Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions. The Government is committed to a two-state solution in the Middle East of a democratic Israel living side-by-side with a democratic Palestine, peacefully co-operating together. Like the Deputy, I have been to the region, have met people who are Israeli and Palestinian and I admire their culture very much. It is impressive to see the state that has been built down the years by the Jewish people in Israel and all of us abhor Hamas and what it has done in terror and in the violation of human rights of women and LGBTQ+ groups in particular. None of us would like any of our comments to be in any way construed as support for Hamas in any way and I am sure that the Deputy in his further remarks will agree with that.

Like everyone in this House, however, I believe the actions of the Israeli Government are indefensible. Annexation, expulsion, plantation and the killing of civilians, deliberately or in terms of collateral damage, are not the behaviours of a democratic state in the 21st century and it is simply unacceptable that a democratic state or any state should behave in this way.

As the Deputy is aware, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is very active in this area and has issued a very strong statement on behalf of the Irish Government condemning the actions of the Israeli Government. We are members of the UN Security Council and we intend to use our position there as best we can to try to get a common UN position on this, which is never easy. As the Deputy is aware, the Israeli ambassador has already been called in by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for difficult discussions on this issue. We will try to co-ordinate any further action at EU level, which is the best way for us to take any particular action.

On the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, the view of the Government based on the Attorney General’s advice is that it is unconstitutional because it is a trade competence, which is an EU matter and is not a matter on which we can legislate for individually. Second, it could be discriminatory unless it was applied to other occupied territories, such as Crimea, for example, which I have yet to hear the Deputy ever condemn and he may wish to do so in his further remarks.

On exports, we have a control of exports regime that prevents us exporting arms to certain countries and we have a sanctions regime in that regard. If the Deputy wants to pass on any particular information to me, I will be happy to examine it, as this is legislation which falls under my remit. I have the power to impose certain sanctions and to ban certain exports and if the Deputy has something in particular in mind or has details that he wishes to give me about Irish products and services that might in some way be assisting the Israeli Government in its actions, I will be happy to look into that.

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