Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I believe the Minister deliberately did not answer the question which was not about the merits of what the Government was spending; rather, it was about the very fact that it was spending taxpayers' money with a company involved in illegal activity in Israel. Over the summer most Irish people were appalled at the slaughter of innocent people there. It is not just this military company that is involved, although it is involved in the case of the West Bank wall and in supplying the same unmanned aerial surveillance equipment to the Israeli defence forces that undoubtedly was used in recent combat against civilians. The issue that Trócaire and other organisations are putting, not simply in respect of defence issues but with regard to Cement Roadstone Holdings, Veolia, SodaStream and all of the companies that are profiting there, is that the only way to deal with them is to hit them in their pockets. If the Government is concerned about the slaughter that is ongoing, Ireland, as a neutral country, should take the lead and state it is not going to trade with these companies while they are engaged in such practices.

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