I am not quite certain what the Deputy is getting at. Ireland has been very active politically, diplomatically and at all multilateral fora, whether the UN Security Council, where we have raised the issue consistently, or within the European Union, which remains the biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority and a significant donor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA. Ireland is a strong donor to UNRWA and we give strong support internationally because we bel…

Deputy Andrews made the point of the comparison between Iran and Palestine. Deputy Ó Murchú said Europe does not seem to care or act. Ireland does, though. When Shireen Abu Akleh was killed, Ireland raised the issue during our tenure on the UN Security Council. We did not stay silent on it. We called for an impartial, independent and effective investigation and, on 24 May, we organised a meeting of the Security Council on the protection of journalists. A Dáil debate on journalists and armed conflict took place on t…

I appreciate the Deputy's comments and thank him for his kind personal comments. The recent political and technical engagements between the EU and the UK around the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol are welcome. While technical work is ongoing, I believe it is best to give the EU and UK teams space to find joint solutions that will address the concerns of people and business in Northern Ireland. The Government continues to engage with all key stakeholders in this process. I had a meeting with the Prim…

I accept the Deputy's sentiments. I am acutely aware of concerns unionism has on the operation of the protocol. I believe the EU is aware of that too and that, through meetings over the past year, Vice President Maroš Šefčovič has made himself aware of those issues and concerns and is anxious to respond to those concerns. We have also been very anxious to allow space to the EU negotiating team and the UK Government negotiating team. There are issues. We have acknowledged and accepted there are issues, through our m…

It is important to reiterate and reassert the constitutional position of the Good Friday Agreement, that is, that the principle of consent remains intact. That is the bona fide position of the Irish Government and of all parties to the agreement. Second, in all my meetings with all parties in Northern Ireland, no one has suggested that access to the European Union or the Single Market should cease because it is of huge benefit to exporters in Northern Ireland. Having access to both the UK market and the EU market c…

Since Russia commenced its unjustified and unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine, we have consistently expressed Ireland's unwavering solidarity with Ukraine and support for its sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. We have used our voice at the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council and other multilateral fora to call for accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine. Ireland has pushed for the Security Council to hold Russia accountable, to …

I am sorry; I thought political representatives could be mentioned.

Okay. The point is taken. Accountability is extremely important because we have to call out Russia's cynical attempts to use the Council and other United Nations bodies to spread disinformation. Ireland voted to exclude Russia from the UN Human Rights Council and has co-sponsored three resolutions at the UN General Assembly condemning Russia’s aggression and calling for humanitarian access. We supported the decision by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that the Russian Federation should cease to b…

In my previous role as Taoiseach, we had been pursuing the entire issue of accountability for Russia. It is complex legally but it is one area where Ireland feels it can make a contribution. I outlined earlier the different decisions we have taken, for example, that the Russian Federation should cease to be a member at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe; that we submitted a request for leave to intervene as a third party in the proceedings brought by Ukraine against Russia before the European Court…

I agree with the Deputy's general comment about how Russia has behaved in recent years. There were many warning signs but I thought the poisoning of people in the United Kingdom, in Salisbury and London, provoked too lame a response from the West. This was an appalling public health attack, as well as the murder of individuals. It was a public health attack that put many people in the United Kingdom at risk due to the radioactive material and nerve agents and so on. It seems to me that over time, with the invasion …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 119 together. I thank the Deputy for his kind comments. Since assuming my new role, I have had the opportunity for constructive exchanges with both the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, and the newly appointed US special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs, Joe Kennedy III. During my recent call with the Secretary of State, we discussed the conflict in Ukraine as well as a number of other foreign policy issues of mutual interest. In particular, our discussion…

I thank the Deputy for his comments. The response of the US and the White House to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has, fortunately, been balanced. That was the case when the US wanted to avoid the war. It has also done everything possible to support Ukraine in its pursuit of its entitlement under the UN Charter to self-defence. The US has done that in a way that avoids, if at all possible, escalation to a worse conflagration. I think the US has found the fine line in that regard. It has navigated a balanc…

I thank the Deputy for his comment and agree with him. I hope that if outstanding issues are resolved, we could create a platform for further investment in the economy of Northern Ireland. Historically, it has not done as well as other regions on the island. The cessation of violence and the Downing Street Declaration helped economic development in the North and it has improved significantly. There is, however, no doubt that maintaining access to the European Single Market and the UK market is of huge importance to…

I thank the Deputy. In Ukraine last July, I heard first-hand accounts from civilians of the brutality and violence visited upon men, women and children by occupying Russian forces. Where Russia's forces have been pushed back, we have seen wanton destruction and the uncovering of mass civilian graves in towns and villages. Ireland supports initiatives to bring to account the individual perpetrators of atrocity crimes, including war crimes, committed in Ukraine since Russia's latest invasion of that country in Februa…

The principle of accountability is very important. At the commencement of and during all wars in the past, accountability has seemed a long way off and appeared an almost unachievable proposition. We should know from history that accountability can and does happen in the aftermath of terrible wars. We saw that recently in the Balkans. We must pursue those who perpetrate war and engage in the crimes in question. They must know that there will be a day of reckoning or, at the very least, that there could be such a da…

Early last year, the Estonian Prime Minister was the first to put forward the idea of utilising Russian assets that have been frozen to facilitate reconstruction in Ukraine. When this suggestion was put forward at the European Council, there was not a big take-up in respect of it. I gave support to Prime Minister Kallas of Estonia and stated that we needed to pursue the matter. Momentum since then has grown significantly, and the proposal put forward is being actively looked at by the European Commission and member…

I was very pleased to launch the shared island civic society fund earlier this month. The fund forms part of the Government’s shared island initiative, which I established more than two years ago, and will build on all of the progress already made on infrastructure, research and community projects. Through the shared island dialogue series, we learned that civic society groups across the island would benefit from enhanced support to deepen their work with cross-Border partners on issues of common interest. The shar…

I agree with the Deputy. Applications are invited from a range of civic society community organisations, business and trade union representative groups and regional or national representative bodies. Of course, we are also including the under-represented voices of women, young people, older people, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQI+ community. Applications will have a North-South dimension. The Deputy made a point about the younger generations and the many people born since the Good Friday Agreement came into being. In…

The deadline for applications for the current funding round is Monday, 27 February, so the Deputy had better get the application in. Officials in my Department are happy to engage with anyone who has a query regarding the eligibility of a specific organisation or project. Further funding rounds will be scheduled and will take account of any learnings gained from the first call for applications. Full details on the shared island civic society fund, including eligibility criteria and the application process informati…

As I said earlier, I am very concerned by the demolitions and evictions in the occupied Palestinian territory. Demolitions and seizures of Palestinian property and humanitarian aid accelerated in 2022, which saw a record number of Palestinians affected by demolitions, evictions and confiscations. I have been consistently forthright in voicing my opposition to Israeli settlement activity, including demolitions and evictions, in the occupied West Bank. These actions are a clear violation of international law and stan…