Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position of the three year plan presented by former chairman of the World Bank (details supplied) for the revitalisation of Gaza. [25261/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government and our EU partners strongly supported the work of James Wolfensohn during his tenure as Quartet Special Envoy with responsibility for the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. Mr. Wolfensohn stood down from the position on 30 April this year. The Secretary-General of the UN expressed his deep appreciation for Mr Wolfensohn's efforts, a sentiment echoed by the Quartet, which also noted his central role in the conclusion of the Agreement on Movement and Access and the development of an agenda for Palestinian economic recovery.

In advance of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Mr Wolfensohn put forward a package of security and economic measures with the objective of developing the economy of the area and the prospects for its people. Key to his recommendations were provisions to ensure freedom of movement of both people and goods between Gaza and the outside world including, crucially, between Gaza and the West Bank. One outcome of this package was the transfer of Israeli-run greenhouses to the ownership of Palestinian co-operatives, a measure which was partly financed by Mr Wolfensohn personally. Another outcome was the Agreement on Movement and Access brokered between Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Egypt in November 2005 which was to ensure the freedom of movement for people and goods, which had been identified as essential to the future economic development of Gaza.

Subsequent developments have not been encouraging and little progress has been made on implementation of either the original recommendations made by Mr. Wolfensohn or the commitments entered into by Israel and the PA in the Agreement on Movement and Access. The Government, together with our partners in the EU, has consistently encouraged the parties to resume work towards such implementation and we will continue to do so.