Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin this weekend, outraged at the atrocities Israel is inflicting on the people of Gaza. Thousands more will be outside the Dáil tomorrow evening calling on the Government to support People Before Profit's motion which calls for sanctions on Israel for the crimes it is committing - the massacre it is committing - in Gaza and for sanctions against Israeli Government representatives, officials and ambassadors who are involved in supporting or justifying Israel's massacre in Gaza.

One of the words that is and will be on the lips of protesters tomorrow - it was at the weekend - and is on the lips of millions across the world who are taking to the streets and protesting about the horror that Israel is inflicting on the people of Gaza is the word "genocide". I remind the Taoiseach, because it has not come up in the discussion, that the Irish Government has obligations under the genocide convention, along with 140 other countries, which has been Irish law since 1973. The convention requires states to do absolutely everything in their power to prevent a genocide taking place. The definition of "genocide" is:

any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its

physical destruction in whole or in part;

...

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

It goes on. Craig Mokhiber, who was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, resigned on 28 October stating that what Israel was doing in Gaza to the Palestinians was a textbook example of genocide. William Schabas, emeritus professor in University of Galway, who is a world-renowned specialist on genocide, says that Israel is acting with genocidal intent. Let us look at what is happening: 13,000 people are dead, 33,000 people have been injured, 275,000 homes have been destroyed, 1.7 million people are displaced and an example of the attitude of the Israeli Government is that the deputy speaker of the Israeli Parliament last week said of Israel's actions, "We are too humane. Burn Gaza now".

We have all the evidence we need that a genocide is being committed and yet the Government has done nothing. It is not discharging its responsibilities under the genocide convention, which it is required to do under law. It is also facilitating the US military at Shannon Airport, while the US Government has publicly stated that it is supporting militarily and financially all of Israel's actions in Gaza. When will the Government, which, under the genocide convention, is required to do everything in its power to stop the genocide that is being committed, act and stop facilitating US troops at Shannon Airport who are military, financially and politically supporting the Israeli genocidal actions in Gaza?

We will propose an amendment to People before Profit's motion tonight in which we will call on the House to deeply deplore the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the death of more than 11,000 people, almost half of whom were children, as a consequence of Israel's military actions in Gaza, condemn the barbaric acts on 7 October by Hamas in Israel and specifically condemn the killing of children and civilians.

We will raise our very deep concerns about violence in the West Bank, in particular settler violence against Palestinians. We note that an investigation is being carried out by the prosecutor of the ICC. We also note the additional funding that we have provided for the ICC, and add to our call for all hostages to be released.

While the Deputy is very welcome to put down his motion, it does not mention, at all, Hamas or the human rights abuses committed against Israeli citizens. We think that is an omission. That is why we cannot support the motion and why we have put down our own one. We do not believe what happened in Israel - the killing of 1,200 people, the killing of children and the taking of hostages - is so insignificant that it does not merit even a line in the motion. That is why we are not going to support it and why we have put down a countermotion which we think is more balanced. I hope, even if the Deputy cannot vote for it on the first vote, that he will at least vote for it on the second vote.

In relation to Shannon Airport, under the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly and land in the State require diplomatic clearance from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. This is subject to strict conditions with full respect to Ireland's policy of military neutrality, including that the aircraft is unarmed, that it carries no arms, ammunition or explosives, that it does not engage in intelligence gathering and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation. The policy is well known and fully understood by the United States and other international partners, and is done in compliance with Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality.

On Shannon, the Taoiseach trusts the United States to tell the truth about what is on those planes. This is the same United States that told us there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and then continued to kill 1 million people in Iraq based on a pack of lies about weapons of mass destruction. We will not even search planes when it is backing up the slaughter that Israel is conducting.

The Taoiseach did not answer the question about genocide. When are we going to start to discuss it? All of the evidence fits the descriptions of genocide. Craig Mokhiber said, "This is a text-book case of genocide." Genocide is the most serious crime that can be committed. It is the most horrendous and obscene crime. That is what I am asking the Taoiseach to respond to. It has not been brought up to date. It has not even been covered by the ICC. I am asking the Taoiseach about the genocide convention and the obligation on a state to do absolutely everything required to prevent a genocide taking place when there is evidence that that is what is happening. I do not know why the Taoiseach is laughing about the use of the term "genocide".

Deputy, I am not. I appreciate why you have to say things like that, but I can absolutely guarantee that I am not. I am sorry you had to make that up, quite frankly. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was telling me about something else.

That is even worse.

In relation to Shannon, the US does not fly planes through Shannon to Israel. It does bring some of its troops to service people through to bases in Europe and other parts of the world, and has done that for a very long time. I have set out the rules in relation to the use of Shannon Airport for transit.

I think that has happened to the Palestinian people for the past 75 years is shameful. It is appalling. I think the international community and, as part of that, the West and the Arab world have let them down extremely badly. That is putting it way too mildly. It has been a story of dispossession, a story of occupation and a story of significant loss-----

Apartheid.

-----and killings, and that has to change. I hope that one of the things that can come out of this, if anything can come out of this, is a renewed effort from all sides - the West, the Arab world and the Islamic world - to demand a two-state solution to give the Palestinians the homeland they need.

And the genocide.

I am not an expert on terms like "genocide". My understanding of genocide is that it is an attempt to obliterate an entire nation or an entire people. For example, the Holocaust, or Shoah, and the killing of 6 million Jews, which was half the Jewish population, was certainly genocide, or an attempted genocide.

The Government will not even look at it. It should look at its obligations under the genocide convention.

We will look at it.