Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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74. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the way in which he will progress the UN resolution 2334 (2016) (details supplied); if he will support the persons of occupied Palestine; and his views on the effect on the viability of the two state solution. [3032/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the particular efforts being made by the Government to help restart the Middle East peace process; if he envisages any progress on the stalemate in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3038/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 84 together.

UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted on 23 December, was an important and timely re-statement of key international positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and its resolution. The Security Council stated unambiguously its support for a two state solution to the conflict, and focused particular attention on the issue of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. I welcomed the Council’s reiteration that settlements, and actions to alter the demographic balance in the occupied areas, are illegal and an obstacle to peace. These are not new developments: these have been the positions of Ireland, of the EU, of the UN and of the international community as a whole for many years.

The Middle East Conference in Paris on 15 January, which I attended, provided the opportunity for the broader international community in turn to confirm its full support for the two state solution. I have reported in more detail on this Conference in my earlier reply to Question 56.

These two steps have been important and timely precisely because the Middle East Peace process has been effectively suspended for almost three years now. It is fair to say that among the Ministers I met at Paris there was very little optimism about the prospects for restarting the political process at this time. The demands of the concurrent crises in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East are a major factor in this view. Much will depend, as it always does, on the positions and priorities of the new US Administration.

For our part, Ireland will continue to review what additional steps might be taken to encourage political progress and stands ready to support any efforts to restart a political process, as we have done in the last year to assist the French initiative. In particular, we will continue to argue, as I have done, that the international community as a whole needs to exert more pressure on the parties themselves to re-engage.