Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Joe O'Reilly's comments on the proposal by the US to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. As someone who has visited Gaza, I would be seriously concerned about this proposal. I was there in 2009 and nothing has changed since then. In late 2008 and early 2009, some 340 children were killed when the Israelis used white phosphorous and cluster munitions but no international sanctions were imposed on Israel. I am seriously concerned at this new move by the US. I believe that Europe can play a very important role here. I do not believe the US can resolve the issue in Gaza and Israel and the EU must bring its influence to bear.

In terms of Irish troops and EU involvement, our troops have always been involved in peacekeeping and have been major influencers in that regard. I saw that myself when there was a UN mandate for troops to go into Chad and to the Sudanese border area. The UN could not come up with the troops. There was an agreement with the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, that Ireland would provide the troops under an EU operation. It was interesting to attend a committee meeting, which was held in private, in the European Parliament at which a member of the British army advised that the Irish contingent had achieved more in six months than the French had achieved in 30 years. That is evidence of the contribution that we, as peacekeepers, can make in areas of conflict around the world. In the aforementioned area, there were over 570,000 people in refugee camps drawn from four different countries, including Chad itself. The role the Irish troops played there was substantial and it influenced how other peacekeepers operated. It is important to keep that in mind.