Mr. Joe O'Brien:

For over three years it has been one of our main advocacy aims to push for a ban on settlement products in Ireland. It is important to say that such products are available on the Irish market. This is the bottom line and unfortunately it shows that Ireland is indirectly supporting Israel's illegal settlements. The value of illegal settlement products on the Irish market is extremely difficult to assess, particularly in view of the volume and variety of goods imported into the jurisdiction. However, I will provide some examples. We had some slides in respect of this matter but I do not see a printed version of the picture of the produce of a company called Keter. The latter operates in the Barkan industrial estate, which is near the illegal settlement of Ariel in Occupied Palestinian Territory. If one visits Woodies, B&Q or Argos, one can buy some of Keter's plastic garden furniture and storage products.

SodaStream products are also available on the Irish market. We have provided a picture of such products in one of the hand-outs. This picture was taken in a DID Electrical store in Dublin. SodaStream is located in the Mishor Edomim industrial park, which is situated to the east of Jerusalem in occupied Palestinian territory. I draw members attention to a detailed report about SodaStream and its activities in the occupied territory, which was compiled by an Israeli-Palestinian research project called Who Profits. The latter has an online database which provides details on the companies that operate in illegal settlements and export to various countries internationally. In our short one-page written submission, we identify some of the companies that operate in illegal settlements and export to Ireland. In terms of imports to Ireland from Israel, the value is in the region of €70 to €80 million. We suspect, however, that imports of illegal settlement products would only constitute a very small percentage of this figure.

There is a growing legal opinion that it would be viable for member states of the EU to ban illegal settlement products unilaterally and without the need for EU approval. A renowned international law professor from Cambridge, James Crawford, published an opinion in that regard earlier this year via the Trade Union Council in the UK. This can be found in one of the documents we have circulated to members. We are faced with the reality of illegal settlement products being available in Ireland. In our opinion and that of an eminent legal expert, the Government has the necessary legal framework available to it to institute a ban. Why should we do this now?

As the Chairman stated, for many years Irish Governments have strongly supported the Palestinians' need for their own state. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade must be complimented on his efforts in this regard. In the context of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the formation of foreign policy can be frustrating. It can often seem, for example, that as a distant third party we can have little influence on the situation. However, the extraordinarily positive thing we can say is that, despite this conflict being so far away, protracted and harmful and destructive in so many ways for many decades, the Irish Government and those who can influence it have the opportunity and the power to make a tangible contribution to laying the ground for a just and peaceful solution.

We propose that concerted political efforts be made to institute a national ban on illegal settlement products. This suggestion is not as radical as it might sound. Banning settlement products would merely be a dissociation from breaches of international law. Ireland is connected to the illegal settlement policies and realities and what we are proposing is a simple clearing of conscience. If we do not do this, then we will continue to support one of the biggest barriers to peace. We ask the committee to propose to the Tánaiste that cross-departmental measures be initiated in order to start the practical process towards discovering how such products can be banned. What is particularly strong about the proposal to ban settlement products is the fact that it is not an act against the state of Israel; it is very clearly an action against Israel's illegal actions and not the legitimate state of Israel, which we all recognise. On each occasion we advocate a ban of illegal settlement products, we must make it clear that such a ban is simply a dissociation from illegality.

Illegal settlements have increasingly become the focus of attention at US, EU and UN level. The Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister recently indicated his country is considering such a ban. There is clearly an appetite on a variety of fronts internationally for taking action in respect of illegal settlements. However, the requisite leadership at international level does not appear to exist at present. We are of the view that Ireland should take the lead on this matter. While our international economic reputation has taken a huge hit, we still have an international reputation for the protection of human rights. We are of the view that the country must live up to the latter. If Ireland displays further leadership on this issue, others will follow and illegal settlements could be isolated - economically and politically - for what they are, namely, illegal, destructive and barriers to peace. In that context, we ask the committee to commit to pushing the agenda of banning the importation of settlement products at national level. We also ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to initiate cross-departmental measures to start us off on the path towards getting illegal settlement products off the Irish market.