I want to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of the flotilla. As he knows, Dr. Margaret Connolly is a constituent of mine from County Sligo. She and 11 others have been detained by Israel on the open seas in international waters. Their boats were invaded and taken over by military force and people were taken by military force back to Israel. We do not know who they are, where they are, where they are being held or what is happening to them. These families are in distress. I acknowledge the Irish consulate is working with them and the work it has been doing there. Politically, the reaction of Ireland needs to be strong, determined and forceful. We need to say clearly to the world that it is not appropriate that Irish citizens can be treated in this way. They were bringing aid to an area in Gaza which is under siege, where people are hungry, do not have medical provisions and have been tortured and destroyed by war for the past 18 months. Yet we see this international action happening, which is totally inappropriate. I appeal to the Taoiseach to be firm and clear as to what Ireland is going to do in respect of this.

The Taoiseach will now respond.

I agree in terms of the appalling nature of this act. Worse is the fact that Israel is not allowing appropriate and sufficient aid into Gaza. Notwithstanding the Board of Peace and the first phase of the agreement being implemented early on, and aid was getting in-----

A trickle.

That has choked up again and has been restricted. This is a grievous thing to be doing. It is an appalling thing for the Israeli Government to be doing because people are still starving and do not have proper shelter in Gaza. There are quite a number of international citizens, including Irish citizens, on board the flotilla raising awareness about the injustices of what is happening in Gaza and in the West Bank itself. Ireland has been very clear on this. It is at European Union level that the greatest impact can be made, and with the United States Government, to have pressure and leverage on Israel to stop doing what it is doing. It is acting with reckless abandon and, in my view, is consistently in breach of international humanitarian law.