Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Another week has gone by, another week of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Countless thousands of lives have been lost in the seven days since we last addressed this issue. The footage on television on a nightly basis, of the dead bodies of infants and newborns unable to survive without electricity, heat and medical intervention is something one would not have expected from any modern democracy with any semblance of decency. One would expect that children who have never committed any wrongdoing against anyone would be protected.

It is an appalling situation there. We can blame Hamas all we want but it is not appropriate to collectively punish the Palestinian people for having Hamas as their leadership or as their government. Many people from Gaza had no input whatsoever in that decision. If there was a free and fair election in Gaza now, I suspect that Hamas would have no place. There is equal revulsion for the activities of Hamas among most of the Palestinian people. Unfortunately, Israel has failed to accept that situation. The only way this can be described now is as collective punishment of the Palestinian people because Hamas happens to be the leader of the administration. We would expect more from a modern democracy, one that prides itself in upholding international standards. Israel cannot be allowed to continue with this campaign of collective punishment.

There is no point in trying to make excuses for Hamas. We know it is a terrorist organisation with an appalling vision and view of the world. We know it is a disgusting group of people in every respect, what they stand for, what they believe in, and the actions they carry out. However, it is not good enough to juxtapose Israel with Hamas. It is not acceptable and we should expect more from Israel. The world will have to speak in much stronger terms and make Israel feel that this collective punishment of the Palestinian people is unacceptable and must be paused without delay.

I ask that a debate be organised in the House about public service broadcasting. Today sees the proposed publication of the RTÉ plan for the future. I understand staff are being apprised of it over the course of the day. It seems fairly draconian. We are hearing of a potential 400 job losses, a much reduced organisation. This should be debated here in a careful and controlled way.