I now call on Senator Lawlor. I congratulate him on his election to the House and wish him well.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I hope there will be many pleasantries between us in the future. I also wish to condemn the murders by the Israeli defence forces and the Government of Israel for its actions in recent days. It is not only the last number of days but has been ongoing since 1947 when Palestinians were evicted from their homes close to Jerusalem. Those of us who have been to the West Bank and to the Gaza Strip have seen the hardship that these people go through. It is not only the community in Gaza, where farmers and fishermen are curtailed in their everyday work, but also in the West Bank. It is Israel's policy not to have a two-state solution. Israel's policy is to have one state that ends at the border with Jordan, at the Golan Heights and in the Sinai desert, and they want to push the Palestinians out of Gaza in order that the sea can be their other boundary. We must be strong in our condemnation of that. I welcome that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned the ambassador today. We should bring the Minister to the House to report on what he said to the ambassador on this matter.

People have asked what we can do. I recall some years ago, writing to the European Commission on produce coming from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlers continue to push Palestinian farmers out of the West Bank. I ask that we would label produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and that we ban that settlement produce.

Absolutely.

We, as the Seanad, could write to the Commission and encourage its adoption. Last Saturday, Israel won the Eurovision song contest. Some of us in this House are involved in the music industry. If things do not improve there, we should give consideration to not participating in the Eurovision Song Contest when it is held in Israel next year. The music industry could decide not to put forward anyone from this country to represent us in Israel next year.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the Leader for the opportunity to observe that minute's silence for the people slaughtered in Gaza over recent days. I also second the amendment to the Order of Business by Senator Conway-Walsh. I wish to add to the calls by others for the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade should come before the House. I have listened to a number of his statements on this matter and on Senator Black's Bill on settlement goods.

I have heard the Tánaiste and some of his colleagues in government advocate for a diplomatic approach to this issue as if Israel heeds diplomacy or has observed any diplomatic approach to this issue and as if we are dealing with a conventional war or conflict between two states when what we see being inflicted on the Palestinian people on the streets of Gaza constitutes genocide. It is calculated and deliberate slaughter and it is policy. There is no diplomatic response to this because, in the first instance, a willingness to work towards one is needed and there appears to be no willingness on the part of Israel, as Senator Lawlor said, to engage in conflict resolution. Israel's only aim is the ultimate removal of the Palestinian people. The Tánaiste said that he would pursue a response through the UN, as if the US will not block - if it has not already done so - any option to pursue a resolution to this or a reproach to Israel.

We have exercised our options and I appreciate fully the effort put in by the Tánaiste and his departmental officials. We are a small country with a small presence in respect of this issue, which has such geopolitical magnitude. I do not doubt that we have tried sincerely and valiantly in this regard but yesterday's events did not happen in isolation. This is not a one-off; it is a consistent, calculated, deliberate approach by Israel. Israel does not adhere to international law and, therefore, why should it be treated like another ordinary state? Israel engages in the practice of apartheid. It is a rogue state that is slaughtering people who are peacefully protesting. We should follow the example set by ourselves in the past and boycott apartheid as we did in respect of South Africa. In addition, we should follow the South African Government's example of expelling the Israeli ambassador. We should take that step and expel the Israeli ambassador. There is a time for dialogue and conflict resolution, which we know better than most, but there is also a time for action. The time for action has passed and we need to send a message to the Palestinian people who know all too well the consequences of conflict and colonialism that we stand by them and that we stand for justice, rights and, ultimately, peace. Israel does not.

As foreign affairs spokesperson for my party, I would like to address the atrocities of the past few days. We utterly condemn as outrageous, inhumane and unacceptable the firing on protesters and the mass killings that have resulted from such action. A total of 60 were killed yesterday and, as I understand from earlier remarks, more people have died today. There has been a multitude of injuries as well. This has been going on for weeks. It is horrendous and outside human norms. It is just unacceptable on every front and I would be remiss in my duty, having the honour and privilege of being spokesperson in this area, not to say that. I commend the Leader on beginning today's proceedings with a minute's silence, which was apt and appropriate. This is not a partisan issue and I commend the fact that the Tánaiste called in the Israeli ambassador and that he was unequivocal in his condemnation, which is what the people of Ireland would request in this instance. There should be an international investigation under the auspices of the UN and if that is vetoed, I will raise the issue in the European context in my capacity as leader of the Irish delegation to the Council of Europe at the next available opportunity. It will be raised by a number of people at that forum. It should also be raised at EU level to ensure there is an international investigation.

Unquestionably we should have an international investigation. While it is very difficult in the midst of such tragedy and in such a dismal situation, we should look to peace and to a two-state solution. A peace conference is an immediate requirement. Out of this horror, evil and wrong, the prospect for peace may arise somehow.

