Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank all of the participants. It has been a useful debate. We have heard some good facts, which were horrific at the same time, on the volume of goods from the occupied territories that are making their way across the EU. I visited Palestine five years ago and saw for myself that Israel is implementing apartheid there. Israel is an apartheid state and it is important to put that on the record. Like so many others, I am hugely frustrated about the occupied territories Bill in particular because we know there is good legal advice stating that it is in line with EU law. There is no consensus on the Attorney General's opinion.

I have to be frank and call out Fine Gael because we know that party opposed the occupied territories Bill. The Tánaiste is on record as saying that he opposed the Bill on political and legal grounds. How is it acceptable in this day and age for the Fine Gael party to stand against a Bill that has the full support of the Irish people and which would do something concrete and would help us lead the way in tackling apartheid? I am old enough to remember the Dunnes Stores strikers, I stood with them as a teenager and I remember the stance they took against apartheid. I remember that there were political parties and participants that were reluctant to come on board back then too. It is shocking that we are still in that state of play today.

I am intrigued by the issue of the UN database because, as many other speakers have indicated, this is important and it is a powerful means of information to help share facts relating to companies that are investing in illegal settlements. What are the witnesses' views on why the Irish Government has not expressed support for this to date? Surely this is the least we can do.