Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

To those who ask what role the EU has, I say it has a major role, as we heard last week at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. It has a role as a major donor, as an entity, and as a bloc that has invested a huge amount of money in the rebuilding of buildings in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Senator Black will have seen this. The buildings were subsequently demolished by Israeli action. Therefore, the EU has a stake in this. We all have a stake in this on a humanitarian basis.

Deputy Brendan Howlin has also called for the Government to recognise the state of Palestine.