There was a jubilant celebration of President Trump's ill-advised move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem yesterday, at which the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Jerusalem had been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years. We have had fake news; now we have fake history. That is absolute, utter rubbish. Sixty people were mown down. These were peaceful civilians protesting. The use of dumdum bullets, which should be internationally outlawed, was another part of this outrage. I do not know why they do not declare Israel to be the 51st state of the US, because that is basically what it is; it is a US colony in the Middle East.

It was nothing other than murder. We need action, not words. I call for the withdrawal of the Irish ambassador to Israel; for the stopping of the acceptance of settlement-produced goods and for the recognition of the state of Palestine. We really need action. There are decent Israelis. I was listening to the former head of the Israeli foreign office on the wireless the other day. He said the Israeli policy towards the Palestinians is an outrage and he is 100% right.

Some 2 million people are confined in an area that is ten miles wide by 40 miles long with inadequate water and sewerage services. These are actively bombed by the Israelis. What is the point in bombing a sewerage system unless they really want to degrade the people to the position of animals? There is enormous unemployment there. If they would only share the land, with Israeli technology they could bring some of these areas up to full agricultural production. I just do not know why the hell they do not just share the land.

One of the saddest aspects is that is a gross violation of the Jewish ethic which says that "If you save one life, you save a universe." The corollary of that is that "If you kill one person, you kill a universe of people."

If the Sinn Féin Members will allow it, I would like to second the Sinn Féin amendment.

I think it has been done already.

I join other Senators in absolutely condemning without question yesterday's murders in Gaza. To put things in context, there are 2 million Palestinian prisoners in an area of about 365 sq. km. It is the third most densely occupied part of the world.

The Israelis must realise that a revolution will take place and more deaths will come because this is only a start; this is not the end of the situation. They literally could technically move into Israel and Israel needs to be very careful. It would take some army to control 2 million people and that is what they are trying to do. That is why they shot dead in cold blood young people, middle-aged people and children with sharpshooters shooting into the area. It is one of the most outrageous atrocities. It brought back memories to most of us of Bloody Sunday, when the British army mowed down 14 people in the Bogside. As we felt then, we feel now the same sense of outrage over what is happening in Gaza and Israel. We have to condemn it outright. While condemnation is fine, we need to ask what other action we can take to ensure the issue is further highlighted.

We in this House warned of the fallout from the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem. It was obvious, as those of us who have been in Jerusalem realise. Jerusalem is the centre of all international faiths and is also the capital for Palestine.

If the Israelis want to make it their capital, it can be shared in some form or other as an international city. That being said, I just feel that all we can do is condemn the activities. Seventy years ago yesterday, the State of Israel was established by international agreement without any concern whatsoever for the faith of the Palestinians living there. Now it is the West Bank and Gaza. I am not too impressed by Hamas's activities. It does not recognise the State of Israel. This is provocative, quite frankly. The other side, the West Bank, is controlled by Fatah. It is more reasonable - too reasonable, obviously, because what is happening in that region is that Hamas is getting backing because of its militaristic approach. Let us be quite clear about this: Hamas's commitment is to wipe out the State of Israel. If it wants to sit down and negotiate, let it sit down and remove those kinds of threats against any other country. We are for the two-state solution. The late Brian Lenihan Snr. was the first Minister in Europe to recognise the two-state solution many years ago, and we are very proud of his commitment. Fianna Fáil supports utterly Palestine and we condemn these activities.

I appreciate the weighty tones of many Senators and hope they will indulge me as I raise the slightly more domestic matter of my ongoing call to the Leader to bring the Minister of State with responsibility for sport and tourism before the House to have a real debate on the future of sport in this country, the provision of facilities and the encouragement of so many more people to remain actively involved. We have had a fantastic sporting weekend. I am sure many Senators, especially the Leader, welcome Leinster's fourth European title and the first ever test match for the Irish cricket team. While it finished in a very narrow defeat in Malahide this afternoon-----

A maiden century.

There was a maiden century by Sandymount's Kevin O'Brien, only the fifth person in history to score a century on their debut. He is a home-grown player who is able to play his cricket in Ireland due to the level of funding provided. We need to have this debate to discuss facilities for every sport, but particularly the national cricket stadium that is committed to. I ask that the Minister of State come before the House as soon as possible.

I join my colleagues in condemning the murderous actions of Israel over the weekend. Senator David Norris is right about using drones to kill the Palestinians. I had the privilege of visiting Jenin, Hebron and Ramallah a year ago. I think it was the greatest education the Seanad has offered me, given what I saw and who I met. The Palestinians are a great people, a brilliant people, but a people living normally in captivity - that is the only way I can describe it - with walls the size of those of the Seanad in between their farms, their trees, their houses and their businesses. There is no electricity, or very little, during the day and no running water. I remember thinking it was like an open prison, and we have called it an open prison. I agree with Senator Ivana Bacik who says Europe has a huge part to play. The EU has an enormous part to play but it seems to be living in a kind of inactivity on the matter. I agree with other colleagues across the House and I would like the Tánaiste to come before the House. I never agree with Sinn Féin because of its past, which has ended in peace, but I have experience of having lived through its military past, none of which I agreed with. However, I agree with Sinn Féin that the Tánaiste should come before the House. Perhaps he might tell us what exactly the Israeli ambassador said to him and what he intends to do now.

