Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I can confirm that the Council, which met in Luxembourg on Monday last, discussed the situation in the Middle East and the fact that no progress has been made in talks about a settlement. The Council adopted a strong statement on the Middle East and Palestine at the May meeting and focused particularly on the settlement activity, which is continuing and which is making a two-state solution increasingly unviable. I expressed in strong terms the Government's position on that.

With regard to the question of a ban on settlement products, it is difficult to put a figure on it because the goods exported mainly comprise fruit and vegetables.

The settlements are mainly dormitory settlements for the rest of Israel. It is not so much an economic producing area in its own right and it represents a very small proportion of Israeli exports. If blocked, the goods go back to the domestic market. I have asked colleagues in the European Union Foreign Affairs Council to return to this issue, consider the decisions taken in May, see what progress, or lack of progress, has been made and examine what further action the European Union can take to enforce the decisions made in May. One possibility in that context is an EU ban on settlement products.

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