On a point of order----

There is no point of order.

-----I just want to take the opportunity to make it clear that I was not aware when I rose to my feet of the appalling attack on the Heaton Park synagogue. I add our party's condemnation of an appalling attack on a holy day for the Jewish community. If it emerges that the motive is antisemitic, antisemitism is a scourge that must be rejected by all. Our thoughts go to those affected.

Okay. We will move on to the Independent and Parties Technical Group.

I will take nine minutes and Deputy Healy will take three. I will start by adding our condemnation of the horrendous attack on the synagogue in Britain.

We should be very clear about what we saw last night. It was an act of piracy in international waters. The Israeli special forces unit Shayetet 13 surrounded 40-something flotilla boats, sprayed a whole number of them with heavy water cannons, rammed a number of small boats and then boarded them with armed soldiers. These boats were in international waters carrying baby formula, food and medicine to a people who are being deliberately starved and having famine imposed on them by Israel. These people have been kidnapped. They have not been detained; they have been kidnapped in international waters and are being taken against their will to Ashdod, probably, which is the usual spot.

I was in here last night and watching the live feed like millions of people around the world. I felt that in those pictures we had the best of humanity - ordinary people - on display. I had the pleasure of spending two weeks with hundreds of them in Tunis. They are extraordinary people in many ways but ordinary people in terms of the lives they lead as nurses, civil servants, a Senator, a poet. These people are driven to do what they can and put their lives on the line to try to stop a genocide. We saw the best of humanity, combined with the worst of humanity as these Israeli soldiers boarded their boats in order to stop aid getting through to a starving population.

It was very similar to the experience we had in 2011 on the flotilla I participated in. Senator Chris Andrews and many others were part of that. It is a terrifying experience for Israeli soldiers to board your boat. They are clearly hyped up. They have got big guns, they are pointing them at you and you are highly aware they have been told you are Hamas terrorists or whatever else. This is David and Goliath stuff. Israel is armed by the world's richest countries and has one of the richest, most armed militaries, with support from the most powerful countries in the world to inflict this genocide on ordinary people armed with nothing other than baby formula, food and medicine. It says everything about the nature of this Israeli State, the nature of this genocide and the nature of this apartheid State that they engage in military action to stop people bringing in humanitarian aid.

I want to say one thing to the participants in the flotilla. When we were in Tunis, we spoke about two key parts of our mission. One was to break the siege and open a people's humanitarian corridor to allow aid to flow. It is clear that is not going to be achieved. An obligation goes back onto states to bring aid and ensure the blockade is broken. The other aim was to highlight the complicity of Western states or their failure to act, and to bring pressure to bear on Governments around the world. That aim of the mission has been achieved. A new impetus has been given to the global movement of resistance. We saw last night huge protests breaking out spontaneously at midnight, in a whole number of countries, of people saying since they have blocked the flotilla getting through, let us block everything. Italian unions have called a general strike for tomorrow. All of us need to now redouble our efforts to stop the support, arming and enabling of genocide. Saturday's national protest called by the IPSC, at 12.30 p.m. at the Garden of Remembrance, can be absolutely enormous now as people flood onto the streets.

There are people outside the Dáil right now protesting. Just like the Italian workers, we need to put workers' action on the agenda. I know Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine has called a day of workers' action on 16 October.

I wish to focus in on some questions. The Tánaiste mentioned earlier about the ambassador making clear our expectation that our citizens would be treated fully in line with international law. To clarify, does the Tánaiste agree that already our citizens have not been treated in line with international law? The other thing I would say to him is that we cannot trust the Israeli state about anything. We know that on a much bigger scale. I can tell about our experience when we were brought to Ashdod. The Irish ambassador was there. All sorts of commitments were made to us. We were told we would get everything back and we would be back on a plane within 24 hours if we got off the boat now and there would be no strip searching, no mistreatment, etc. Once the ambassador was gone, all of that was gone. We were strip searched and then detained. Our books were taken away from us. We were not given anything for a week. I know there are limits to what the Irish ambassador can do in Israel but all pressure needs to be added to ensure these people are properly treated.

