Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 July 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade

General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Mr. Conor O'Neill:

Primarily we have seen agricultural produce, fruit, vegetables, olives, dates, citrus fruits, and olive oil. Obviously this is seasonal so it can vary. We have seen manufactured goods such as toys, garden furniture, DIY products, and cosmetics products. There is a particular company, which I will not name, that actually makes a marketing advantage out of the fact that it is located deep in the occupied West Bank in the Jordan Valley. It is a branding mechanism to say their cosmetics are produced with Dead Sea minerals. This is in a factory built on occupied land. I actually visited the factory with Senator Black many years ago. This is one of the ways we can say that it is not just a question of how do we identify what we are talking about. We know this and it has been detailed in research reports by independent UN bodies, by many brilliant civil society organisations and by academics, on the kinds of produce, goods and services we are dealing with, where it is coming from and how it is provided. The information is there. If we pass the legislation, then the mechanisms available to the Revenue officials and to other organs of the State are far grander than what is available to civil society organisations. I have no doubt at all that we can do this properly.

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