I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the situation in the Middle East. I am sure all of our thoughts are with the people, especially the more than 20,000 Irish citizens, who have been caught up in this conflict. It is a worrying time for them and their families as they deal with the uncertainty of this situation. I pay tribute to our officials in the Department of foreign affairs who are working on the ground in difficult circumstances to get Irish citizens home and to provide consular assistance to them. Plans for the Department of foreign affairs charter flight are welcome, with priority for vulnerable people and those with medical needs. Unfortunately, it seems the instability will continue in the short term. The charter flights must continue until all Irish citizens who need to leave the region can do so or until commercial flights and services resume at scale. Like all Deputies, I want to see an urgent de-escalation and an end to the conflict. In the meantime, all sides should exercise maximum restraint, have regard for international norms and protect civilian lives. Expansion of the conflict to neighbouring regions in the past 24 hours has been alarming and risks a wider destabilisation. That is very concerning and risks a humanitarian and economic crisis. I welcome confirmation from the Minister that the Irish troops stationed in Lebanon are safe. This will be a worrying time for them and their families and it is important good communication continues to keep them up to date on the situation. Turning back to Ireland, it is very regrettable some businesses seem to have used the crisis to increase prices. We have all seen reports of jumps in home heating and fuel over the weekend. Prices seemed to increase within hours of the crisis breaking out. This is completely unacceptable, and I call on the Minister to take action and seriously engage with regulatory authorities. Price-gouging to the degree reported is unacceptable and the Government should consider introducing new, maybe emergency, legislation if existing powers are insufficient to deal with it. This further underscores the need for wind and solar energy in Ireland. I call on all sides to de-escalate the dangerous situation and move towards an end to the conflict while upholding international norms and the rule of law and protecting innocent lives.

Sentiment score: -0.13