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

I support the amendment. As the Minister of State has pointed out, it arises from an amendment I proposed on Committee Stage. I thank the Minister of State, the officials and the staff of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for their work on this. It is very important that sanctions from the EU, UN or International Criminal Court should also be notified to the Minister. If we are going to assess, investigate, authorise, condition or prohibit third country investment based on a range of security or public order criteria it should be done in the round and to the maximum and fullest extent possible. The legislation is intended to equip the State with the means to protect itself and us against possible threats. I welcome that the Department will now know whether parties or persons connected with a third country have been sanctioned by the UN or the International Criminal Court. While I would have welcomed the amendment going further, to include convictions in another state for breaches of human rights law or employment law, I am happy for the inclusion of UN and International Criminal Court sanctions. It makes the legislation stronger. It is a very good starting point. I thank the Minister of State and the officials for their frank engagement on this and for taking the suggestions on board.

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