Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I join in the call for a debate on the situation in the Middle East. I do not necessarily agree with my colleague, Senator Paul Bradford. I visited Gaza four weeks after the Israeli forces had used white phosphorous and cluster munitions in an incident in which more than 340 children were killed. The problem is of long standing and in Gaza, in particular, little progress has been made in finding a solution to the problem. As I indicated previously in the House, Gaza is a strip of land stretching for 35 miles - the same distance from Cork to Youghal – and 10 miles wide, with 1.5 million people locked inside it. It is time we had a reasoned debate on how we can find a solution to the problems within it.

When we have a debate on the situation in the Middle East, we should also have a debate on the arms trade and how it is in its interests to ensure the conflict continues. Israel is the fourth biggest manufacturer of arms and munitions, yet it imported €1.4 billion worth of munitions from the United States in a four year period. We should discuss why very little work is being done at a European or an international level to restrict the work being done by people who are making large sums of money out of conflict. That is an issue to be considered also.

I refer to the level of absenteeism in the health service. It is an issue we must examine. We have a problem with absenteeism in certain categories. I will quote two figures.