Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the speakers and parties for their contributions to this debate. I also thank many of the NGOs that have played a very important role in informing all of us and advocating on behalf of people in the occupied territories who are negatively affected. They include Trócaire, Christian Aid, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and Sadaqah, which has done significant work on this. I also thank NGOs in the Middle East that have given us their insight and advice such as Al-Haq and Breaking the Silence. I also mention a fabulous Irish human rights activist, Dr. Susan Power, who works with Al-Haq and is very much to the fore in helping to advance this legislation. Needless to say, I thank Senator Black, who has single-handedly spearheaded this legislation through the Seanad.

It has all been laid out quite clearly for the Minister of State. This Bill is being supported because it is the right thing to do. It is about people standing up to uphold international law. Why should we turn a blind eye to blatant breaches and abuses of international law because of the agenda of others with which we do not agree? We need to do the right thing here, which is simply what this legislation sets out to do. It sets out to challenge the status quobecause, at the moment, the status quosays it is okay for a country to occupy other people's territories illegally and profit, make a livelihood and benefit from occupying those areas to the detriment of the people who rightfully own those territories. We must stand up, call it out and say it is wrong. That is what we must do. If there are challenges relating to EU law, we need to test it and change it if necessary. The Government made a big play regarding the opinion of the Attorney General. There is plenty of alternative advice out there. We would love to see the Government's legal advice but it will not publish it. Perhaps it could publish a summary of it. The three reasons the Government is opposing this legislation do not stack up because the public policy exemption cites morality, security, and protection of human health and life, all of which are at the centre of the contributions of everybody here today.

The political objection raised by the Government is that we would somehow be out of step and become an outlier in Europe. I would like to be an outlier for the right reasons. There are many who are outliers for the wrong reasons, particularly in eastern Europe and the far side of Europe, advancing far-right agendas that are offensive to the LGBT communities and that seek to shut down democracy, freedom of speech and the proper openness and transparency that is required for our democracies. I am happy to be an outlier on this issue and Ireland should take a stand, just as we did in 1987. We were an outlier then but I remind the Minister of State that when the then Attorney General, Peter Sutherland, vacated the role and John Rogers assumed the role, the legal advice to the then Government changed and the Government was able to support the ban on the importation of produce from South Africa, and rightly so. Look at the impact that had and how it changed apartheid and led to a pathway. We should be brave and bold enough to learn from the experiences of the past and believe that we can bring others with us.

I do not agree regarding the practical effects. We need to challenge two things in particular. First, we must challenge the outrage and offence being built up by Israel that we are somehow anti-Semitic. We are not and I have outlined in my speech how we recognise the state of Israel and will trade with it. However, it is offside in terms of the occupied territories. We also need to challenge corporate America. Regarding the idea that we are now being offensive to corporate America, we all value the jobs that have resulted from foreign direct investment, but if we look at one of the leading figures in Facebook who came here this week to announce 1,000 jobs, we can see that one of the first things she did was to put her hand up and say that Facebook needs to do a lot more to clean up its act regarding electoral interference and people's privacy rights. Airbnb has taken an especially strong stand. It will not list any properties in the occupied territories. While we value the jobs that corporate America brings, it must clean up its act in terms of corporate responsibility, morality and social responsibility in many regards. We cannot give it a free pass on everything simply because it provides us with jobs.

The legislation has popular support, not populist support but popular support for the right reasons. Given our history, experience and all that has been outlined here today, we intend to pursue this matter through Committee Stage and beyond and challenge the Government regarding how it intends to try to block this with a flagrant abuse of the money message system. I will give two brief examples.

Legislation recently passed through this House which put new criminal offences on our Statute Book - the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 and the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2018. There were no issues with money messages in the case of those Bills. This legislation will give An Garda Síochána and Customs and Excise expanded roles similar to those given under the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill and the Public Health (Alcohol) Act. There were no issues with money messages with regard to those Bills so the idea of a money message being required simply does not stack up. This is about doing the right thing at the right time and taking the lead. We should proceed and do it.

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