Yesterday, 94 Palestinians were killed in Gaza. Forty-five of them were killed while waiting for aid from the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Today, so far, 87 people have been killed, and every day has a similar horrific number of casualties. In just one month, 600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,200 have been wounded by Israeli fire near aid distribution sites. A new low in this genocide is the use of aid as a weapon to ethnically cleanse large parts of the Gaza Strip and to assemble people in order to be shot down in what is being described as a death trap. People saw the horrendous pictures from Monday of a café and the people inside it blown to bits. It has been reported that a 500 lb bomb was used by the Israeli military to do this.

The Minister has previously and repeatedly defended the authorisation of the sale of Israeli bonds by the Irish Central Bank. We know now from the Central Bank that €418 million was raised by Israel in these war bonds approved by the Central Bank between October 2023 and April 2025. That is a quarter of all funds generated globally by these bonds. How many bullets did that pay for? How many missiles did it pay for? How many bombs did it pay for? Does the Minister accept that it is time to stop this complicity of the Irish State in genocide?

Let me quote a Central Bank worker:

When over fifty-thousand people – seventeen-thousand of them children – are dead, murdered in their homes, schools, hospitals or killed trying to escape the slaughter (Rafah, Jabalia, Khan Younis, etc.) I must admit I find it difficult to discern the difference between the Bank’s official line – ‘we are guided by the law and if the requirements under the prospectus regulations are being met, we must comply with the law’ and the defence claimed by Soldier F, the perpetrators of genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, Sudan, Myanmar the defendants at Nuremberg – ‘we were just following orders’ – the Superior Order defence.

The same applies to a Government which has twice now voted not to end this complicity. It is incredibly unfair to put the workers in this situation because of the Government's failure to act. We know that there is an email from the Israeli Ministry of Justice previously talking about a confidential phone call with the Minister and the Minister saying that the Government would block the occupied territories Bill. Now, here we are again, with the Minister blocking action to stop funding the genocide. What will it take to shift the Government on this? What will it take for the Minister to act?

In recognition of the horror that is being inflicted on the people of Gaza, the loss of life, the new low that we are seeing being perpetrated when aid is being used in a way that appears to be assembling people for further deaths and injury, let me outline what the Government has done and what we continue to do to respond in a diplomatic and practical way to this. I refer to the work the Irish Government has done in responding to the clear sentiment of the people of Ireland in our intervention in the International Court of Justice in the case taken by South Africa; what has happened in recognising Palestine as a sovereign and independent state; our support for a proposal from the Netherlands to review the EU's trade and political relationship with Israel; the fact that we were the first country to call for UNRWA to remain in Gaza and that for the past two years alone we have allocated €58 million to support its work; and the fact that Ireland has been at the heart, as demonstrated by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in the past number of weeks, of making a case for a different diplomatic approach from the European Union to respond to the loss of life and horror that the people of Gaza are confronting. That was recognised earlier in the week. The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar visited Ireland to engage with us. Qatar is a country playing a key role in trying to stabilise and bring peace to the Middle East. He visited to engage with the Government regarding our diplomatic efforts and the work we are doing to make a difference.

I again refute the charge that the Deputy made against me personally and note that the call did not happen. I cannot help but be struck by the irony that the Deputy would rather believe the Ministry of Justice of Israel than me on the matter given everything else he says about that state.

As regards the role of the Central Bank, let me again emphasise what it does not do. The Central Bank does not sell bonds on behalf of the State of Israel and nor are these bonds listed in our Stock Exchange. The legislation the Opposition has proposed, which the Deputy correctly said I argued and voted against, is, we believe, unworkable and would not have been in line with the law of the European Union. Instead, what we need to do, recognising the fact that while we are a member state of the European Union, there are many other member states of the European Union that hold differing views, is work to build up a diplomatic consensus to make a difference to that issue. That is not done by Ireland acting on our own. It is done through the patient work of diplomacy, which the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are at the heart of doing, to change the stance of the European Union on this issue, while taking action ourselves, as we have done and which is recognised by the leaders of the people of Palestine, to make a difference to the horror that we see unfolding.

Every time we raise this issue, we get the same response from the Government, which is, basically, to ask why we are not thanking it for all it is doing and for not being as bad as the western states that arm, fund and enable this genocide? I am sorry. We, and the public, have a higher standard of no complicity in the genocide. That is not only a moral standard; it is a legal standard. Under international law, all states have an obligation not to assist in any illegal situation, such as occupation, illegal settlements, apartheid or genocide. The Irish Government itself recognises that genocide is happening. Does the Minister not see that providing access to EU markets to fundraise to support genocide is a violation of our obligation not to assist?

It is true the Central Bank does not endorse this but it authorises it. Without the authorisation of a central bank, these bonds could not be sold. That is over €400 million. Does the Minister not accept that he should act, that declaring this a genocide has consequences and that he should do everything in his power? The Central Bank has said it will adhere to any financial sanctions or restrictive measures that are imposed under law. Therefore, the Minister should instruct the Central Bank or we should change the law. We need to stop the sale of genocide bonds.

At what point in my contribution did I look for thanks or recognition? At what point in the statements that I or any other member of the Government has made in relation to what is unfolding in the Middle East have we looked for recognition from the Deputy or, indeed, anybody else?

The Taoiseach does it constantly.

Constantly.

What we are doing is using the diplomatic resources that are available to us and our political leadership to make a difference, in practical and political terms, to the people of Gaza and to the horror that is unfolding to them and which has gone on for too long, in calling for a ceasefire, in making the case for a review of the trading relationship with Israel within the European Union, in the work the Taoiseach did in the European Council last week and in the work the Tánaiste has done in all of the Foreign Affairs Councils he has attended. That is what we are doing - by action.

The Deputy made reference to the need for higher standards. There are standards that matter here. There are standards that matter in terms of only giving commitments to things that we know we can legally do and that can have a practical effect. That is what the Government is doing. Our actions are recognised by those who lead the people of Palestine and their allies. Regardless of that, what we will do is continue with the patient political work that is needed to make a difference with regard to a ceasefire and to support the people of Gaza in their hour of greatest need.