Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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122. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps he has taken to address weapons being carried through Irish airspace to Israel; the complicity of Ireland in a genocidal war; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27523/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Responsibility for the regulation of foreign aircraft landing or overflying the State is shared between Departments. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has primary responsibility for the regulation of foreign military and state aircraft, while the Minister for Transport leads on regulation of civil aircraft.

Under the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order, 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly, or land in, the State require diplomatic clearance from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Diplomatic clearance is subject to strict conditions, including that the aircraft is unarmed; that it carries no arms, ammunition or explosives; that it does not engage in intelligence gathering; and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation.

Since October 2023, diplomatic clearance has been granted on a small number of occasions for US military aircraft to land in Shannon for the specific purpose of transporting senior officials travelling from the United States to the Middle East. Stringent procedures for diplomatic clearance were followed in full on each of these occasions.

Furthermore, under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 1989, it is expressly prohibited for civil aircraft to carry munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory, without being granted an exemption to do so by the Minister for Transport.

Since October 2023, no applications have been received or exemptions granted to permit the carriage of munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory for a flight by a civil aircraft destined for a point in Israel.

The Department of Transport has been undertaking a detailed examination of the allegations made concerning alleged contraventions of Irish legislation relating to the carriage of munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory.

The Genocide Convention prohibits genocide and obliges its contracting parties to prevent it. In this context, Ireland has been unequivocal in calling for the full implementation of the binding preliminary measures issued by the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s case against Israel under that Convention and has promoted that message tirelessly with EU and international partners.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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123. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the representations he has made within the EU to bring about an end to the blockade of essential aid to Gaza. [27524/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government has consistently condemned the blockade of essential aid to Gaza and called for the immediate resumption of unimpeded humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza. The humanitarian situation in the Strip is catastrophic with almost no aid allowed in by Israel since 2 March. The limited amount of aid allowed in in recent days is clearly insufficient.

Following the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council last Tuesday, the EU High Representative announced that the EU will conduct a review of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

This is an important decision, reflecting the grave concerns held by Member States regarding the ongoing military operations by Israel and the blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

This is a position that I reiterated very clearly, alongside my counterparts from Spain, Slovenia and Luxembourg, in a joint letter to the High Representative in advance of the Foreign Affairs Council. As the House will be aware, Ireland and Spain first called for this step to be taken in February 2024.

We underlined the need for the review to be undertaken urgently and that, based on this work, the High Representative should, working with the Commission as a whole, bring forward concrete proposals for appropriate measures.

As both the Taoiseach and I made clear in the Dáil last week, it is also our view that the operation of the Association Agreement should be suspended pending the outcome of a review of Israel’s compliance.

On 19 May, Ireland signed up to a joint statement with 23 other donor countries and the EU urging Israel to allow a greater resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially.

In my intervention at the EU-Israel Association Council in February, I also underlined the EU’s call for full and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.

Only an immediate end to hostilities and a full, unimpeded resumption of humanitarian aid delivery can prevent a further descent into that grim reality for Gazans.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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125. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to reports (details supplied) that the government of Hungary has vetoed sanctions against extremist settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories at the European Union level, and therefore that these sanctions, and any further sanctions in relation to Israel that are supported by the Government, are unlikely to be agreed at the EU level, whether there are any plans to take action to impose sanctions of any kind without the endorsement of the European Union or the institutions thereof. [27533/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Sanctions are an important tool to promote the objectives of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy in response to breaches of international law including international humanitarian law and human rights.

I welcome that the European Union adopted successive rounds of sanctions against violent Israeli settlers under its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, in April and in July last year.

The European Council has invited the Council to take work forward on further restrictive measures against extremist settlers and against entities and organisations which support them.

Ireland is strongly opposed to Israel’s settlement policy and activities, including in and around East Jerusalem, and continues to call for the imposition of further sanctions against illegal settlers at EU level.

Ireland called for progress on proposals for sanctions targeting violent settlers at the Foreign Affairs Council on 20 May.

Instances of settler violence have intensified in recent months. It is vital that the perpetrators of these crimes are held to account. The Government will continue to press for progress at EU level on this issue.