Lynn Ruane (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Today, I find this Commencement matter a little difficult to think about. Before I came into the Chamber, I got word that one of the families I reference in this have not heard from their three children in Gaza since I met them last week. That mother is Bushra. I met her and her son Mohammed this day last week. There are currently ten families still awaiting reunification with their children and siblings. I met this young boy last week who had lost his leg in an Israeli airstrike and lost his father in that same airstrike. His mother came here with him to seek medical care through the medical evacuations but he was split from his three siblings who are orphaned in the Gaza Strip and who are receiving some basic care from their 81-year-old grandmother who is not in a position to care for them. They have been displaced three times since Bushra arrived here with her son.

Mohammed spoke about missing playing with his siblings. I have done nothing but think about play since then, which is probably an unusual thing to think about but we heal grief through play. When we think of our sibling relationships, it is a moment where we feel freedom. When you think of the hypervigilance Mohammed and his family must have felt in Gaza and the trauma they experienced, we truly feel our sovereign selves when we engage and sit into play because, for those moments, we can at least be free from the trauma that has completely enveloped their lives.

Mohammed currently does not have his three siblings with him and that is an absolute travesty. There is a fine line between not being dead and being alive. When we provide physical care to somebody to keep them alive, we must understand that, as a whole person, as a whole family, we cannot keep them alive but then kill them spiritually and psychologically. We need to ensure that, in saving Mohammed, we also save his future and he is not left to carry the burden of wondering where his three siblings are today and not being able to connect with them and know they are still alive. They are also only children. We cannot orphan children in Gaza when they could be here with Bushra and with Mohammed.

Last week when I met this young, amazing, resilient boy, beyond any resilience I think any of us could comprehend, we went over to the canteen to buy a bar of chocolate and he chose a Kit Kat. He then communicated through his mother that he chose that because he could break the fingers into one finger of chocolate for each of his siblings. If we can see the level of bounds of that young boy's heart, we have to be able to keep his heart healing and keep it growing because his progression, his rehabilitation and his life depends on his family being here with him, just like those nine other families. Like I said, we cannot just focus on the physical living of an individual, we must focus on the whole. We must focus on their spiritual and psychological well-being and we must focus on being able to keep families together so they can begin to process the grief and trauma they have endured and they can do that together.

What we need to know today is what actions are being taken to reunify those families. The ten families are waiting and I paid particular attention to Bushra and her situation today, purposely because their father is also gone so they are on their own. There currently has been no communication for seven days with those young children.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Senator for bringing this matter regarding the process for family reunification in respect of the families under the Gaza medical initiative. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, who unfortunately could not be here this morning.

First, on my behalf and on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, I express our sympathies to all the Palestinian people for the difficult circumstances they are encountering. There is no justification for the devastating loss of life and the attacks on civilians and healthcare services in Gaza. I am advised by the Minister that his Department is acutely aware of the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and his officials are working closely with their colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure a co-ordinated national response to this volatile and evolving situation. This includes their work to evacuate Irish citizens and their families who may require visa assistance.

Ireland has a strong tradition of providing humanitarian assistance. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has been supporting the Minister for Health and the HSE in facilitating the evacuation of paediatric patients in line with the Government decision to accept up to 30 paediatric patients from Gaza and their carers, in response to the World Health Organization's request to react to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Department of Health and the HSE continue to lead on future medical evacuation operations and will bring all actors together again in the response.

Medical evacuation operations are extraordinarily difficult. Ireland has carried out two successful medical evacuations of 12 paediatric patients out of the commitment of up to 30 patients, with 12 carers and a further 21 family members accompanying the patients.All the family members have been medically assessed and are being treated for a range of conditions as necessary.

