Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

To go back briefly to the occupied territories Bill, it is important to say there has been a lot of spin about it. We have received a lot of threats, but the UN maintains a list of multinationals that are involved in the illegal settlements. Out of that list, only a handful, maybe two or three, are actually based in Ireland. The vast majority of companies in Ireland, whether they are American or otherwise, have no involvement in these illegal Israeli settlements.

We have heard about this idea of reputation. I will challenge that a little. In the context of coming here, it is irresponsible to tell us there is reputational risk without going into any specifics about that, to be honest. Reputation is a two-way street. There will be positive benefits. There will be companies that have no wish to make profit off horrific war crimes and are very happy that Ireland is taking this stance. I would like to hear about this in the context of Spain because it has this legislation. Does Mr. Sweetman see an equivalent reputational risk, when it comes to Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia or all these other countries that have passed a similar piece of legislation, and EU countries that are seeking to comply with international law?