Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have previously outlined to the House the position with regard to the procurement of defensive equipment by my Department. I have also explained the scale and type of such equipment that the Department has acquired from Israeli companies in recent years and the purpose of such acquisitions, which is to afford the greatest possible force protection and operational effectiveness to Irish Defence Forces personnel. I can go through what we have bought, most of which is defensive equipment not offensive equipment. The principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts must be used by the Department of Defence for the acquisition of defensive equipment for the Defence Forces under EU law. Central to those procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition between suppliers through the submission of tenders following advertising of the tender competition, usually on the eTenders website, in line with the EU directive on the procurement of defence and security equipment.

The matter of barring Israeli companies from entering tender competitions for the provision of military goods would be akin to Ireland unilaterally placing an embargo on such goods from Israel and this raises, inter alia, serious implications for Irish foreign policy which are outside my remit as Minister for Defence. As the Deputy is aware, trade policy and market access are largely EU competencies and any restriction or ban on imports from any particular country would have to be a concerted EU decision. The manner in which the Department of Defence procures both goods and services remains consistent with international best practice and is in line with EU and UN decisions on trade embargoes.

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