Fillfidh mé ar cheist na Palaistíne. Cuirim fáilte roimh chinneadh an Rialtais aitheantas a thabhairt don Stát mar stát neamhspleách. Is céim chun cinn é sin ach tá gá le briathra eile agus le réimse leathan gníomhartha a dhéanamh anois chun beart a dhéanamh de réir ár mbriathar.

I am returning to Palestine. It is difficult to talk, actually with the images on our television screens night after night. It is clear that Israel is out of control. The government and the army is out of control and they are acting with impunity. I welcome the Taoiseach’s very good decision. It is a proud day for Ireland and today the Palestinian flag is raised. I welcome that but it has taken too long. It has taken the deaths of 36,500 people, the vast majority women and children. It has taken their deaths – and there have been more deaths today – for us to do the most basic thing that we have promised for years: to recognise the State of Palestine. In recognising that state, we must then decide what steps we will take to give meaning to that because we need to give meaning to that decision. We have taken that decision, and I am praising the Taoiseach for it, but it was taken following the protests on the ground over and over.

There is a sense of outrage and upset. On any given day, Deputies in this Dáil were receiving up to 10,000 emails telling us to do something to act. While we have acted to a certain extent now, through recognition, I would like for the Taoiseach today, either in response to me or later, to outline what precise steps he will take to make that meaningful.

The most meaningful number of steps are: to stop the troops and the arms from going through Shannon Airport; to enact the occupied territories Bill; to stop trading with Israel; to have sanctions against Israel; and to recognise that it is completely out of control. We need to reflect on why it has taken us this long because we are also part of the bloodshed that is happening in Palestine. This is in our name because we have refused to act following various reports and decisions.

Amnesty International told us quite some time ago that the system is apartheid, and Israel was running an apartheid regime. We ignored it when six human rights organisations were classified as “terrorist”. We ignored many other things, including the fact that as far back as 2015 the International Criminal Court, ICC, started a preliminary investigation into crimes that Israel was committing. From 2015, slowly and methodically, the chief prosecutor built up a case to the point at which she opened a formal investigation. Her successor is now following up on that by issuing arrest warrants. Can you imagine? Arrest warrants have been issued for the Prime Minister of Israel, his defence minister and the three leaders of Hamas. That has followed years of slowly and methodically building up a case, while we did nothing. We did absolutely nothing other than say words. In fact, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, told us we were very good on rhetoric and not on action. In the month-----

I thank the Deputy.

I will finish. In the month after 7 October, the General Secretary of the United Nations told us that Gaza was becoming a graveyard for children and that the nightmare in Gaza was more than a humanitarian crisis; it was a crisis of humanity. Yesterday, he affirmed that there was no safe place in Gaza, demanding that the horror must stop.

I apologise for going over time.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Palestine and the horrific humanitarian catastrophe that continues to unfold. I acknowledge her welcome for the fact that this is a proud day for Ireland in recognising the State of Palestine. I also recognise that this is very much something on which the people have led. I very much hear that as I go around the country as I meet people. People I have met have respectfully, forcefully and passionately put forward their view that Ireland must act. Not to be disagreeable, but the only point on which I slightly disagree with the Deputy is when she says it has taken too long. It has always been the position of this Government, previous Governments and many governments across the EU and in other parts of the world that the recognition of a two-state solution would come as part of a peace process.

What we have actually done is change the order. In many ways, we are recognising the State of Palestine at a time a comprehensive, sustainable, just peace settlement looks to be further away than ever. We are doing so because we have to keep that destination alive because others are literally seeking to bomb it into oblivion. My sense from my engagement with people in the region, counterparts in the region and those at an EU level, is that the actions that Ireland, Spain and Norway have taken today will have a positive effect that will go beyond just our own recognition. For example, more EU member states are considering doing the same. A number have publicly indicated their wish to do the same in the weeks ahead. Is it possible that we can get to a point during the course of this year that a majority of member states of the European Union will recognise the State of Palestine, or that a majority of prime ministers and presidents at the European Council will recognise the existence of the State of Palestine? What will that do for positive momentum and change in policy and approach?

Ireland, by any objective standard, has been extraordinarily proactive on this. I pay tribute to the Tánaiste, our diplomats, my own Department, my predecessor, and so many others who have done much work in this area, such as by supporting the work of the ICJ when others somewhat seek to undermine it; by providing additional funding in a practical way to help the work and investigations; by increasing humanitarian aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, when others sought to distance themselves from it. These are all practical measures that we have taken.

When it comes to the occupied territories Bill, the clear legal advice to the Government is, and consistently has been, that this legislation would not be compatible with EU law.

Therefore, the way we need to advance this is at European level. The decision yesterday of the Belgian Presidency on a meeting on the Israel-EU association agreement is significant; I genuinely believe it is significant. The practical measures that we now intend to take are to continue at every single forum because, ultimately, the result of success or not for everybody in the world is a cessation of violence, and anything that does not bring that about will prove to have been ineffective.

We have come to the point where we are recognising the State of Palestine, where there is very little left to recognise except the determination of the Palestinian people. Palestine has been bombed practically out of existence. The International Court of Justice last week issued a very strong order and Israel completely ignored that. Over the weekend, they dropped a 2,000 lb bomb supplied by the US - our friends, of course - and I understand a British air force Shadow spy plane was flying overhead at the time. Since that order, over the weekend, 200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been murdered - I use the word “murdered” - by Israeli bombing in several areas throughout Gaza. It is glaringly obvious that the whole purpose is genocide and to eradicate the Palestinian people.

I did not join the call for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled and on the last occasion that I spoke, I said it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to stand by that decision. This is a woman, an ambassador, who is threatening us on trade, who is openly using our airways to threaten us, doing exactly, as outlined yesterday in The Guardian, what Mossad did in relation to the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. It is time for us to act. The most basic thing is not to support von der Leyen, who from day one said she would stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. That would be one obvious thing.

It is the clear position of President von der Leyen that she wishes to see an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East. That is the clear position of Ursula von der Leyen, although Deputy Pringle can shake his head if he wishes. It is the clear position of the conclusions of the April European Council; I was at it and the Deputy was not there.

She gave the green light for the genocide.

The ability of Irish people to not be misinformed or misdirected on the position of the European Council, including the President of the European Commission, is important because there is enough misinformation out there at the moment. We need to see an immediate ceasefire and we need to see practical actions to help bring that about. What I have said on behalf of Ireland at the European Council, what I have said this morning, what I will say this evening, what I will say everywhere and in every forum, as will the Government, is that we must now use every lever at our disposal to bring about that environment. It is not enough to just call for a ceasefire. We have to see what can be done to put pressure on to make that a reality. That is why it has been the position of Ireland since March that the association agreement, the trade benefit agreement, should be reviewed. I am pleased to see others join us in that call. That needs to happen because I am not ready to stand idly by and wait for Netanyahu’s apology for the tragic mistake of June, as he continually does now when particular horrors emerge on our television screens and radio stations. This is an extraordinarily, horrifically difficult situation and I do not even think that the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe is fully understood. I want the people of this country to know that the Government is doing everything it possibly can to voice its concerns and its views in every forum. We are taking a very practical step in recognising the State of Palestine today to give hope to the Palestinian people at their darkest hour. I know that is really appreciated and means a lot to people in Palestine today.