Ar an gcéad dul síos, aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag an Aire Stáit. Gan dabht, ba chóir go mbeadh ár saoránaigh mar thosaíocht ag an Rialtas. Ba cheart don Rialtas a chinntiú go bhfuil siad slán sábháilte agus go bhfuil cumarsáid mhaith leo agus lena gcuid teaghlach. Tá sé sin fíorthábhachtach. Tiocfaidh mé ar ais chuige sin. Sometimes when you speak to people about politics, the international issues are not necessarily the first thing on their lips. They think about the bread and butter issues. This issue is something that does concern people. There is a very clear understanding among the general public that this conflict is particularly dangerous, without logic, without basis and at risk of spilling into something much greater and wider, with long-lasting ramifications for the region. It is important that we recognise that this was an act of aggression, it was an illegal act and it was against the UN Charter. Most of all, it was profoundly dangerous. Democrat and Republican Presidents for 20 or 30 years have made it almost an article of faith not to blindly enter into a conflict with Iran, in the knowledge that it was potentially a tinderbox for the entire region. We do not know how true that is going to become. We do not know the ramifications but what we see already, within days, is that this is now spilling into Bahrain in terms of civil unrest, it is clearly spilling into Lebanon, it is resulting in threats to Türkiye and it is potentially destabilising in terms of Syria, Yemen and other countries. As the Minister adverted to, it is drawing the world's eyes away from the genocide that has been committed in Palestine and the potential for even greater neglect of the Palestinian people in terms of the ongoing killing and deprivation of aid. This is a particularly dangerous war. It is important that the Irish Government calls it what it is: a breach of international law and against the UN Charter. The Irish Government has not been quite so weak as the Governments of some other European countries, but there are other European countries that have said clearly what this is. People have focused on Spain, but I also want to instance Norway. Greater leadership needs to be shown. Micheál Martin made a great play of the flaws of the UN at Leaders' Questions on Tuesday. He is right; the UN is not perfect by any manner or means. It contributes to the degradation of organisations such as the UN when the international community generally offers clear and firm condemnations - very often, rightly so - of countries in the global south, but it is not called out so clearly when the United States, Israel or other countries in the developed world breach international law. We all had lots of discussion about Mark Carney's speech, and this the very kind of thing he was speaking about. It undermines the multilateral order when we do not call something like this - a clear breach of international law, a breach of the UN Charter and an extremely dangerous war - for what it is. One of the points the Spanish Prime Minister made very well was that in recognising why this war is wrong and dangerous, we are by no means undermining our capacity to condemn the Iranian Government for what it has been responsible for in recent months and years. I have condemned on multiple occasions the brutal repression of protestors, the extrajudicial killing, the repression of political dissent and the repression of women's rights. That is crucially important - absolutely - but there is no contradiction there. I think Pedro Sánchez articulated that quite well. For all the talk from the United States of the people of Iran, ultimately this is not in the interests of the people of Iran. Marco Rubio let the cat out of the bag when he said that they responded because Israel was going to strike. He said the US felt that if Israel was going to strike, it needed to get its retaliation in first, in effect. That was an extraordinary statement of how US policy is being dictated by the Israelis. He has tried to walk that back to some limited extent, but that statement and his response to it reflects the fact that there is no plan here, as far as I can see. That is one of the most frightening things. There is no plan here. The Pentagon is distancing itself from the White House. Marco Rubio is putting something out there and walking it back. JD Vance is missing. I do not know what is going on with him. What on earth is the plan? What is the objective? How do you say that when this conflict has achieved some kind of objective, you can settle some kind of peace? There is nothing like that. They have just decided to go to war with no sense of how they are going to get back out of it. Who is going to suffer most of all? It is the people of Iran and the people of this region. I saw a tweet yesterday from RTÉ News. It stated, "The war in the Middle East has so far been defined by two images: Iranian drones and missiles plunging to the ground and exploding, and interceptors streaking into the skies to stop them". I am not one who particularly likes to say that RTÉ's coverage is forever off the wall. There is good stuff, bad stuff and whatever. I have to say that I really disagree with that. Yes, the drones and everything that goes along with them are a significant feature, but for me the defining image of this conflict is the image of dozens of girls wrapped in their shrouds having been bombed at their school. There are different reports, but it looks like well over 100 - it is certainly in the area of 140 - schoolchildren and schoolgirls were killed. I do not know how anyone cannot see that as the defining image. The drones and so on are a reminder. War has been a feature of life for all of human history, unfortunately. We must come to terms with what that means. Ultimately, it carries a heavy price. It carries a heavy price that we can see that the Iranian people and the people of the region are bearing. It is right to say that we must urge for diplomacy and call for restraint. It is difficult to be optimistic when you hear the rhetoric that is coming from the US Government and the Israeli Government and when you see that a ship was sunk with no effort to try to save the survivors. Again, where does that stand in international law? It is quite shameful not to rescue people in distress. Unfortunately, the track record of the United States, supported and encouraged by Israel in this instance, in terms of military interference in the Middle East has been disastrous. There have been decades of invasions and