Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and I hope they have a safe journey back. I have not been a member of this committee for long and I am not familiar with many of the terms referring to the organisations involved. I am not familiar with the role played by the EEAS so I found the briefing document interesting in the questions it raises.

Is the EEAS planning any activity on trade with Israeli settlements in light of this committee's proposal for an EU-wide ban on trade on settlement goods? This arose from the discussion on what was happening in Gaza. Does the EEAS have a role? I am supportive of the ban on Israeli settlement goods in order to emphasise that the ban is only on goods produced in Israeli settlements. We support it because of the illegality of the settlements and the human rights abuses that took place. It seems that ethnic cleansing is taking place and different NGOs gave us the background to what is happening in the settlement areas. Does the EEAS have a view?

Regarding EU sanctions, in the Middle East the High Representative has ensured an ongoing European contribution to efforts to bring about a resumption of talks and to highlight the humanitarian situation in Gaza. This is a concern shared by Ireland. The EEAS refers to sanctions policies, another area that has developed significantly over the past year and a half, and the recent resumption of discussions on the Iranian nuclear programme has been in part attributed to the tough measures imposed in January of this year, including a ban on crude oil. We know the Israeli Government is not signed up to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, NPT, and it seems to have nuclear weapons. It certainly has nuclear power and is able to enrich nuclear fuel. We have no ban or similar efforts in respect of Israel, despite what is happening in Gaza. There seems to be a contradiction with what is wrong in one part of the world and what we are doing in another. Perhaps it is beyond the remit of the EEAS to comment on these matters. We are placing sanctions on one country yet we do not do anything to another country involved in the same thing.