Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

164. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide a report on the conference on the Middle East peace process hosted by France on 15 January 2017; if there are plans for any future conference; and if his Department, in line with a motion passed unanimously by Dáil Éireann on 10 December 2014, will recommend that Ireland should officially recognise the state of Palestine. [3369/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I refer the Deputy to my reply today to Oral Question 56, in which I reported in detail on the Paris Conference.

The effort was certainly worthwhile, in bringing together the international community to restate its support for the two state solution to the conflict, at a time when other crises in the region have dominated international attention. But it has not been possible as yet to inject renewed momentum into the peace process.

The statement agreed by the participants provides for the possibility of further meetings, but it is not possible at this point to anticipate when such further Ministerial conferences might take place.

There may still remain some continuing work on areas highlighted during the Paris meetings, including a proposed civil society forum, arising out of a working group on the role of civil society, in which Ireland has been participating.

The question of national recognition by Ireland of a state of Palestine is a separate issue. As I have reported to the Dáil, I keep under continuous review the question of whether and when an immediate recognition by Ireland might be helpful, bearing in mind the positive and negative arguments which I have previously outlined.