Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Connolly on submitting this question. The fact the occupied territories Bill has not been implemented is a ruse, as far as I am concerned. The Government has been hiding behind the Attorney General's advice, considering that Fine Gael opposed this. We are told that a Fine Gael Minister told an Israeli counterpart that it would not happen. People can dispute whether that conversation took place, but we know that what the Fine Gael Minister is purported to have committed to is exactly what happened. It is six weeks since the Taoiseach announced that he had asked the Attorney General to review this matter. He said he expected a reply from the Attorney General within days. Has he got it yet? If not, has the Government been pressing the Attorney General for that?

How is it that Ireland is able to bring forward a resolution at UN level, which I welcome, calling for a global ban on the trade of settlement goods? We are rightly calling for that at an international level, along with other states, yet domestically we have not introduced the legislation that would allow us to ban trade with settlement goods. When does the Tánaiste expect the Attorney General's advice to come? Is the Government pressing the Attorney General's office for that? When it is available to the Government, will it publish it and share it with Members of the Oireachtas?

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