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail. Israel has a right to exist and to defend itself, which we would all accept, but that right does not override and supersede all other rights, and the rights of all others. As we saw in Gaza itself, so now we see in an effort to help Gaza - when you resort to powerful use of force, especially among civilians, terrible disasters such as this are not unexpected or unforeseeable; they are highly likely, sooner or later, usually sooner.

I return also to a central issue I have been stressing in international dialogue, which is that the continuing blockade of Gaza simply cannot be accepted as part of the status quo, and allowed to continue indefinitely. Public opinion in Ireland and elsewhere has shown that it will not accept this collective punishment of innocent people, and will act to challenge it.

I am aware myself from my visit to Gaza earlier this year that what exists there is a dire and indisputable humanitarian crisis, with most of the population living in inhumane and intolerable conditions and with increasing incidence of what the UN euphemistically calls absolute poverty, that is, basically, not enough food to eat each day.

The current situation amounts to collective punishment of the population of Gaza and, as the European Union acknowledged this week, is completely counter-productive. As long as the siege of Gaza continues, it will inflict further injustice on the people who live there without, in my view, contributing at all to the security of Israel, and the blockade of Gaza is an underlying cause of what has happened here.

The basic facts of what has happened are still emerging, and there is much more I could say, especially on the broader context. As I stated earlier, it is extremely important, in order to try and ensure accountability, that as full a picture of what transpired is now built up in a credible and transparent manner.

I will be following events closely, and considering what further action we need to take, nationally or at EU or UN level. Debates have been taking place, both in Brussels and in the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and the Security Council in New York has called in a presidential statement for an "impartial, credible and transparent investigation, conforming to international standards", of what has happened, a call which I fully support and echo.