Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In recent weeks I have been asking and raising with the Taoiseach the increasingly extreme stance of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu, and whether Ireland will advocate for any action against the threat of annexation of land on the West Bank. I think we can all agree that the Tánaiste's claim that his relationship with the US and with Mr. Netanyahu might lead to some form of breakthrough in the Middle East peace process has not turned out to be the case. More than a year ago the Tánaiste made forceful representations to me that we were on the cusp of a big breakthrough and that Ireland was playing a key role between the US and Israel. At the time I thought it was wildly optimistic and somewhat naïve, but nonetheless it was trying to get the Dáil to pull back from the motion on the trading issue with the settlements and Europe.

In response there have been general statements but no commitment to take any action or advocate any action. The Government has consistently refused to support the Dáil majority view of the need to act directly to stop illegal settlements from having access to selling their goods here and in other countries. The justification for this is the claim that it would infringe on European Union competence. This can be disputed, and we and others have received legal opinion using examples from the past. However, if what the Government says is true, then the obvious step to take is to seek European Union support for the policy.

So far there is zero evidence of the Taoiseach or Tánaiste advocating for a strengthened economic boycott of illegal settlements or taking any meaningful steps to oppose threatened annexations. The Government could show its good faith on this by writing to the Council and Commission Presidents, asking for a proposal to take stronger steps to block the illegal settlements from trading with the European Union. Will the Government take such action or is the Taoiseach saying he is happy that enough has been done on this issue to date?

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