Táim ag díriú isteach ar mhuintir na Palaistíne agus an cinedhíothú atá ar siúl inár n-ainm fad is atáimid anseo ag caint agus briathra milse, bhreátha ag na hAirí gan beart ar bith. Inné sa chúirt, dúirt Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, "Israel has closed all crossings and it has turned Rafah itself, once a refuge for almost 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, into a post-apocalyptic wasteland."

At the weekend alone, 52 people - children, women and men - were slaughtered in addition to the 51,000 Palestinians already killed, 70% of whom are women and children, and more than 120,000 Palestinians reported injured. Israel has systematically destroyed 95% of Gaza's hospitals and maternity clinics. The office for the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance told us that Israel began its blockade and since then not a single truck carrying food, fuel, medicine or any other essentials has been allowed in no matter how critical. Just in case the Taoiseach or we were in any doubt at all, the defence minister in Israel, Israel Katz, told us that Israel's policy is clear that "no humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza." Preventing humanitarian aid to Gaza is one of the main tools of pressure. No one is going to get any aid. I have said repeatedly that I think the best thing for me to do would be to stand here in silence at what is happening in our name - genocide - while we use sweet words and do little else. We boast that we are better than any other country, and that measuring stick is really very low. Yesterday, again, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that:

We know that people are thirsty ... We know that solid waste is piling up and ... people are trapped under the rubble ... [and living on the rubble]. We know that the land is shrinking with displacement orders ... [We know that] fishers [are being] shot at sea, and that nowhere is safe.

It said all of that. I will go on to what we see. It went on to state that "We have seen the images of children's bodies being thrown from one building to another due to the force of the bombing. We have seen the videos of families being burnt alive." These are the words of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, not mine. It continued, "We have seen the bodies of our colleagues who have been killed. We have seen the total and complete destruction of infrastructure in Gaza all around us. We have seen patients having to be turned away after a hospital has been bombed ... "

I wish I could go on. Will the Taoiseach please tell me what specific action he is going to take, including in respect of the occupied territories Bill, stopping trade with Gaza and inspecting planes at Shannon, at the very least, to make our words mean something?

I have been very consistent in this House, as the Government has been, in condemning Israeli attacks on Gaza and the continuing bombardment of Gaza. We have been absolutely consistent, without question. We have taken a whole range of steps since the outbreak of this terrible war and the horrific attack by Hamas on 7 October, which also deserves to be roundly condemned. I have done that, too. The blockade of the past 50 days, when no food, no medicines and no essential supplies have been allowed into Gaza, is a war crime. Of that, in our view, there is no doubt. It contravenes international humanitarian law. It is horrific in its enactment and implementation.

Ireland has strongly supported UNRWA with, I believe, approximately €58 million, which is significantly per capita ahead of others. That is not the point, but we have. We have supported the organisation not only financially but also diplomatically and politically. We made efforts to ensure that when the storm was blowing and efforts were being made to try to undermine UNRWA, Ireland stood up and told the herd that was moving in that direction to stop because we needed to continue to support UNRWA. It is the only organisation that can play any meaningful role in the reconstruction of Gaza and the continuing provision of humanitarian supplies to Gaza. There has to be an immediate opening up of humanitarian access. We have recognised the State of Palestine. There was a lot of pressure in this House for us to do that. We did it with other countries to try to create leverage with the Arab peace plan and get momentum behind that. With Norway, Spain, Slovenia and others, we collectively did that. We have also intervened in the genocide case that South Africa has brought before the ICJ. We have made a thoughtful, strong and comprehensive legal intervention around the issue of the prevention of humanitarian aid in a time of war and invited the court to broaden its definitions in terms of intention as well as the prevention of humanitarian aid to a conflict area, in this case Gaza, so that they are broadly in line with the convention's definition. It was a well-informed submission that took a lot of criticism from different quarters. Nonetheless, it was an intervention that was considered and very well-informed and had greater credibility internationally because of that than would otherwise have been the case. It was not just a political or superficial intervention but a substantive one.

The bottom line is that we must do everything. We can add with others to keep the pressure on through all the international forums of which we are a member, but we are not responsible for the actions of ministers Katz, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir and others, which are not in our name.

It is our responsibility.

It is not-----

We have an obligation to prevent genocide and not to be complicit in genocide. It is our job to do something. It is particularly our job as a country that was colonised. That is exactly what has happened with Israel's colonisation of Gaza and, more widely, Palestine. As a republic and an independent sovereign state, we have a duty to take action.

Doctors Without Borders has described the area as "a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance". I challenge all of us to stand up and stop the genocide that is taking place in our name because we are complicit. We are allowing the use of Shannon. We are doing nothing about planes coming through Shannon before going to punish and murder Palestinians. We are doing nothing to progress the occupied territories Bill. We are increasing our export of dual-use goods and so on. We are trading with Israel as part of the EU bloc. The Taoiseach stands here and takes pride in the fact we have done something. I have praised him in the past for standing up and recognising Palestine but I no longer praise him. Genocide is going on in our name.

I never used the word "pride", so do not put words in my mouth, please.

I never used that word, nor did I use the word "boast". Everything within our capacity to have an impact on this situation, we have been doing. We should not overinflate the impact of other measures the Deputy mentioned. There are no planes leaving Shannon for Gaza.

You do not know because you have not inspected them.

You have made an assertion that there are-----

I have asked you to inspect them.

Deputy, allow the response.

-----and there are not. I respect the Deputy a lot and I respect her good faith on these issues to a point, but I often get the sense the debate on Palestine in this House and elsewhere is more about trying to create division between the public, the people and the Government of the day.

That is not true.

That is my genuine sense.

You promised to enact the occupied territories Bill before the election.

I have been through this since the beginning of the war and that is a genuine takeaway I have from some of the protestations and interruptions from certain people on the far left in particular-----

Is masla é sin do chosmhuintir na tíre.

-----who have interrupted various meetings we have had, endeavouring to disrupt.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

That is fine if people want to do that but it is not advancing, in my view, sensible, logical and rational debate as best we can.

Thank you, Taoiseach. Time is up.

What is going on is appalling. No one has a monopoly of virtue on the question in this House, nor should one seek to assert it.