It is easy to feel completely hopeless and helpless watching the disaster unfold in Gaza. Today, there was a small glimpse of light. Up to 30 Irish citizens who had been trapped in a hell on earth for more than five weeks are finally getting out. I really hope they and every Irish citizen can escape the carnage. For the more than 2 million people who remain in Gaza, the nightmare continues. The horror is unimaginable. Yesterday, the Taoiseach's colleague the Minister, Deputy Harris, described it as a war on children. Strong words, but where is the action? How can the Government know that, say that and do nothing?

Europe is Israel's biggest trading partner. Trade is governed by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which has an essential elements human rights clause. Israel's savage onslaught in Gaza does not just breach that clause; it makes a mockery of it. When I raised this with the Taoiseach last week, he suggested that the prospect of economic sanctions was somehow fanciful, but the text of the human rights clause in that deal is clear and unambiguous. It is not a matter of subjective opinion. It is a matter of legal obligation.

The Social Democrats are not the only ones making this argument. Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews and 30 other MEPs have written to Ursula von der Leyen seeking a review of the EU-Israel trade deal on similar grounds. Belgium's deputy Prime Minister, Petra De Sutter, has also called for the deal to be suspended. What we are asking the Taoiseach to do, therefore, is not outlandish or impossible. It is entirely reasonable and entirely feasible. Work with like-minded EU leaders and MEPs, including the Government's own, to advocate for economic sanctions.

A number of options are available to the Taoiseach to take action, many of which were outlined in our Private Members' motion taken this morning. They include economic sanctions relating to, for example, the EU-Israel trade agreement or the Horizon Europe fund, the passing of the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill or the occupied territories Bill, and a referral to the International Criminal Court. The Taoiseach says a referral to that court has already been made, but we made one along with 42 other countries in respect of Russia, so somebody else having done it is not a reason not to do it now.

Hear, hear.

There is also the option of removing the diplomatic status of the ambassador.

Yesterday, the Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau joined with the French President Macron in telling Israel that the killing of babies must stop. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reacted angrily and stated that "the forces of civilisation” must back Israel in defeating “Hamas’s barbarism". There is nothing civilised about the Israeli war machine or its enablers in the West.

What can we do when Israel will not even agree to protect babies? More words? When Israel is not listening, not even to its closest friends, we have exhausted all our words. The Government intends to deny the Dáil a vote on the Social Democrats motion this evening. Does he intend to adopt any of the actions we have suggested? Does he plan on matching any of his words with any actions at all, or is he satisfied Israel will face no economic or diplomatic consequences for its massacre in Gaza?

Deputy and a Cheann Comhairle, on a point of information, nobody will be denied a vote whatsoever. This is a democratic Parliament and a democratic country. People are allowed to put down amendments and have votes on those amendments before the substantive vote, and the Deputy's party does that all the time. To try to suggest that is some sort of denial of a vote is deeply disingenuous and deeply wrong, and I want to call out the Deputy on that attempt at disinformation.

The first group of Irish citizens and dependants have been cleared to exit through the Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt today. Arrangements are in place for staff from the Irish Embassy in Cairo to meet them and provide them with consular assistance and help for onward travel. We expect more Irish citizens and dependants in Gaza to be on the list in the coming days. We are working really hard to make sure all Irish citizens and their dependants in Gaza who want to leave are able to do so in the next couple of days. I have met the Israeli ambassador, the Egyptian foreign minister and the Palestinian Prime Minister about this, and the Tánaiste has been carrying out meetings as well. I recognise all those who have assisted us and our citizens in being able to have this good news and glimmer of hope to share with people today.

The actions we are taking are the ones we think will be effective. We are providing humanitarian assistance to the UN on the ground in Gaza, in excess of €13 million in recent weeks.

I recognise that 100 UN staff have been killed by Israel in recent weeks. We mourn their loss. They are true heroes. Their lives should not have been taken in the way they were. We support the work of the International Criminal Court. I outlined what we are doing in that regard. We are using our voice at the EU and UN in as effective a way as we can to recentre the position of the EU, in particular, and we are encouraging surrounding countries to show more solidarity with the Palestinian cause than they have to date.

The Deputy knows the EU is divided on this issue for lots of different reasons. We have been extremely active in the past month trying to recentre the European Union's position closer to ours. I have been involved in international affairs for quite some time. I have got some things right and I have got some things wrong. What I know is that there is a way to lead in international affairs and there is a way not to lead. If you go out too far on a limb, you lose influence. You get put in the category where you are not listened to any more. As Tony Blair would have said, if you lead so far in front, nobody can see you-----

Another war criminal.

-----and that is not an approach that works in international affairs.

The Good Friday Agreement matters.

He is an author of the Good Friday Agreement. It was in that context he said it, by the way. You have to make sure you use your influence in a way that is effective, not in a way that just makes you look good on telly or in front of protestors. That is not how you conduct grown-up politics or international affairs.

On the humanitarian clause the Deputy mentioned, I will make inquiries about it and seek legal advice on it.

I want to explain to people watching what I mean by denying people the opportunity to vote on the motion. When a party like ours puts forward a motion and the Government puts forward a countermotion, we vote on that first and do not get to vote on the Social Democrats' motion. It is not misleading. I just wanted to explain that briefly.

Pathetic, is it not?

When I asked the Taoiseach what the Government is doing, he said it is using its voice, which I recognise. The Irish voice has been important and an outlier in the European and western context, but that just illustrates how low the bar is. We are now asking for more than using our voice by taking actions. I recognise what the Taoiseach is saying about not being able to go out too far on a limb. What we are saying, if the Taoiseach would listen, is that some of these calls will not do that. At this point, I do not know what else it would take because 160 children are dying a day and 180 pregnant women are giving birth in Gaza where the piles of bodies are getting bigger and bigger outside hospitals. I do not know what else could justify taking a stronger position or taking action to say that we do not tolerate this. There are multiple solutions and things the Government could do. It could push for the Israel-EU trade deal to be suspended, implement the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 and make a referral to the International Criminal Court. Not all of those things would put one so far out that one would not be taken seriously, and the Taoiseach knows that.

I tried in my earlier response to Deputy McDonald to explain what we are trying to do. For the first time, there is clear agreement across 27 member states in the European Union that the only solution to this conflict is a two-state solution. Ireland has a role to play in making sure the EU presses for this, advocates for it and makes this the end to the conflict in the area. We can do that. For far too long, we have provided aid to the Palestinians without requiring that they embrace democracy and human rights and end terrorism. For far too long, we have traded with Israel without expecting it to respect human rights and to provide Palestinians with the state they deserve. There is an opportunity for us to play a role in making sure the European Union has a more active policy in this area. We must be credible in that regard.

That is outrageous. The Taoiseach is not withdrawing aid from Palestine?

We must work with our allies and not hector them. The Deputy's approach again is to hector me.

I am asking a question.

That is how she would behave at a European Council meeting. She would go in, hector people, point the finger, leave early, do a press release and big press conference, make herself look good but ultimately would achieve nothing for us------

This is a response to Deputy Cairns.

-----nothing for Ireland and nothing for the Palestinians.