Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On amendment No. 26, the requirement to notify the Minister of transactions is provided for under section 10(1)(b)(xi). It will ensure that parties to a notifiable transaction notify the Minister of that transaction and include details of any sanctions or restrictive financial measures imposed on the party by the European Union. I am seeking to ensure that the legislation is even more comprehensive when it comes to investments made by individuals, companies or states. To facilitate this, I propose that not only should EU sanctions be notified to the Minister but where a party to a transaction, or the state or territory under whose laws the party are constituted, registered, or otherwise organised, has been sanctioned by the UN or the International Criminal Court, ICC, this should also be notified. If we are to assess, investigate, authorise, condition, or prohibit third-country investments based on a range of security or public order criteria, it should be done in the round and to the maximum and fullest extent possible. The legislation is intended to equip the State with the means to protect itself and us against possible threats, and the Department should know if these parties or states have been sanctioned by the UN or the ICC.

I have tabled a further amendment to ensure that details of convictions in another state for breaches of human rights and employment laws will also be reportable to the Minister when a transaction is being undertaken. This would give a full picture of who these people are, as well as any and all sanctions that might be applied to these bodies - in order to ensure that they are not fly-by-nights - by the UN and the International Criminal Court, ICC.