asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the attitude of the Government to the question of granting the Palestinian Liberation Movement the right to a homeland of their own.

Ireland, together with our partners in the EEC, has recognised that in the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East account must be taken of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, including their right to a homeland.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs in his address on behalf of the nine EEC countries to the United Nations on 25 September last, a copy of which he has placed in the Library of the Houses of the Oireachtas, reiterated this point of view and stated further that the Palestinian people are entitled, within the framework set by a peace settlement, to exercise their right to determine their own future as a people. He also stressed their right, through their representatives, to play their full part in the negotiation of a comprehensive settlement.

10.