Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the status of the work of the international division of his Department. [18477/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 8 September 2020
Ceisteanna (1, 2)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:2. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach his plans for State visits. [22650/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (7 píosaí cainte)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The international section of the Department supports my work at international level, beyond the EU, to promote Ireland's foreign and economic policy objectives and to maintain and develop strong bilateral and multilateral relations. Working closely with other Departments, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the international section provides me with advice and briefing on international issues, bilateral and multilateral relations. It also supports my engagement with Heads of State and Government and other senior international figures and organisations.
The international section also assists with coordination of relevant whole-of-Government initiatives, such as the Global Ireland 2025 strategy and the sustainable development goals implementation arrangements. It also supported the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the successful campaign for Ireland's election to the UN Security Council and will work closely with that Department as Ireland prepares to assume its seat from January 2021.
In recent months, the section has contributed to work across Government in relation to Covid-19, notably in monitoring the epidemiological situation, policy responses and practical actions taken by other countries.
The international section co-ordinates my international travel, including bilateral visits and attendance at multilateral engagements such as meetings of the European Council and leaders' summits at the United Nations. International travel is severely restricted at present and I do not expect to undertake international travel in the period ahead other than for meetings that are deemed to be essential to Ireland's interests. If it is decided that meetings of the European Council take place in person, including meetings planned for later this month, October and December, I will attend to represent Ireland, as I did when it met in Brussels in July. While I will be participating in this year's UN General Assembly, the leaders' summit has been recast as a virtual event.
I thank the Taoiseach for his response.
I wish to raise the issue of the intensification of attacks on Gaza by the Israeli army throughout last month. These attacks included the use of war planes with Israeli army offensives carried out almost daily from early August. In addition to the military attacks, Israel imposed further restrictions on the people of Gaza, which involved banning the entry of fuel for Gaza's only power plant. International media reported significant attacks on the Gaza Strip, resulting in ever-increasing and significant infrastructural damage. These attacks take place within a strip of land 41 km long and 10 km wide, with a population of some 2 million people. The psychological impact of these attacks on families and children is unimaginable and unconscionable.
The latest round of military attacks against Gaza took place in advance of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, visiting Tel Aviv and the Middle East to shore up support for the United Arab Emirates' efforts to normalise relationships with Israel. Such efforts are deeply divisive and will serve to further destabilise the region.
Sinn Féin has welcomed the significant joint communiqué from the main Palestinian political forces in recent days, agreeing on the need to come together in their opposition to the normalisation of relationships between the Arab states and Israel and to the plans to annex Palestinian lands. Will the Taoiseach lend his support to this cross-party Palestinian initiative?
From a foreign policy point of view, I would like the Taoiseach's assurance that this Government, and all parties in this House, will do absolutely nothing between now and November to facilitate, encourage or promote assistance to Donald Trump's campaign to return to the White House. I think this is a priority. Under normal circumstances, one might say we have to maintain friendly relationships with the US but I am of the view, as I have said many times in this House, that Donald Trump is inciting the most dangerous political forces. He is encouraging a politics of hate and legitimising it across the world, along with people like Jair Bolsonaro and Viktor Orbán. These people are actively encouraging and legitimising hate, division, conflict and racism in a dangerous way that echoes the politics of the fascists of the 1930s. I think Biden is useless and I am not particularly promoting him either. However, it is in all of our interests that we do not do anything that could be used by Trump to assist his return to power.
Palestine, which Deputy MacDonald has just raised, is a case in point. Trump has given license to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to annex Palestinian territory, to manipulate in a dangerous way the situation in the Middle East, to renew assaults on Gaza and so on. It is another instance of the danger of Trump.
The Government will continue to accord a high priority to the Middle East situation, particularly the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the necessity for genuine movement towards a two-state solution. We welcome the fact that Israel has removed its threat to annex further settlements in Palestine. It is suspending the plans originally announced. We are still concerned by subsequent comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu that any suspension is temporary. Ireland's position is that any such plans should be permanently withdrawn.
I agree with Deputy MacDonald regarding the effect that attacks, by their nature, have on such a narrow strip as Gaza. I have been to Gaza and seen at first hand how explosions and bombings can be devastating for the civilian population. There is no way to avoid injuring and killing innocent civilians in such attacks. That is the case and the lack of proper utilities in Gaza reduces significantly the quality of life of the citizens, both in terms of energy and clean water.
Ireland, along with the European Union, remains a steadfast supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, which provides significant relief to the people of Gaza and to the people of Palestine more generally.
