Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I briefly join with the Cathaoirleach's welcome for the delegation of French parliamentarians. I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting them for conversations on a number of issues. There are long ties of friendship between our two countries.

We must put a number of issues on the record before we approach the specifics of the legislation. I want no ambiguity about the position of my party and the Government on the occupied territories. We want a return to the pre-Six-Day War boundaries. We want the accelerated rate of occupation since 2017 to stop. We are not supporters in any fashion of the occupation of the territories. I feel passionately about that. We unquestionably empathise with, condemn and have no truck with the suffering of the Palestinian people.