Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Brady and his team for introducing this Bill. I acknowledge the presence of the Palestinian ambassador in the Gallery today. There is a trend with this Government that is becoming more and more frequent, that is, switching into spectator mode. We have seen the Government standing on the sidelines watching crisis after crisis evolving and we have listened to Government Deputies making statements and comments as if they were just spectators on the sidelines and not actually members of Government. The EU's complicity in Israel's brutal system of apartheid is yet another example of this Government switching into spectator mode, afraid to rock the boat in Brussels. We have seen the Government take strong positions on sanctioning Russia for its crimes but only when other EU states acted first. Thanks to the UN's database of companies operating in the illegal Israeli settlements, it is clear that Irish taxpayers' money is being used to continue human rights violations in these illegal settlements. Successive Irish Governments have taken the position that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. However, ISIF considers it right to invest in and work with those who are actively supporting and advancing illegal settlements and, by so doing, facilitates what is clearly a crime under international law. The Government needs to switch off spectator mode and realise it is a willing participant in Israel's brutal crimes. The Irish Government must step up to the fore in the EU and take a stand against Israel's brutal system of apartheid that has been inflicted on the Palestinian people. ISIF must be compelled to divest itself of all current assets in any companies which operate in the illegal Israeli settlements. It must also prohibit any future investment in the illegal Israeli apartheid settlements. We must send out a clear message that Ireland does not stand on the side of apartheid.

See this speech in context