Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I closely associate myself with the warm remarks made by fellow Senators as we approach the summer vacation and as the Seanad rises today. So much work goes on behind the scenes. It always looks like a seamless operation but I have no doubt that it involves countless dedicated hours of work, led by Mr. Martin Groves who sets an exceptionally high standard. The respect for process and procedure can be seen to reverberate among all his staff. I am sure he is very proud of them. We are very proud of the staff. We should also commend ourselves on respecting and having such a good mutual constructive relationship with the people, many of them faceless, who make the inner operations of this House carry on so seamlessly on a daily basis.

I was delighted to see the father of the House in the Chamber yesterday.He spoke about the evil of cluster bombs and said some of them do not detonate immediately. A child could easily think these are toys. It has been proven that these munitions cause fatalities and, in some cases, almost instant death. This House should be united and loud in our opposition to cluster bombs. We can do that and fully support Ukraine in its battle against the tyrant who has waged this unprovoked brutal war. I commend our neighbours in the UK on having said "No" to cluster bombs. I hope we can use our influence with our good friends in America to have them also say "No" to cluster bombs. This war can be won without going there.

I commend the Leader and Deputy Leader of the House on facilitating a debate on the latest tragic unfolding of events last week in Jenin in the West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces once again, in a unilateral and unprovoked display of aggression, went in there. There was only going to be one result and there have been casualties and fatalities. The resulting loss of life included 12 Palestinians and one Israeli. As is always the case in war, it is the young people who suffer. In this case, the majority of those who lost their lives last week were aged between 16 and 23. Israel is clearly in breach of its international humanitarian law obligations. This House must do everything in its power to influence our Government, the EU and the UN to say "No" to such unprovoked acts of aggression that killed people and mostly innocent people.