Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

By opposing this Bill, the Tánaiste is certainly on the wrong side of history.

I commend Senator Frances Black, her team in the Seanad and the Seanad Civil Engagement group on drafting this significant Bill and bringing it forward.

This Bill offers Members of the Dáil a chance to both shine a light on the continued horrendous treatment of people living in Palestine by the Israeli Government and take tangible action to show our solidarity with those living under the cruel illegal occupation.

Senator Black has been a champion for the people of Palestine, and I am proud to lend my vote and that of my party to her Bill here today.

I never fail to be appalled and horrified at how brutal the Israeli Government and occupying army can be to the Palestinian people. The oppressive Israeli Government cannot be allowed to continue to act with total disregard for human life, and with complete disdain for international law. As a nation of people who lived under a brutal occupier for hundreds of years, we should be acutely aware of the need for other states to show their solidarity with nations living under occupation and assist them in any way possible with their aspirations for statehood.

This Bill would prohibit the import and sale of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements, restrict Irish involvement in the provision of services in such settlements and ban the extraction of resources from occupied territories without the consent of the recognised authority of that territory.

The Bill would not impose a ban on Israeli goods in general. It would only affect goods produced in occupied territories built beyond Israel's borders, deemed illegal under international law. This is entirely appropriate and justifiable.

It is completely unacceptable that Fine Gael has steadfastly refused to implement the will of the Dáil by recognising the state of Palestine, in line with a Sinn Féin motion that was passed here in 2014. I ask the Tánaiste to address this issue and tell us when Ireland will officially recognise the state of Palestine or why the Government will not do so. I also call on the Ministers of State, Deputies Finian McGrath and Halligan, and the Minister, Deputy Ross, to use their influence within the Government to ensure this is progressed immediately.

I commend Senator Black on her tireless work for the Palestinian people. I hope the passing of this Bill will be followed by the official State recognition of Palestine and will set an example for other countries across the world to follow and, in turn, force the Israeli Government to change its deplorable behaviour.

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