Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will have to agree to differ with Deputy Ó Murchú on some of that. Two years ago, the European Commission sought to block a citizens' initiative calling for the EU to regulate commercial transactions with illegal settlements. This wrongful act was nullified by the European Court of Justice. Last month, the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions unanimously agreed that the Commission must respond to a petition on EU trade with illegal settlements and that the Committee on International Trade should consider backing a ban. Countries, including Ireland, have a duty under international humanitarian law not to legitimise, albeit indirectly, the transfer of civilians into settlements in the occupied territories, yet that is the shameful outcome of Irish and EU trading policy.

Now that the Commission has been forced to recognise its obligations under international law, surely it is time for the Government to take similar action in the context of its responsibilities by supporting the occupied territories Bill. Under this Bill, trading with illegal settlements would be banned. Will the Government do the right thing of its own volition or will it be forced into a correct course of action? What actions will the Government take to ensure the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, divests its holdings in companies on the UN database of companies with business ties to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories?

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