Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I welcome the announcement by Israel this morning of a partial relaxation of the blockade of Gaza. Clearly, this does not go far enough to ensure the human rights of the people of Gaza. We must acknowledge and pay tribute to the great bravery of the volunteers on the aid flotilla, including the Irish volunteers on the MV Rachel Corrie, because their actions have clearly led to international outrage over Israel's killing of nine Turkish activists. That led to the decision by Israel. While it must be welcomed, it does not go far enough. We need to have a debate on the role of Israel and our relationship with it, given that this week we have seen the expulsion by the Government of an official from the Israeli Embassy. This event was glossed over, given all the other great political events of the week, but we need to have a debate on the continuation of our diplomatic relations with Israel, a country that has now been seen to have been involved in the forgery of Irish passports.