Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the human rights violations that have taken place in Gaza, Palestine, in recent weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22740/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No 31 on 15 May on this topic, and also to my address to a Topical Issues debate on 9 May and my more detailed statement during Statements on Palestine on 15 May, all dealing specifically with this issue. A central element of my response in those contributions was to call for an independent and transparent investigation of the events in Gaza.

Further to those remarks, at my instruction Ireland co-sponsored a motion at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling for a Special Session of the Council to discuss these events. At that Special Session on 18 May Ireland supported a resolution which inter-alia provided for the establishment of an independent Commission of Inquiry into what happened and why. Ireland does not currently sit on the Council and so did not have a vote. The resolution was adopted and the Commission will now be established.