Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 June 2004
84 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the actions which have been undertaken by the Government to make clear, in particular to the Israeli authorities, its concern at the failure to progress the peace accord agreed by the quartet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18776/04]
View answerDuring our presidency of the European Union, Ireland has consistently worked to advance the aims set out in the roadmap of the Quartet based on a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict through a two-state solution. Implementation of the roadmap has been slow as neither Israel nor the Palestinians have met their obligations under the roadmap. When I met the Israeli and Palestinian Foreign Ministers earlier this year, I suggested that, if the requirements set out in the first phase of the roadmap were too great, they might consider taking small, concrete, visible steps to build confidence and prepare for larger scale measures.
The roadmap remains the best available way to achieve a just and comprehensive settlement as it contains all the elements which must form part of any eventual solution. The central position of the roadmap in the peace process has been reaffirmed in the statement of European Foreign Ministers at Tullamore in April and in the declaration issued after the meeting of the Quartet in New York on 4 May and again by the European Council last week.
My most recent meeting with the Foreign Minister of Israel was in the margins of the Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Ministers' meeting in Dublin on 5 and 6 May. I used the opportunity of our bilateral discussions to emphasise the central importance of the roadmap and the need for both parties to meet their obligations under it. On the same occasion I met the Palestinian Foreign Minister and made the same points to him. On 14 June I met the Foreign Minister of Egypt in Brussels to discuss the Middle East peace process among other matters. We agreed that the roadmap remains central to the process and that unilateral acts, such as withdrawal from Gaza, must take place in the context of the roadmap.