On the international developments, the US engagement with Israel has not been helpful in bringing a resolution to this or in moving this into a space where it could gain momentum and get a genuine engagement from all sides towards a two-state solution. That is a concern of ours.
On Deputy Boyd Barrett's points, we take a non-partisan approach to elections in other countries, particularly in other democracies. I recently spoke on the phone with Mick Mulvaney, President Trump's special envoy for Northern Ireland and I spoke to Representative Richard Neal of the Congressional Friends of Ireland. Both of them were still concerned about the situation here with Brexit and so on. We speak to both sides of the aisle on a continuing basis and we do not interfere in the electoral contest itself. I met former Vice President Biden some years ago at a breakfast event. He is proud of his Irish heritage and has a great love for this country. We will continue to work consistently with both sides of the aisle in the United States' political system and that will not change.
As the Taoiseach noted, the threat of the further annexation of Palestinian land has been suspended but it has not been definitively taken off the table. As the Taoiseach is also aware, the state of Israel is additionally and in any event consistently in breach of international law. It is the essence of what we might call a rogue state. We want to get to a solution. I want Ireland to be as constructive and helpful as possible in that regard and at times that means we have to lead from the front.
As the Taoiseach knows, the Oireachtas has agreed on a position that we should recognise the state of Palestine. The Taoiseach needs to do that. He needs to honour the decided verdict of the Oireachtas on that matter. That would be of help in unlocking the situation and for us, in our own way, to lead from the front in respect of the two-state solution. The occupied territories Bill, which the Taoiseach and his political party supported, should not have been offered up on the altar of political expediency to cut a deal with Fine Gael, which did not support that legislation. Fine Gael may have been unique among parties in the Oireachtas in not supporting that legislation. I propose the recognition of the state of Palestine and advancing and enacting the occupied territories Bill as concrete ways and contributions to what the Taoiseach states he wishes to see, namely, a resolution of the Palestinian question and the achievement of that two-state solution.
I know the Taoiseach will not be as explicit as I might be about Trump but I am asking the Department of the Taoiseach to be careful not to inadvertently offer any public relations opportunities to Donald Trump between now and November. That is what I am urging because he is a danger to the whole world. Whatever I may think about Biden, this guy is a threat to democracy.
On Palestine, I agree with the call to support the occupied territories Bill and for the recognition of the Palestinian state. I want to point out to the Government, to Sinn Féin and to others that there is a contradiction between saying that we do not interfere with the politics of other states and pinning our colours to the mast of the two-state solution. Palestinians are divided about a two-state and one-state solution. In this country, we completely reject two-state solutions. It is called partition, we reject it and we recognise that partition was a disaster. Why would we support, as a matter of principle, the continued partition of Palestine when there is a very valid argument from many Palestinians that the solution to the conflict in Palestine is to have a single state where one's religion or ethnic background makes no difference and where one is treated equally? That was the historic position of the Palestinians. They conceded that under pressure from the Israelis and since they have done so, the situation has been a disaster. The two-state solution has not worked and is not now even viable but it copper-fastens partition on ethnic and religious grounds. The Taoiseach may agree or disagree with me but we should not fix our mast to the position of two states because it is dangerous. We should look at Lebanon, where there were similar arrangements and it turned out to be a disaster for the whole history of that state. The people of Lebanon are now saying they cannot have these institutionalised sectarian partitions. I put it to the Taoiseach that the same point applies to Palestine.
On the recognition of the state of Palestine, we have made it clear in the programme for Government that we 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 that doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory.
On practical support for the Palestinians, it should not be forgotten that Ireland provides significant levels of development and humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Palestinian men, women and children. In 2020, this support will amount to €16.2 million in total and in light of the threat posed by Covid-19, the Government has expedited this year's funding to agencies and civil society organisations working on the ground with the Palestinian people. One of our main partners on the ground is UNRWA and we will provide €7 million this year to support its vital work in providing education, healthcare and humanitarian relief to approximately 5.6 million registered Palestinian refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. We are also providing funding to the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education and Higher Education; the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; the West Bank Protection Consortium, which works to deter demolitions on the West Bank and civil society organisations advocating for human rights and peace. We continue to provide humanitarian assistance to alleviate the worst of the suffering in Gaza, including through our support for UNRWA, which provides a lot of public services, such as health and education, in Gaza.
Deputy Boyd Barrett raised an important point on the question of a one-state or two-state solution. It seems to me that the general consensus internationally and the European position have been in favour of a two-state solution. That said, the continued policy of annexation and settlements makes that a difficult prospect into the future and it would seem to me to be in the best interests of all to create a momentum behind what many people think is the practical and realistic idea of a two-state solution.