John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. He touched on the annexation motion, which was historic in its own right when it was passed overwhelmingly by the Dáil in 2020. It stated quite clearly that what Israel is doing by grabbing Palestinian land is absolutely illegal. There have to be repercussions from such a designation, whereby ours was the first European country to unilaterally state that Israel is breaching international law. That is why this legislation is so important. I alluded to the illegal nature of the 144 settlements and the growing number of Israeli settlers, at more than 7,000 now and growing quickly, and unless there are repercussions for those actions, that will continue to grow.

This cuts to the core of what it means to stand up for international law and humanitarian law. We cannot cherry-pick from international law as to which geographical area or conflict it should or should not be applied to. If you fundamentally believe in international law and humanitarian law, you cannot cherry-pick. It needs to be applied universally. If the Government does not divest from the illegal enterprise that is happening on occupied Palestinian land, the State is complicit in breaking international law by financing it and contradicting its own stated political position and the democratic will of the Oireachtas in terms of the illegal nature of the occupation and the annexation of Palestinian territories.

This cuts right to the core of Ireland's position and reputation internationally. We have a good international standing with our position as a neutral honest broker when it comes to conflicts across the globe. Failure to progress this legislation would cause fundamental damage to Ireland's reputation and standing internationally as an honest neutral broker on the international stage where essentially we cherry-pick when it comes to international law. This poses serious dilemmas for the Government in our standing on the international stage.