On 15 July 2025, the Government amended the scope of the Gaza medical evacuation initiative to allow family members of paediatric patients who are parents, minor siblings or adult dependent siblings of the patient, on grant of visas, to enter the State. This decision not only applies to future medical evacuation operations but also to the families already here who have qualifying family members still in Gaza. The Minister, Deputy Jim O’Callaghan, assures me that he appreciates that those who have been medically evacuated are eager for their family members to join them in Ireland. It remains the Department’s policy that the families brought to Ireland under the Gaza medical evacuation initiative should not be separated. I am advised by the Minister that his Department will swiftly consider all applications from Gaza on a case-by-case basis. The Irish Red Cross has offered to assist families in Ireland to apply for entry visas for their family members still in Gaza. We are committed to supporting the evacuation of the remaining children with their families. The officials of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, officials are working closely with the Department of Health regarding future arrivals who are expected later in the year. While the Department can grant visas for eligible family members to travel to Ireland, it is not in a position to provide practical assistance to family members who are seeking evacuation directly from Gaza.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We must be very clear on the exact steps. An article published in The Irish Times yesterday insinuated that no one would be medically evacuated if they did not have a surviving parent to care for them. This is inaccurate. Bushra's three children did not have a surviving parent to evacuate with them. On aiding them on the other side, I do not know how to even begin to imagine a scenario where we try to co-ordinate the evacuation of three children on the other side, which means we need to identify an advocate or another family member to come with them. The problem is that all we know is that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, brought a memorandum to the Government this week recognising that Ireland should also evacuate patients' siblings for humanitarian reasons, but there has been no more clarity about when those family members will be reunited. We understand that the intention is reunification, but there is still no detail on how we will evacuate children to join their siblings, to ensure we offer full refuge and care to families. That is currently not happening and, unfortunately, the response still has not provided that clarity from the Department.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I assure the Senator that the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, remains extremely concerned about the situation in Gaza and the Government is committed to supporting international efforts to bring an end to this dreadful conflict. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration will continue to support its colleagues in the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Health in further medical evacuation operations.

On timelines surrounding the arrival of these people, visa applications from Palestine are received by the Embassy of Ireland in Tel Aviv, which processes certain visa applications under delegated sanction on behalf of the Department. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan's, officials in the visa division are in regular contact with the embassy regarding visa applications from residents of Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Both Departments work together to ensure visa applications for Palestinian nationals who meet the criteria to be granted a visa are processed as swiftly as possible. The embassy is actively engaging with applicants to gather the required documents to ensure the visa division of the Department has everything it needs to progress these applications.

The Minister assures the Palestinian community and their loved ones that officials in the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration will process their applications as swiftly as possible. While the Department cannot help directly with the evacuation of people from Gaza, colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have, since the beginning of the crisis, supported and facilitated the travel of more than 200 people from Gaza to Ireland. They will continue to help as much as they can and the Department of justice will do all it can to assist them in their efforts.

I again express my sympathies to the people of Palestine on what is a very difficult situation.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Before I thank the Minister of State and Senators for their contributions, I welcome to the Gallery Deputy Cleere and his three special guests, Erin Hoare, Oisín Hennebry and Caroline Morrisey. I reassure the guests that at times I see steam coming out of the ears of Deputy Cleere in the corridors of Leinster House. He has been working extremely hard since he was elected.

I will pick up on one small point from Senator Ruane. It is the play therapy concept, which could be explored. As a former secondary school teacher, I have seen it in action. A lot of what she said hit home. I acknowledge that.

The Minister of State covered everything from enterprise to health, tourism, employment, justice and home affairs. He covered a wide range of briefs today. I thank him for his responses and, in the instances where he did not have the full answers, I thank him for his commitment to liaise with the relevant Ministers and revert to the Seanad. It is much appreciated.

Bhí sé mar onóir ollmhór orm a bheith i mo Chathaoirleach Gníomhach don chéad uair inniu sa Seanad. Is onóir ollmhór é a bheith in ann suí anseo mar Chathaoirleach Gníomhach. Gabhaim buíochas le na Seanadóirí as ucht na hoibre ar fad atá á déanamh acu agus leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Grealish.