This week, Irish citizens on a flotilla sailing in international waters were detained. I know one of them personally, namely Dr. Margaret Connolly, a GP and a woman of conscience. She was among at least 11 Irish citizens detained by Israeli forces after the Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted in international waters, 70 nautical miles off Cyprus. Before her vessel was boarded, she recorded a video message in which she said, "If you are watching this video, it means I have been kidnapped from my boat in the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces ...". Those words should stop us in our tracks. The Taoiseach stated that what happened is wrong and unacceptable. Absolutely, it is wrong. It is piracy; that is what it is. He has said this before. He has condemned before and still it keeps happening. Words without action are just not enough any more.

In the same week, we are being asked to host Israel at the Aviva Stadium in October. In the past 30 months, 565 Palestinian footballers have been killed in Gaza. Some 76% of Irish football supporters are opposed to this match, while 93% of FAI members voted to give their board a mandate to press UEFA to suspend Israel. That mandate has been ignored. It is outrageous. Roberto Lopes, captain of Shamrock Rovers, put it very simply: “Ireland has an opportunity here to lead — to be a pioneer and do what others won’t. [...] Please, stop the game." I would like to think everybody in this Chamber would support that call.

Ireland has always understood what it means to be a small nation watching a more powerful force act with impunity. We know what it means when the world looks away. We cannot keep looking away from what is happening in Palestine. I call on the Government to use every lever possible - diplomatic and legal - at EU level to demand the immediate and safe release of all Irish citizens who were detained this week. I call on the FAI, backed by our Government, to find the moral courage to do what 93% of its members have asked. We cannot condemn the detention of our citizens this week and then welcome their captors' national team to Dublin in October.

I ask the Acting Leader to be very clear and to get a specific timeline on the occupied territories Bill. This Bill was promised in the programme for Government, had already passed many Stages and has legal backing and broad public support. I am travelling the length and breadth of this country doing packed-out public meetings. This week's events make the case for this legislation more powerfully than any speech ever could. The people who have waited eight years, and the people of Gaza who have waited longer, deserve a straight answer. When will this Government honour the commitment that was made?

The conscience of this nation demands more than condemnation. We need serious action now.