Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his statement and for the strength of his position over the weekend. As a Government colleague and a party colleague I wish to express my pride in how he has represented our country and spoken on its behalf on the international stage. Since he gave his speech here I have received messages asking me to convey thanks and pride to him.

We need to speak out strongly and convey our horror and how appalled we are that there are children and families in such situations, particularly those described by Senator Black. I once worked in Chicago during an air show where an F16 flew over us and we experienced a sonic boom. For people to have that experience in a conflict zone when they fear their children and their home will be bombed and their family wiped out must be extraordinary. It was frightening in a friendly situation so that must be horrific.

Senator Ó Donnghaile listed the types of people involved in such conflicts. I would add there are also those who think their conflict justifies the murder of innocent civilians and term it collateral damage of a justifiable conflict. There is no such thing. There is no justification for the murder of children. Anyone who deploys a bomb of any sort from either side with the view that on the other end of it innocent civilians and children are going to die is abhorrent and can only be condemned in the most absolute of terms.

When trying to get young people to talk about their sense of obligation to humanitarian rights, we often use an ice breaker. We tell the young people that a child has been left on their doorstep and ask them if they would go out to school in the morning or if it would disrupt their day. The young people say they would not go to school and would have to call the Garda. They go into all the things they would do if they saw a child abandoned and in a difficult position. That is then widened out and they are told there are children in different conflict zones, such as the occupied territories, in that abhorrent position at this moment in time. It is horrific and we stand in condemnation of it.