Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements Dail Éireann — 2026-06-16 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central The first question was from Deputy Malcolm Byrne. The additional staff in the Department of foreign affairs are focused on the Presidency and that is why they were recruited. As I have said before, it will mean a very significant additional workload all round but the Government is absolutely determined to maintain its focus on the domestic agenda, both within the Dáil and in terms of policies and the implementation of them. Already, we are working on the budget and we have had a number of preliminary meetings, which is earlier than normal, because of the Presidency and we have to reorganise our schedules and so on. The Presidency simply means a heavier workload all round. We have obligations to deliver not just a strong, competent and efficient Presidency but one that leaves an impact for the better for the European Union and for our own citizens as well. Deputy Ó Cearúil raised the issue of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. I wrote to the President of the EU Council some weeks ago asking that he would put this issue on the agenda for this week, on Thursday and Friday, in respect of the need to respond to the Israeli waging of war on Lebanon and the continued subjugation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and that Europe simply has to respond. I followed up on that issue - that the Council simply has to respond - during my meeting with Kaja Kallas, the high representative, when she visited late last week. The issue is whether we can secure a majority to support a suspension, if not of the entire agreement, at least of elements of the agreement and that is proving challenging. In my view, a vote should be held at some stage and the issue should be put to a vote, either at the Foreign Affairs Council, FAC, or at a future Council meeting. I would make the point, and other questions were raised on this, that Europe remains the largest donor to Palestine of any entity across the world, and to Palestinians more generally. It remains the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority, by significantly more than its neighbours. Yes, there are issues in terms of the inability of Europe to develop a consensus on Israeli atrocities in Gaza but Europe has been to the forefront in providing a continued range of supports. There has been a lack of access to Gaza. It is quite extraordinary that international authorities and powers, bar the UN and others, have not been allowed into Gaza and that the international media has not been allowed into Gaza to witness the horrors that have unfolded. That is something I have been consistently pushing for. Deputy Boyd Barrett also raised this issue and I reassert that point. There are positives to the European contribution to Palestine as well, which we should not lose sight of. For example, it is arguable that without the European Union, the Palestinian Authority would be in even greater difficulty because Israel has withheld all revenues that are legitimately owed to the Palestinian Authority, which is impairing its capacity to deliver services in the West Bank. There is a greater encroachment in the West Bank, which needs very urgent attention from the international community because it will render non-viable, if it continues, the prospect of a two-state solution. I think we have to be careful of the words "complicit in genocide". It is a wonderful slogan to articulate but I think it is unfair. --- 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/2026-06-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:50+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-16