Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 15 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

Photo of Fiona O'LoughlinFiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)

I thank all of the witnesses for their meaningful and heartfelt statements. Mr. Meehan spoke about the labelling of goods. It was good to get the historical background. If we were to include services in this Bill, and it has been indicated that we are looking at the possibility of a legal framework for that, how could we label services? That is a little more difficult because tech and tourism form a significant part of services and because it involves distinguishing between services from the occupied territories and from Israel itself. I would appreciate Mr. Meehan's response to that.

It is always important to hear from people who are personally affected. We see and hear reports on our phones, in our newspapers, on television and on social media, but meeting Fatin, a young person talking about her concerns about her family, her sister and nephew and niece, is shocking. When Ms Al Tamimi asks, as she did in her statement, that Ireland live up to its legal obligation not to assist war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide, what does she say to the other European countries and, indeed, countries globally given that Ireland is the only country examining a Bill to prohibit services?

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