Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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479. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the way he will respond to the open letter titled Palestine's Call from a group of Palestinian civil and political society organisations which was sent to all Oireachtas Members; his plans to exert pressure on the state of Israel, through the use of sanctions and other parliamentary actions, to end its illegal occupation of Palestine and to grant Palestinian persons their rights in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international law, as requested in the letter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21949/16]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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480. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline his views on Palestine's Call, the open letter from 45 Palestinians political and civil groups calling on the Government to act to bring justice to Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21955/16]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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481. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the actions he will take in view of Palestine's Call, the open letter sent to all Oireachtas Members from Palestinian civil and political groups. [21956/16]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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482. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will address the issues raised in Palestine's Call, the open letter recently sent to all Oireachtas Members from Palestinian civil and political society; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21957/16]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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483. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the way in which he will respond to the open letter from Palestinian civil and political society sent to all Oireachtas Members, Palestine's Call; and the action he will take to exert pressure on the state of Israel, through the use of sanctions and other parliamentary actions, to end its illegal occupation of Palestine and to grant Palestinian people their rights in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international law, as requested in the letter. [21958/16]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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484. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the actions he will take in response to Palestine's Call, the open letter sent to all Houses of the Oireachtas Members from Palestinian civil and political groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21988/16]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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485. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the action he will take in view of Palestine's Call, the open letter sent to all Houses of the Oireachtas Members from Palestinian civil and political groups. [22005/16]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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494. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline his views on correspondence from a group (details supplied) that made a recent submission to his Department; the actions he will take to address the issues raised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22757/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 479 to 485, inclusive, and 494 together.

Like other Deputies, I myself received a copy of the letter referred to, which appears to have been drawn up by the Irish NGO concerned, and then Palestinian signatories gathered.

The Government remains active and engaged on the objective of trying to achieve a two state solution in the Middle East, including a fully sovereign and free Palestinian state. There are few western countries as consistently engaged on this issue as Ireland. I have worked continuously to try and maintain the problems of Palestine on the EU and international agenda, despite a wave of concurrent crises in the immediate neighbourhood, and have urged stronger international actions. We will continue to do so.

I have myself recently returned from my second extensive visit to the area in just over a year, meeting the parties and trying to urge them to move forward.

Ireland is also engaged on the ground in trying to combat the effects of the occupation, both through our own humanitarian work and through our support of local NGOs engaged on justice and human rights work, a number of whom are among the signatories of this letter.

I fully share the frustration of the signatories, of Deputies in the House, and of others, that the process has been completely stalled in recent years, and that there is not a stronger international will to drive it forward. I have therefore given the Government’s full support to the efforts by France in recent weeks to do just that.

The letter, and the Questions posed by Deputies, make particular reference to the call for trade sanctions upon Israel. We have discussed this question on many occasions, with this NGO, here in the House, and elsewhere. The essential point remains unchanged: I am opposed to sanctions and, in any event, there is no possibility of obtaining any support for such sanctions at EU level, which is where they would have to be implemented. I have, however, been an advocate of measures which differentiate clearly between Israel and the illegally occupied settlements. These include the guidelines adopted on research co-operation which exclude entities based in the settlements from benefitting from funding under the EU-Israel research agreement, and on origin of products to ensure that consumers are not misled as to the provenance of any products emanating from the settlements.