Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to raise this issue on the Adjournment.

I understand the OECD is planning to confer member status on Israel at its next meeting on 10 May, and that our Government will be supporting this move. I already raised this matter with the Minister at the Joint Committee on European Affairs, and the committee, at my request, wrote yesterday to the Minister protesting against Ireland's support, as a member of the OECD, for Israel's becoming a full member in the present circumstances. The road map for the accession of Israel to the OECD Convention, which was adopted in November 2007, states:

The Council reaffirms that OECD Membership is committed to fundamental values, which candidate countries are expected to share. These fundamental values serve as the foundation of the like-mindedness of OECD Members and have been expressed in various OECD Ministerial Communiques. [...]

These fundamental values include a commitment to pluralist democracy based on the rule of law and the respect of human rights, adherence to open and transparent market economy principles and a shared goal of sustainable development.

The key phrases here are "pluralist democracy" and "respect for human rights". If we now give our imprimatur to Israel's accession, we are effectively saying that we acknowledge that Israel is not in breach of human rights in its relations with the Palestinian people and that it is a pluralist democracy.

I will quote one or two things the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, has said in this regard. He wrote in The New York Times on 5 March this year:

I view the current conditions prevailing for the ordinary population [in Gaza] as inhumane and utterly unacceptable, in terms of accepted international standards of human rights. ... I genuinely believe that the medieval siege conditions being imposed on the people of Gaza are unacceptable.

In December 2009, the Minister described Gaza as "an open prison". If that is the view of the Minister - which presumably reflects the view of the Irish Government - how can he back Israel's OECD membership? The decision is to be made on 10 May. The only way to address this would be for the Minister to raise at that meeting the issues and concerns that have been expressed throughout Ireland, including the invasion of the Gaza strip in December 2008, which continued into January 2009, and the fact that since then Gaza has effectively been an open prison, as the Minister said - actually, a closed prison. A total of €4.5 billion in funding has been collected from the international community, including the Quartet. Israel will not allow people to move freely from Gaza; nor will it allow any repairs, development or construction work to take place. The proper response would be for the Minister to argue, on Ireland's behalf, that this matter should be postponed and no decision should be taken until there is clear, demonstrable proof that Israel will fulfil its human rights obligations under international law - obligations that are part and parcel of the accession process to the OECD. Failing that, Ireland should dissent from the decision on Israel's accession to the OECD.

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