Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Seanad.

Last week the Seanad debated a Bill on banning goods from illegal colonial settlements entering Ireland. Then I laid out my deep concerns about Israel's continued illegal occupation of Palestine, including in the settlements and the apartheid system it enforces there. I also raised the case of Ahed Tamimi who remains imprisoned in an Israeli military jail. Last week, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade neglected to call for her immediate release. Will the Minister of State do so on behalf of the Government now?

It was reported last week that in January, a 14-year-old epileptic Palestinian girl was arrested by Israeli authorities and sent to the Gaza Strip for two weeks, even though her home is with her parents south of Ramallah in the West Bank. The girl was arrested as an illegal alien on 13 January in East Jerusalem because she did not have the right Israeli issued permit to be in Jerusalem. She was released on bail and taken by the Israeli authorities to the Gaza Strip because it was listed in records as her father's place of residence, even though she had never been there in her life. The traumatised child was stuck in Gaza for two weeks before she could return home. This is another example in a litany of brutal daily realities which exist for Palestinians and what they face under Israel's occupation and enforced apartheid regime.

On Sunday, Israeli authorities tore down two EU-funded classrooms which were part of a school for children in the occupied West Bank because they said they were built illegally. This is the fifth time they have done this since 2016. How does the Government plan on holding Israel to account for destroying schools built with Irish and EU taxpayers’ money? Will the Government demand compensation and the rebuilding of the schools? It is time for the Government to respect the democratic wishes of the Seanad and the Dáil, as well as of the Irish people, and officially recognise the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.

I am concerned by the current political situation in Catalonia. On 21 December an election was held after the Spanish Government revoked Catalonia's home rule. The Catalan people once again gave political parties which support Catalan independence a parliamentary majority. However, the leader of the largest party is in exile in Belgium and the leader of the second largest party remains imprisoned by the Spanish authorities. The leaders of the two main grassroots, pro-independence civil society groups also remain in prison. The Catalan Parliament is still trying to elect its President because the Spanish Government is threatening to arrest more Catalan MPs if they go ahead with the vote to re-elect pro-independence President, Carles Puigdemont.

Like many others, I am truly appalled at the approach and provocative actions of the Spanish Government. Picking a new President should not mean criminal consequences or negative legal effects for MPs. The continued prosecution of Catalan Ministers, MPs, civil society activists and the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament is completely unacceptable and undemocratic. The Spanish Government must turn away from its clearly confrontational approach and, instead, enter into meaningful negotiations with the Catalan Government to find an acceptable path forward through inclusive dialogue. We must bear in mind that we will all gather this year and next year to commemorate elections and the sitting of a then so-called "illegal Parliament".

I have deep concerns about what is happening in Colombia. While it is welcome that FARC and the Colombian Government have agreed a historic peace deal, the Colombian Government is failing to protect vulnerable community leaders and human rights defenders from right-wing paramilitaries. Last year at least 170 community leaders were killed in Colombia; 21 were killed last month alone. Colombia's ombudsman said last week community leaders in Colombia face extermination. He called on the Colombian Government to prioritise the protection of community leaders and said its failure to do so was "assisting in their extermination". Will the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade raise with his counterpart in Colombia the completely unacceptable assassination of these social and political leaders? Hopefully, the Minister of State could pledge on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland’s support to these human rights defenders who are under threat.

I condemn Turkey's ground offensive and invasion of Syria and its attacks on Afrin in north-west Syria. Turkey's military attacks have caused significant civilian casualties. They are wrong and must be condemned by all. We have already seen the human rights violations that the Turkish army has committed against Kurds in south-east Turkey. It is clear its brutal tactics will be replicated against Kurds in Afrin. The Kurdish People's Protection Units, the YPG, has been successfully fighting Daesh in this region. Turkey's attacks will hamper the fight against Daesh, which is not completely surprising given the many questions surrounding Turkey's covert support for radical jihadist groups in this region. I urge the Minister of State to condemn Turkey's attacks on Afrin and that it is raised with his counterparts in the Turkish Government.

I want to speak out against the brutal attacks and blockade of Yemen by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which have plunged the country into the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. UNICEF's latest report, Born Into War, details how children in Yemen have been scarred by years of violence, displacement, disease, poverty, undernutrition and a lack of access to basic services, including water, health care and education, because of the war and the Saudi blockade. More than 11 million children, nearly every child in Yemen, now need humanitarian assistance and famine is a real prospect. I urge the Minister of State to support an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia and other necessary measures to create a peaceful political solution to this conflict. I call on the Department to respond generously to UNICEF’s appeal for $312 million in 2018 to continue responding to the urgent needs of children in Yemen.

I respectfully disagree with the Minister of State on the State’s participation in PESCO. I have already made my views known to the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, on this. We have much to be proud of in the record of the Defence Forces’ participation in humanitarian search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean. Not only will PESCO hamper and erode Ireland's neutrality, it will also have a real possibility of changing the whole nature of the humanitarian efforts which we have undertaken in the Mediterranean to save many refugees. Regarding the issues of Brexit and the North, as other colleagues have said, I resent contributing to statements on foreign affairs having to talk about the North and Brexit when both of them are home affairs and should treated as such.