Minister McEntee announces financial support for public services in Palestine

Ireland is providing an additional financial contribution of €3 million to ensure that vital public services in Palestine can continue, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee has announced.

The contribution will go to an EU fund that is helping to keep public services such as education and healthcare operational in the face of a financial crisis facing the Palestinian Authority. It forms part of Ireland's contribution as a member of the Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the Palestinian Authority.

Israel's continued refusal to transfer Palestinian tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority threatens its ability to maintain vital public services on which millions of people depend. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee and Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond said that Ireland's support will ensure that people in Palestine can continue to access these services.

Minister McEntee said:

Basic public services in Palestine such as education and health are under serious pressure due to financial restrictions imposed by Israel. This not only threatens people's lives and health, it is a real risk to security at a time when the people of Palestine desperately need stability.

I am working closely with our EU partners to help ensure that these essential services can continue. This funding demonstrates Ireland's continued support for the people of Palestine. It is also part of our contribution as a member of the Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the Palestinian Authority established at the UN High Level Week last year.

Israeli government policy is having a catastrophic effect on the Palestinian economy. This is harshly impacting people's daily lives. The damage being inflicted on the Palestinian economy is also undermining the Palestinian Authority's significant reforms. This is happening against the backdrop of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and sharply deteriorating situation in the West Bank. The ongoing expansion of Israeli controls in the West Bank, alongside settlement expansion and rampant settler violence in an atmosphere of impunity are part of an established pattern to create a new status quo in Palestine.

Minister of State Neale Richmond said:

Ireland has consistently expressed our concern about attempts by Israel to suffocate the Palestinian economy. There is strong consensus at EU and international level that Israel must release withheld tax clearance revenues to the Palestinian Authority and take all necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place.

This funding will help to ensure that people in Palestine can continue to access basic public services. It is a further sign of Ireland's continued support for the people of Palestine at a deeply worrying time for the wider region. Economic stability is essential for building peace and security in Palestine and the wider region

ENDS

8 April 2026

Notes:

• This funding is part of an overall financial commitment of €42 million announced by Minister McEntee in January. The allocation of €3 million from this overall commitment will be provided to the EU PEGASE mechanism and is being made as Ireland's contribution as a member of the Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the Palestinian Authority.
• PEGASE is the European Union's mechanism to support the Palestinian people through implementation of the Palestinian Authority's Reform and Development Plan (PRDP).
• The Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the Palestinian Authority was established in September 2025 in response to the urgent and unprecedented financial crisis confronting the Palestinian Authority. Its purpose is to stabilise the Palestinian Authority's finances and preserve its ability to govern, provide essential services, and maintain security, all of which are indispensable to regional stability and to preserving the two-State solution. This is in the context of the Palestinian Authority reporting that Israel continues to refuse to implement the Paris Protocol and transfer the equivalent of more than USD$4 billion in withheld tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority, directly undermining services in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
• Ireland has provided over €114 million in support to the people of Palestine since January 2023 including €68 million to UNRWA. On 13 January, Minister McEntee announced €42 million in assistance to the people of Palestine in 2026, representing an increase from €36 million in 2025.