Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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128. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when his Department intends to evacuate from the occupied Palestinian territories persons who have been granted visas for Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35622/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My Department, including through our Embassies and Consulates worldwide, provides consular assistance to Irish citizens in difficulty abroad within the remit of its Consular Assistance Charter.

Since the start of this crisis my Department has worked with the relevant authorities to facilitate the exit from Gaza of those Irish citizens, and accompanying dependants, who have expressed a wish to leave. To date, 142 eligible persons have been supported by the Department to leave Gaza.

We continue to advocate with the authorities in relation to those Irish citizens and dependants who have not yet been permitted to leave. Unfortunately, we are very limited in our ability to provide consular assistance to individuals that are not Irish citizens.

Ireland remains fully engaged on the situation in Gaza where we are continuing to witness appalling scenes. Israel’s continued military offensive and plans to establish full control of the Strip are extremely alarming. We are alarmed by ongoing mass casualty incidents near distribution centres run by private contractors under the new Israeli-approved model. We strongly urge Israeli authorities to exercise restraint. We need an urgent end to hostilities.