Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with Senator Cosgrove. I thank the Minister of State for coming in. In his opening remarks, Senator Ahearn commented that he thinks the Opposition are just playing politics with this and that we do not really believe the Government has not done enough. I take great umbrage at that comment. As someone who grew up in post-conflict Belfast and who has worked for years in peace building and human rights activism, I really do not believe the Government has done enough. I am not trying to say that the Opposition is good and the Government is bad, as the Tánaiste said. It is not about that at all. It is that inaction is bad and action is good, as my colleague Deputy Gibney said this week. The Tánaiste asked what more we can do. I am delighted he asked that question because I am going to outline some tangible and meaningful actions we can take in respect of Gaza.

I believe everyone in this Chamber feels the same level of horror, disgust and, perhaps, helplessness as I do when we read about and see every day the onslaught of violence and terror taking place in Gaza, where almost 60,000 are now dead. I am not trying to take any ownership of grief or pain in that regard. However, while we all share in the same words of condemnation, it is simply not enough. We have seen incredible levels of civic solidarity in action from normal everyday people in Ireland. It is something that makes me really proud to be Irish. We have seen actions of solidarity from this Government. Notable among these is the recognition of Palestinian statehood. I do not take that as a small action. However, for many months, the Government has cited this quite frankly meagre action as evidence of how well we have done in response to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent civilians. There is a genocide taking place in Gaza and we have legal obligations under the UN Genocide Convention to take credible action on it.

This week, the Tánaiste said we do not need any more strong words on Gaza, that we have had enough strong words and that we need strong action. I welcome those remarks but it is frustrating because we have been asking for strong action for a very long time. While Ireland might be seen as a leader in the world for its stance on Gaza, the self-congratulatory back patting has become a little bit tiring and frustrating for people when we have been calling for more meaningful action. While the Minister of State might not agree with me, I believe the Government has been wanting on this. It has failed to respond to the will of the Irish people to impose any meaningful sanctions because of what is happening in Gaza. For too long, we have relied on strong words of condemnation.

I welcome the Tánaiste's commitment to passing the occupied territories Bill but I would still like an answer as to why it has taken this long and the motivation for delaying it up to this point. We have heard from the former Minister, Roderic O'Gorman, that, when he was in government, the Attorney General did not have any issue with the services component of this Bill. Services make up the vast majority of trade with the occupied territories. The watering down of this Bill does not denote the strong action on Gaza the Tánaiste claims to want. When the ICJ told us to do everything in our power to oppose the genocidal actions of the Israeli state, why did we not immediately expedite the passing of the occupied territories Bill? Why has the Government prevaricated up to this point? Why do we not have a commitment to include services in that Bill? What are we waiting for? Are we waiting for Gaza not to exist any more? Are we waiting for the genocide to spread into the West Bank? When are we going to consider it safe enough and politically expedient enough for us to actually take this action?

Last week, my colleague Deputy Hearne called Gaza "an open-air extermination camp". These are strong words that will, for most of us, evoke the most gruesome and inhumane part of the 20th century. While we look on, history repeats itself. As the small nation we are, Ireland alone cannot stop this genocide. I know that. I am not naive. However, we could be doing a great deal more to put pressure on the Israeli state and to lead in Europe with credible action. Why is the Central Bank still selling Israeli war bonds, which effectively finance the actions of the Israeli state? The OPLA provided advice this week that stated there is no legal issue with the Central Bank restricting the sale of Israeli war bonds. The Central Bank is facilitating the sale of these war bonds. That is the truth and the Irish Government seems to have no interest in doing anything about it. My colleague Deputy Cian O'Callaghan stated clearly yesterday that legal advice from Oireachtas lawyers says that stopping the sale of these bonds is compatible with EU, international and Irish law.

Again, I ask why we are permitting the use of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which this Government has endorsed. This basically condemns any criticism of the actions of the genocidal Israeli state as antisemitic. Why has this Government endorsed that? It is not credible action. Why are we allowing dual-use products and military weapons to fly over Ireland, effectively facilitating the delivery of arms that are being used to kill children? Why are we doing that? If we say that we are doing everything in our power to meet our obligations under the Genocide Convention, why are these things still happening? That is what people are out there protesting and campaigning for every day. It is not a matter of Opposition versus Government as Senator Ahearn has suggested. We believe these actions will make a difference and go beyond solidarity and state recognition. I welcome the new words we are hearing from the Government and I will work with Government on the foreign affairs committee to get these things done. The Minister of State knows that.

Senator Ahearn should not laugh; I am being genuine. I am devastated by what is happening in Gaza. We all are but there is not enough action being taken. We have called for this and I am delighted that we are finally having a debate in this Chamber on the matter. We have been in the Seanad four months now and this is the first time we are having statements on this. This is not a laughing matter. I am sorry that I am getting emotional but we are all emotional. We all watch what is going on in the news, we all feel helpless and we all feel like we are not doing enough but I have outlined many credible and meaningful actions we could be taking here. I hope the Government will take it seriously and that we will take credible action on Gaza.