Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)

The specific line in the reply is "there is no intention to purchase military equipment from Israel". This is an issue the Senator has been passionate about, not just for the past 18 or 20 months, but for a long time. Like him, we are horrified by what has happened. We have been to the forefront in the European Union in condemning what is happening in Israel for quite some time, and we are quite shocked by it. Where international politics are concerned, it is something we take very seriously. There is no intention to collaborate with Israel in what is happening, good, bad or indifferent. We have always been to the forefront in terms of the Israeli people as well, as has the Senator's family going back generations. For my party, going back to the late Brian Lenihan Snr., it is something we are very serious about. We are all horrified with what is happening across the region at the moment. "Horrified" does not even describe the revulsion that we feel on it.

I take the points the Senator has made on the issue and I will certainly endeavour to get more up-to-date information for him.