Willie O'Dea
Question:31. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his plans for a formal recognition of the state of Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41715/23]
View answerThursday, 28 September 2023
Questions (31)
Written answers
The Programme for Government states that the Government will “honour our commitment to recognise the State of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or in advance of that, when we believe doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-State solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory”.
In the absence of progress towards a two-State solution, I would be prepared to recommend to the Government recognition by Ireland of a State of Palestine, if and when it might be helpful, and this is a matter which I discuss regularly with EU colleagues.
The timing and context of any such decision would affect whether the resulting loss of influence would be matched by a commensurate benefit for the Palestinian people and a positive impact on the peace process and a two-State solution. My judgement at present is that this is not the case.
Question No. 32 answered orally.