John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The sole motivation of bringing forward this important legislation is the full implementation of international law and holding those who breach international law to account. What I have heard tonight from the Government is a delay and when justice is delayed, justice is denied. The Palestinian people have already had 75 years of justice being denied and the Government is now saying, "What is another nine months?"

When I talk about international law being universally applied, could the Minister of State imagine any other scenario where a country illegally invaded another country, annexed illegally parts of that country and the international community said it would not impose any sanctions on Russia or do anything for nine months? There would be outcry, and rightly so. Full implementation universally of international law is what is needed.

When I hear the Government defend the humanitarian credentials of the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and ISIF, I question why are we here in the first instance debating the shareholdings. Government has made us shareholders or stakeholders in international crimes by having investments in these companies operating unlawfully in occupied Palestinian lands. There is no due diligence on human rights being carried out, as far as I can see, by ISIF.

When I hear the arguments against the UN Human Rights Council and the database on which this Bill is based, it is reminiscent of the same arguments that the occupier, Israel, uses to undermine this same database. The Minister of State is using the same arguments that Israel has used to undermine, delay and try to discredit this particular database.

This database has been four years - from 2016 up to 2020 - carrying out due diligence in terms of the meticulous work that they carried out. Initially, there were 307 companies on that database. After due process - thorough investigation - that list was whittled down to 112.

That database is not a one-off piece of work; it is a living database. The next screening is being carried out as we speak. It has been authorised by the UN where the removal of the same companies, that the Minister of State says there is no mechanism for the removal of, is being worked on. The Government's arguments do not stand up to any level of scrutiny whatsoever.

I see other countries, such as Norway, using this same database. The Norwegian Government pension fund divested in five companies that are on that database operating on settlements in occupied Palestinian land. The Norwegian asset management, Storebrand, divested of 23 companies, because of the concerns about human rights violations, the oppression, brutalisation and the illegal actions against the Palestinian people by Israel, using the same database that the Minister of State has sought to discredit and undermine completely, which, it has to be said, is shameful.

As I said, justice delayed is justice denied. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, or his Government colleagues might tell me, but, more importantly, the Palestinian people, how many more villages have to be destroyed, how many more Palestinians have to be forcefully removed from their homes and how many more schools have to be destroyed before the Government stands up for international law and the rights of the Palestinian people. How many more schools and how many more Palestinians will be butchered over the next nine months while the Government contemplates whether we should stand up for international law or not?

The Government has an opportunity here to do the right thing. If the Minister of State has concerns about the legislation - there should be none - he should bring them forward, withdraw the amendment and allow the legislation go to committee. Let us have a look at it. Let us put in place what needs to be there. Absolutely, I would love to see more companies, because there are more companies complicit in the illegal settlements in the occupied territories. I would love to see more, but we have a database. We have a template to move forward. Let the Minister of State withdraw the amendment and let us stand up for international law universally, not cherry-pick which international law is important and which is not.

Clearly, the Government has decided that the rights of the Palestinian people are certainly not worth standing up for. It is shameful.

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