occupations. This latest action risks repeating that tragic history. The Irish Government must use its voice and bring every political lever to bear in the interests of diplomacy. Unfortunately, this came off the back of negotiations which Oman claims were making progress. Unfortunately, they were simply discarded in the blind rush to war without logic, reason or an objective or rationale. We have spoken about the situation in Lebanon, which is extremely dangerous. I too condemn the attacks from Israel and Hezbollah in both instances. As much as I state clearly that this is an attack that is unjustified, I condemn very clearly any response from Iran that involves targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, whether in the Gulf region or any countries surrounding it. It is important in all instances to condemn attacks on civilians. That is true in Lebanon as well. The Israeli Government is talking about clearing, as it would see it, the area south of the Litani River, which is obviously the area in which Camp Shamrock, the long-standing Irish presence through UNIFIL, is based. We send our thoughts to the Irish personnel. I know it is a worrying situation for them. I know they are committed and dedicated to their task. There is no fear of that and no question of that. They are proud of their role, and I am sure they will do all within their power to ensure it is fulfilled. It is of course a worrying time. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Opposition, generally speaking, is kept apprised of the situation there. It again demonstrates the dangers of this war and the huge consequences it has for the people of the region. The volatility of this conflict demonstrates to me the value of our neutrality. Our neutrality does not relate simply to where we deploy our troops; it is also central to the notion of an independent foreign policy philosophy that allows us to ensure we can - and we should - call out breaches of international law and breaches of human rights from wherever they come. We are a small nation. We will never be a major military power but we should be able to create a situation in which our place in the world is not to be swept along by one side or the other by the tides of the great powers but, rather, one where we are able to stand on our own two feet as a neutral State and plot our own course in terms of our philosophy and foreign policy. This illustrates all the more why neutrality is vitally important at a time when arguments are being made to undermine it. In the time I have left, I will mention Palestine. It is unusual to have statements on the Middle East without Palestine being the first item on the agenda. Certainly, it must remain on our minds. Israel has committed a genocide, as far as I am concerned. It has attempted to wipe out Gaza. We have a so-called ceasefire in which hundreds of people have died since it began. It is hard to see it as a ceasefire and I am not sure whether the people of Gaza experience it that way. There is increased settler violence in the West Bank without consequence or retribution. The Rafah crossing is shut again and humanitarian aid is being restricted. Humanitarian personnel, including medical personnel and a number of key agencies, are restricted in their access. One issue on Gaza I encourage the Minister and Minister of State to bring up in their engagement internationally, particularly with the US, is to ensure that medical personnel who want to get in to assist the situation are given access. They are being denied access on spurious grounds. It is having a huge impact on public and maternal health and the ability to respond to attacks, injuries and the humanitarian situation on the ground. On the consular side, I acknowledge, as ever, the professionalism and dedication of the Department of foreign affairs' staff. They put in long hours in situations like this. They are dedicated. From talking to people, some may have had difficulties contacting the embassy initially, given the pressure it was under. It is right and welcome that there is now a centralised situation in Dublin. Understandably, the bulk of people are in the UAE, with maybe the second biggest group in Saudi Arabia, but there are Irish communities in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and so on. There are people trying to think ahead as to whether evacuation notices will potentially be issued in some of those countries that do not have flights at this moment. I think Bahrain and Qatar are in that category. In those circumstances - I know the Minister will not comment on this because she would be worried about creating fear, speculation and so on - it is important there is dialogue with people in those countries because they are worried about how they will respond if an evacuation notice is issued and there are no flights available. There is a particular group about which I might correspond with the Minister to allow her to respond. We will need further chartered flights because there are at least 2,000 people who are anxious to leave. Obviously, there are only a few hundred seats on a flight. When it comes to the cost, while I understand these flights are expensive, it is crucial that people who might be effectively running out of money, such as people whose holidays have gone on longer than planned or who were over visiting family, are able to get on these flights. An additional chartered flight will undoubtedly be needed. I wish to respond on the energy stuff. I listened to the Tánaiste earlier. It was as if there were not a problem in this regard already. It was as if there were not already a cost-of-living crisis and people under pressure. He talked about not having a knee-jerk response to a situation that is five or six days old. We have some of the highest electricity prices in Europe, generally speaking, and some of highest petrol prices in Europe. People are already at the pin of their collar. The cost of energy is one of the key issues for people, whether households or small businesses. I am entirely underwhelmed by the response of the Government to the energy and cost-of-living crises anyway but when we see the cost of home heating oil shooting up in recent days in response to what is happening in the Gulf, it is clear that more action is needed. It is the wrong time to increase the carbon tax and we warned the Government about the energy credits. Some 320,000 people are now in arrears, which is a record high. There must be a response to the pinch on energy costs for people.

Sentiment score: -0.08