I will move on because a lot of the details in terms of the flotilla and the treatment have been questioned. If the flotilla participants were here, I think they would want me to ask about the broader issues because that is what they are engaged about. It is all eyes on Gaza, not just the flotilla. To pursue the question about the use of Irish airspace, the Tánaiste went on "The Late Late Show" and said he did not think Irish airspace was being used. I asked a Leaders' Question and gave him a dossier to prove that. I got a letter after that from the Minister for Transport stating that an examination was ongoing. We know that examination has been ongoing for more than a year now. I got an answer to a parliamentary question back last week. I asked when the examination commenced and when it would be completed. The answer I got was: "My Department has been engaged in the examination of this matter. This work is still ongoing at the present time." That is really a joke. Is the Government going to take seriously the issue of the overflights? It is not a question of beefing up our military. It is a question of prosecuting the companies that have it on their waybills. The Minister can prosecute the companies. The companies have admitted that they are doing this. It is clearly illegal. Why is the examination taking so long and is the Government going to act on it?

I am very happy to answer questions on broader issues than the flotilla but the Deputy can be assured that the entire night and day has been dedicated to trying to protect Irish citizens who are currently detained in the State of Israel and get them home as quickly as possible. That is where my focus is today and has been right throughout the night.

Regarding the airspace issue, the Minister for Transport has made the Government's position clear. That remains the Government's position and I will seek an urgent update from him in relation to that. There are complexities regarding these things but they are issues of legitimate public concern in our country and they are issues of concern to Government. If there is an ability to take action, we are very happy to take that action. Deputy Murphy and I do not agree on lots of things but I do acknowledge he has joined flotillas and has a lot of experience in relation to these things. I welcome those insights he has shared with me and I assure him I will support not only our ambassador and our team on the ground in Tel Aviv but in providing any resources or assistance they need to keep the pressure on for the well-being of our citizens. Considering there are now likely to be hundreds of citizens, and, indeed, citizens from the European Union, detained, it is really important in the hours ahead that we work together to maximise that pressure in terms of the welfare of our citizens. Yes, I agree that they have been illegally detained.

For almost two years, we have seen the Israeli state deliberately attempting to exterminate the Palestinian people by bomb, bullet and starvation. Gaza is now one big concentration camp and 2.3 million people are facing annihilation and starvation. Some 65,000 people have been murdered, including 25,000 children. Every international agency of note has condemned Israel, including the international courts. Last week, the United Nations deemed what is going on in Gaza as genocide. The prime minister of Israel is subject to an arrest warrant. The latest outrage last night is piracy and the kidnapping in international waters of Irish citizens, including a Member of the Oireachtas. This is absolutely outrageous. There have been many emergency sittings of this Oireachtas to pass legislation for much less serious matters than what we are facing in Gaza and on the international stage. Surely it is now time to call an emergency sitting of this Oireachtas, of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, to pass the occupied territories Bill, to impose sanctions and to stop military flights through Shannon Airport. Surely the situation we see in Gaza demands such a response. The Irish people have a particular bond with the Palestinian people through our colonial past, our famine - An Gorta Mór - and through our neutrality. It is time that the Government called an emergency session of this Oireachtas to impose sanctions, to pass the occupied territories Bill and to stop military planes going through Shannon.

I thank Deputy Healy. I would hazard a guess that there is not been a parliament in Europe that has dedicated more time this week to the issue in the Middle East, though the Chief Whip can correct me. We had a debate on the Middle East for many hours yesterday. We have had the all-party motion and debate regarding the flotilla. We have changed Standing Orders today in a very rare step to suspend normal Leaders' Questions and Questions on Policy or Legislation, QPL, to discuss the situation. All of that is appropriate considering the gravity of the situation. The Government will work with the Opposition, of course, to ensure we expeditiously pass any legislation that we bring forward in relation to the occupied Palestinian territories. On the issues regarding sanctions or measures on trade, I do not believe they will require primary domestic legislation if we can get a qualified majority vote at a European level and my priority will be to secure that in the days ahead.