Legislative Programme
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

I agree with the Deputy that what is happening is appalling. I fully agree that what we are seeing is appalling. The ceasefire is not a proper ceasefire. Over 400 people have been killed since then and proper aid is not being let in. I visited the area myself at the beginning of the year and saw that goods that are by no means, or could ever be described as, a threat are not being let in. Enough food is still not being let in. We are doing our utmost. Our focus, and my priority at the outset, is to ensure that aid gets in because that is the most immediate need. Parallel to that, we need to determine how we stop what is escalating in the West Bank. I fully agree we are seeing an increase in settler violence and displacement. What I also know, from talking to my European colleagues and from the actions we have taken in the past that have helped to lead us the ceasefire, albeit an imperfect one, is that we are most effective when we act in unison and work together at a European level. A number of European countries are progressing legislation and looking at what we are doing as well. We are engaging with them, and where we make movement together and where we are looking at legislation that can actually be enacted and be impactful, we can make a bigger difference. That does not mean we are not doing anything in the meantime. We are providing assistance and increasing our assistance in ways other countries are not. We are also calling at every opportunity for progress on the peace board, the board that has been put in place to try to develop and ensure that people on the ground are starting to see a normal way of life again. However, a lot more work needs to be done and I appreciate that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26