There is indoctrination in the acceptance of the dehumanising of the Palestinian people and of genocide. We stand here and say these words and it goes on and on. I am not sure if anyone heard the RTÉ news last night, but the station interviewed an Israeli Government spokeswoman and asked her why Israel was shooting dead Palestinians. I thought I was hearing things, but she responded that they did not have enough prison space for them.

Did anybody else pick up on this? Also, did the Irish ambassador attend the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem?

I do not think so.

In February, this House unanimously passed a motion to the effect that a non-HSE parent representative be appointed to the HSE primary care national steering group for children with complex medical needs. The HSE has disregarded the will of the Seanad and proceeded with side-lining parents from this decision-making process. The HSE wants to set up a reference group, a proposal which this House and, more important, the parental stakeholders involved, explicitly rejected. Participation is a no-brainer. There have been many scandals and fatal events in this country. This most recent horrific cover-up would not have been possible if there had been stakeholders, service-users, at the table. They would be much more responsible and less interested in protecting their careers because they would be responding to the people of this country and, in this instance, to their children's needs. We must have service-user participation at the table. If the Minister, Deputy Harris, is serious about change in the HSE and addressing the toxic environment of secrecy therein, he needs to allow parental stakeholders to represent their children. Following on from the letters sent to Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent Members of the Dáil and Seanad by the head of operations providing the same bland response about a parental group, I hope they will all stand up for change in the HSE and that this will commence with looking after children with complex needs.

I join with my colleagues in condemning the atrocity perpetrated on Palestinians. The use of live ammunition to gun down civilians is unforgivable.

And dumdum bullets.

It is an atrocity beyond all proportion. What is required now is an international response. The UN should seek an investigation and a solution. I have read some of the preliminary discussions. I would like to see the US coming on board.

Senator O'Donnell will be waiting a long time for that to happen.

People speak about President Trump and so forth. He appears to make most of his decisions based on domestic criteria in terms of the popular vote, as a result of which there are a lot of unintended consequences. People will speak about individual situations but what we are speaking about now is an international crisis. The UN now needs to carry out an investigation and put in place structures to ensure we get a solution.

President Trump will block it.

We must get a solution.

The second issue I want to raise is that of hoax calls, which, as my colleagues from Limerick will be aware, are becoming a feature in Limerick. More than half of all calls to emergency services are hoax calls. I ask that when the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment is next before the House we would have a detailed debate on what preventative measures we can put in place in this regard. Modern technology is so advanced that people can make calls to emergency services with no traceability. This happens repeatedly around Thomond Bridge in the city.

The emergency services rang me. They are very frustrated because they can get calls elsewhere and it could incur the loss of human life. I would like to see a detailed debate. They are both elements of the same area. One is a more extreme cost in human life. The hoax calls are, however, in that area as well.

Like many other speakers, I sympathise with the families of those who died and those who were injured in the awful situation in Israel yesterday.

I wish to speak in respect of Senator Craughwell's contribution. I was going to speak on it anyway but the Senator has raised the EU and the reasoned opinion from the committee of which I am Vice Chairman. Other members of the committee include Senators Kieran O'Donnell, Conway-Walsh and Paddy Burke. We met on three different occasions. We met first to consider whether we would be required to have scrutiny. We then brought in witnesses from the Department, the Revenue Commissioners, the Irish Tax Institute and Christian Aid. The Irish MEPs also came in on this issue.

It is important to realise that the deadline for the receipt by the EU of any reasoned opinion is next Thursday, 17 May 2018. We only deliberated and came to our conclusion last Thursday, 10 May. It is being brought forward and it is important that we bring to the EU our consideration of this matter. We considered it in a very serious, deliberate and measured way. I will provide Members with some of the highlights of that consideration. The committee deems that the proposals are in breach of the principles of subsidiarity. It goes beyond taxation being a sovereign right and a competence for each individual state. Those proposals impinge on that right. The committee agrees that technology and digitalisation is transforming the global economy but a global response is required to devise a taxation framework and not just an EU-specific proposal. That is what is mentioned in these two proposals, COM (2018) 147 and COM (2018) 148.

The committee supports the ongoing work of the OECD. I have visited the OECD and discussed many of the things that Ireland has done in respect of the "Double Irish", country-by-country reporting, automatic exchange of information and many other things that have been going on worldwide. There needs to be an OECD or G20-type broad approach, such as the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, process. I am sure Senator Conway-Walsh is familiar with it. This particular proposal is a direct challenge and a risk to our corporation tax base. It is not even easy to define the digital economy but many of the proposals refer to moving it to where the populations are. We would lose and the countries with larger populations would benefit from any shifting of profits. It is a global problem. We need to look at it but we do not consider these measures appropriate. I urge the House to adopt the reasoned opinion today. We need to have it in Brussels by Thursday.