Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 February 2026
221. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to confirm receipt of a letter from a cross-party group of parliamentarians from Ireland and Britain in relation to the situation in Palestine; the reason no response has been given; and her plans to respond to the proposals set out in the letter. [15742/26]
View answerI confirm receipt of the letter referred to by the Deputy in relation to the situation in Palestine. I assure the Deputy that I attach great importance to correspondence received from elected representatives. The letter raised a number of important and complex questions and I confirm that a substantive response has now issued.
The Deputy will be aware that there have been a number of significant relevant developments since the letter was received in late December. The situation in Palestine and the wider Middle East has been consistently at the centre of my work as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Last month, I visited Egypt and Jordan as part of my ongoing efforts to engage with key partners in the region. In the course of my visit, I travelled to the Rafah Crossing to assess the ongoing response to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In addition, I hosted the eighth meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State solution in Croke Park on 28 January, which brought together special envoys, senior officials and diplomats from over 50 countries, including the United Kingdom, and international organisations. The meeting shared Ireland’s experience of a successful peace process in Northern Ireland as part of ongoing efforts in support of the two-State solution.
There is intensive ongoing cooperation with like-minded partners on the situation in Palestine. In December, I spoke by phone with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Yvette Cooper, on a range of issues including the situation in Gaza. My officials engage regularly with their British counterparts on the Middle East.
I regularly raise the situation in Palestine with my EU colleagues including at meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council, most recently on 23 February. I met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine, Varsen Aghabekian, and with the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, in the margins of the Munich Security Conference on 13-14 February.
Ireland will continue to use all the tools at its disposal – political, legal, diplomatic and humanitarian – to support the Palestinian people to achieve self-determination through the two-State solution. This is the only way to establish lasting peace and security for Israel and Palestine and the wider region.
