Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

At the UN General Assembly, the Taoiseach said that "we, the collected international community, have failed Palestine". I could not agree more. The problem is that this applies to his Government as well. I know the Taoiseach finds this incredibly frustrating because he thinks he should just get applause for saying the right things, or some of the right things, about Palestine and should not be criticised for the lack of action. However, it is not unreasonable for us to say that the words have to be backed up by action. Earlier, in response to Deputy Coppinger, the Taoiseach said that he is focused on more important things than sport. That is fine, but then he is the one who gutted the occupied territories Bill, who opposes sanctions on Israel and who is part of a Government that is two years looking into the fact that flights illegally containing ammunition and weapons are going to Israel through our airspace. When it comes to the issue of sport and sportswashing, the Taoiseach cowardly hid behind the FAI. Deputy Barry Ward said on radio, when Gavin Bazunu came out clearly and it looked like others would do so too, that if the FAI had made a decision, it would have had the backing of the Government. Will the Taoiseach back the players if they say they are not going to go ahead with this game?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29