Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-01-22 ============================================================ Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow I thank Deputy O'Callaghan very much for raising the matter. Just to remind all of us, including myself, the original idea in relation to a Board of Peace – I will get to what I think are the very serious issues with it – arose from the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict which on 17 November received support from the United Nations. On 17 November the United Nations voted to adopt a resolution endorsing the comprehensive plan and it was envisaged that as the next stage of that plan there would be the formation of some form of board to assist in advancing it. Of course Ireland and many other countries around Europe and the world were eager to play a constructive role. A country like Ireland can of course bring to that table significant experience in conflict resolution, decommissioning, respect for international law and our long-standing commitment to a two-state solution. That is the context. Let me also be very clear what we are seeing today at this signing ceremony could not be further removed from that original conversation and the Deputy’s comments are right about the lack of reference to Gaza and the very serious red flags. Anything Putin is considering joining with the word “peace” in it does not sit well. The cost of $1 billion to join does not sit well and also anything that in any way seeks to undermine, replace or usurp the United Nations is not something the Government would support and I do not think it is something Dáil Éireann or the people of Ireland would support either. There are very significant governance issues with it as well, including that, as envisaged, the charter suggests the President of the United States – as in the current incumbent – would be the chair and that person would also have the ability to designate his successor and appoint, remove and renew members of the executive, so you could pay the $1 billion and be kicked off the thing. There is a whole range of very serious issues here. What the Taoiseach is doing on behalf of the Government by not turning up at the signing ceremony today is entirely responsible. I was at a meeting of EPP leaders yesterday and no European leader has turned up at the signing ceremony bar President Trump’s ally, if you like, Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary. It is our expectation that at the European Council dinner this evening of European heads of state and heads of government that this issue will further be considered. I am not suggesting Deputy O’Callaghan is but I would not like to see our position in any way misrepresented. We have not joined the board, we did not turn up at the signing ceremony but we are obviously going to discuss it with our EU colleagues because Europe needs to stand united in supporting the primacy of the United Nations and making sure we get the focus back here to what was meant to be phase 2 of the peace plan for Gaza. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, who is here with us, was in the Middle East last week, I believe. She was at the Rafah crossing seeing for herself the impact of Irish humanitarian aid - of funding from the people of this country - but also seeing what more can and must be done. The Taoiseach was right to make the point Ireland is very eager to see how we can play a practical role in trying to help alleviate the most horrific humanitarian situation. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-22/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:32+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-22