Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Well, yes, but I think for distribution, it would save a bit of paper if it was standardised. It is nobody's fault. I just think it should be standardised.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. Export controls on the export of items that can be used for civil or military purposes is an important measure in ensuring that items do not fall into the hands of those who would use them to cause injury or death in regional conflicts or to violate human rights in third countries. Such controls are important now more than ever as we see conflicts raging across the world. In addition to the brutal Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, other horrible and devastating wars and conflicts are also raging across continents and countries and have been for many years. In Syria, Yemen, Sudan and so on, war rages in some way, shape or form on a daily basis.

In Yemen, it is believed that the eight-year-long civil war, which has led to the deaths of thousands of Yemenis and created a major humanitarian crisis, is in fact getting more violent. I specifically raise the war in Yemen because weapons and items are being sent to third countries, which are subsequently sending the items and weapons to Yemen to be used for war and human rights abuses. For instance, human rights organisations have called for criminal investigations into a number of European companies for their possible complicity in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Yemen by exporting arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are then sent to Yemen. We must be extremely aware in this regard, as the former Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who is now An Taoiseach, conducted a number of trade missions to Saudi Arabia and the UAE and trade agreements have been reached.

A truce has been agreed in Ethiopia after a two-year civil war, in which the former head of the African Union and Ghent University estimate as many as 600,000 people may have been killed, making it one of the world's deadliest conflicts of recent times. In addition, it is alleged that a whole host of war crimes and human rights abuses have been committed.

The Bill is to ensure that items that can be used for civil or military purposes do not head in these directions to be used for war, death and mayhem. This is a technical Bill but it has huge geopolitical and economic importance. In the first instance, it gives full effect to European Council regulations setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items. It also provides for control of the export of military items and control of the provision of brokering services and transit of those items. Furthermore, it provides for the Minister to grant authorisations to undertake certain activities relating to dual-use items and military items.

Importantly, the Bill provides for a process for appealing certain decisions of the Minister with due regard to the potentially sensitive nature of the subject matter of the appeal and, for those purposes, to establish a panel of persons to deal with appeals. Finally, it provides for enforcement and information-sharing while repealing the Control of Exports Act 2008. The legislative framework for export controls in Ireland is established in a number of linked national and EU instruments, namely Regulation (EU) 2021/821 and Council Common Position 2008. Trade in dual-use items is an EU competence and Regulation (EU) 2021/821 has direct legal effect in all member states. However, member states are obliged to establish in national legislation effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties applicable in the event of the infringement of the provisions of these regulations.

The EU regulation also provides member states with discretion to adopt a certain additional measure in their national legislation. Dual-use items are defined as products and components, including software and technology, that can be used for both civilian and military applications. The regulation explicitly identifies 1,850 types of dual-use items spanning ten categories, including nuclear materials and equipment, special materials and related equipment, telecommunications and information security, aerospace and propulsion.

The Council common position governs control of exports of military technology and equipment. The categories of military technology and equipment to which these rules should apply are set out in the common military list of the EU. The common position sets out the eight criteria against which licence applications should be assessed. Control of the export of military equipment is a national competence and the common position does not have direct effect in member states. Therefore, its provisions must be given effect by national primary legislation. The national legislation comprises the Control of Exports Act 2008 and a number of statutory instruments. However, this legislation and its provisions need to be updated in light of new developments and new EU regulations. As a result, we have the legislation before us today.

The primary purpose of the Control of Exports Bill is to establish national export controls of military items, services and technology and provide for national measures to complement and supplement the EU dual-use regulation. This will fulfil Ireland's EU obligations to have common licensing requirements and procedures for the export of dual-use items, and give legal effect in Irish law to the Council common position on activities involving military items. The State has a commitment to providing a robust, transparent export control system. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is the national competent authority for these controls.

The goal of the Bill is to bring forward legislation to mitigate the risk that controlled items could be exported from Ireland and used to cause injury in regional conflicts or to violate human rights in third countries. To this end, it is essential that Ireland has a comprehensive and robust legal framework for regulating the exports of controlled goods and, in particular, to ensure comprehensive and effective powers of enforcement. Given the advances of technology, new developments in business practices, updates to EU instruments, and the evolved geopolitical risk landscape, it is extremely important that legislation in this area is updated.

Export controls are a multilateral global mechanism designed to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to preserve regional stability, to prevent terrorism and to protect human rights. Export controls generally take the form of a legal obligation to exporters to obtain prior authorisation. The success of export controls is predicated on uniform and consistent implementation on a multilateral basis. A published list of controlled items is a prerequisite for achieving this objective. A list-based approach also provides regulatory transparency and certainty for exporters.

Regulatory regimes such as export controls need to be targeted and proportionate and must endeavour to mitigate the risk of unintended consequences. They must be uniform and applied without fear or favour. Given the damage that the export of the listed items can cause, it is essential to make it illegal for individuals and entities to export controlled goods without authorisation. That means where there are violations, there must be administrative sanctions for infringements and prosecutions for violations of national legal provisions in relation to dual-use and military trade controls. On this point, I would like to say that with regard to the severity of offences and punishments under the Bill, it is important that any documents or notices served on individuals are delivered directly to the individual or entity and that a record of receipt is confirmed.

Given the conflicts I have cited, it is important that we do not allow certain items to be exported for use in those conflicts or for the repression of human rights. These controls are important to address intentional and unintentional trade of military and dual-use items. However, it is important that legislation is proportionate in dealing with minor infringements and gross negligence or misconduct. This is particularly important when the regulations apply to SMEs, which can be disproportionately impacted by the regulatory burden on their limited resources and inability to benefit from economies of scale in ameliorating set-up and ongoing operational costs. To this end, we must ensure that these export controls are designed to minimise the burden on reputable exporters engaged in legitimate, low-risk trade.

The new system must be effective and proportionate and applied uniformly. For instance, Part 3 of the Bill, in the section on military controls, states that the Bill seeks to set a high common standard for the management of and restraint in the transfer of military technology and equipment. Key to that is preventing the export of military technology and equipment which might be used for internal repression or international aggression or contribute to regional instability.

In such instances we must be consistent, such as in assessing exports to states in areas of conflict or breaches of human rights, including Israel, where we see repression and aggression against the Palestinian people. It is essential there are enough authorised officers to police export controls. This means the necessary funding for human and financial resources. Providing the Minister with powers to legislate by way of the Bill is welcome, but a two-way dialogue with the Opposition of the day is also necessary. This is legislation we should all support, and it is necessary for the Oireachtas to know the risks at play in order that I can have oversight of regulations as soon and as early as possible.

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