I recognise the work the Government has done in support for UNRWA and the International Court of Justice and in recognising the State of Palestine, which it did on this day one year ago. There is, however, much more that needs to be done. After the last 12 months, it is unclear how much longer the State of Palestine will actually exist on the map. An entire people, its culture and place are being methodically and systematically erased by Israel. Israel's genocidal campaign of death and devastation has continued for nearly two years with barely a pause and without any sanction. The daily horrors we are witnessing are utterly horrific. People in Gaza cannot feed their families or treat their injured. All the while, a few kilometres away, thousands of trucks laden with aid are refused entry at the border. Dr. Ali Al-Najjar works in Sligo. On Friday morning, nine of his nieces and nephews were killed by Israel. An air strike on the home of his sister, a doctor in Gaza, killed her children while she was working on an emergency ward. Her youngest children were still in pyjamas. What Israel is doing in Gaza is not just depraved and immoral, it is inhumane, barbaric and illegal. Every time we think we have seen the worst of what Israel can do in terms of cruelty and lawlessness, the situation gets even worse. More than 60,000 people are now dead, most of them women, children and the elderly. A British surgeon working in Gaza has described it as a slaughterhouse. The weapons being used in the slaughter are not just Israeli. They are being supplied by the United States and countries in Europe. Much of the weaponry is being financed by the sale of Israeli bonds. These bonds are explicitly advertised as being crucial to the war effort. Israel is running marketing campaigns imploring people to buy these bonds so they can stand with Israel. Israel Bonds president and CEO Dani Naveh has told potential investors that purchasing the bonds was the best way to help Israel support the war campaign. The sale of these bonds is being facilitated in Europe by the Central Bank of Ireland. Those are the facts. It is also a fact that the Government does not want to do anything about this. Last night, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, shamefully claimed that the Government could not act. He did so even though legal advice from Oireachtas lawyers says it can. This advice states clearly that stopping the sale of these bonds is compatible with the Irish Constitution and EU law and in accordance with international law. The Taoiseach has recognised that what is happening in Gaza is genocide. Ireland has a legal obligation under the genocide convention to do everything we can to stop genocide.
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This applies to all State institutions, including the Central Bank. We must act to stop this genocide. The Taoiseach must act and act now.
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What is he going to do to stop the sale of these bonds?
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I do not take away from anything the Taoiseach just said but I asked him about the sale of bonds being facilitated by the Central Bank of Ireland. It is very clear that these bonds are being used to fund the genocide. The Taoiseach has recognised that genocide is taking place and he has an obligation under the Genocide Convention to do everything he can to stop that genocide. The fact is that the genocide is being financed, in part, by bonds being authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland. Clearly, that has to stop now. The Taoiseach and Government can tell the Central Bank to stop facilitating and authorising those bonds.
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Will the Taoiseach do that? Will he answer that question? I am not taking from anything else he is saying or doing but in relation to bonds and the financing of this genocide, will the Taoiseach do everything he can to stop it?
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It acts unilaterally.
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The Taoiseach could ask the Central Bank to comply with an instruction on this.
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It authorises sales.
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What about the sale-----
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