Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I cautiously welcome the news that some Irish citizens are to be released from Gaza. I wish the leader of Fianna Fáil, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, well and offer him the support of this House and the Irish nation in the work he is doing to try to secure the release of Irish citizens, a ceasefire and a pathway to re-establishing some level of humanity for the Palestinians, the Israelis and all of the people in the Middle East. Every right-minded Irish person utterly condemns the depravity and brutality that was visited on the people of Israel and is being visited on the people of Palestine. No amount of motions in this House will make much difference to people who are so detached from basic human values so we need to stop this false debate. It is insulting to the people whose real humanity is being attacked and destroyed. We need to recognise that there are methods and ways of dealing with such atrocities and to ensure that our Government does everything in its power to exercise those powers. Israel has already been referred to the International Criminal Court. We need to pursue that but, more than anything, we need to use all of our collective power to secure a ceasefire and some pathway to some form of restoration of peace and humanity for the people of this region.