Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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25. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to set out the contacts he has had with UN and EU Member States concerning the urgent need to have a ceasefire in Gaza, in particular his contacts with US, Egyptian and Qatari representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36390/24]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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47. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the work he and his Department have done to encourage a ceasefire in Gaza, aside from calling for one. [40633/24]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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48. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which he and the Government continue in their endeavours to bring about a cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, unilaterally or through the aegis of the EU/UN; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40587/24]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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57. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline his engagements at the UN Security Council regarding Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. [40630/24]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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63. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made to bring to a peaceful conclusion the current volatile climate in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40596/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 47, 48, 57 and 63 together.

The ongoing crisis in the Middle East continues to be a central focus of my engagement at EU and international level.

I have had frequent and intensive engagement with EU counterparts over recent weeks, including at the informal meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council in August and September, as well as an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers by video conference on 30 September. These discussions have focused on the situation in the wider region including Lebanon, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also welcome that our Arab partners, including Egypt and Qatar, engaged with EU Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council in May of this year, with discussions focused on the need for an immediate ceasefire as well as on the Arab Peace Plan.

My intensive engagement with regional and international partners has also continued on both a multilateral and bilateral basis, most recently during UN High Level Week in September. I attended a dinner focused on the Middle East hosted by the International Peace Institute and Qatar, with participation by Foreign Ministers from the region, Spain and Norway, as well as the EU HRVP and Mary Robinson as a representative of The Elders. On Wednesday 25 September, I addressed the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan. I also met bilaterally with my counterparts from Egypt, Jordan and the State of Palestine.

Ongoing US engagement is essential to finding a solution to the current conflict. The former Taoiseach highlighted Ireland’s position to President Biden when they met on St. Patrick’s Day this year. I have reiterated this in all my engagements with the US and the international community, most recently during High Level Week at the UN in New York last month. The Taoiseach will meet President Biden this week in Washington D.C.

Priorities across all my engagements at EU and international level have included Ireland’s clear and consistent call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and humanitarian access at scale to Gaza. I have consistently underlined the need for all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, and Ireland’s view that the limits under international law on the use of force in self-defence to no more than what is necessary and proportionate have been exceeded by Israel in its military response to the Hamas attack.

During my address to the UN Security Council, I also welcomed the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a Resolution addressing follow-up to the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. Ireland co-sponsored the Resolution and was one of 124 UN Member States to vote in favour. I have underlined at EU and international level that we, as the international community, must now turn our minds to implementation.

I have also reiterated that Ireland's approach at EU and international level remains grounded in the belief that the only just and sustainable peaceful solution, for both Palestinians and Israelis, is a two-state solution. In this respect, the need for concrete steps towards the implementation of the two-State solution is also a key focus of my ongoing engagement, including with Arab partners.