Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

That is not true. The Minister said there is no discretion for the Central Bank when the information in the prospectus is accurate and it must approve it. That is not the case. What the Minister failed to admit is the Governor of the Central Bank said that there are three ways it can not approve it - one, the information is insufficient in the prospectus; two, the existence of EU sanctions prohibiting the provision of services or assistance in connection with the issuing of securities by the Israeli; or, three, national restrictive measures to the same effect. That is what we are dealing with.

The Minister can dance around these words all he wants. For example, he said, "they are not regulated.". Nobody is suggesting these war bonds or genocide bonds are regulated. Nobody is suggesting it is the Central Bank or the Governor who is selling them. It is the State of Israel that is selling them but it cannot sell them without being facilitated by the Irish Central Bank. When the Irish Central Bank approved the prospectus, it approved the prospectus because the Minister's Government will not provide restrictive measures. Those bonds are then not only sold here but throughout Europe. It is shameful what the Minister, Deputy Donohoe's Government has done and even at this stage, he should revisit this issue.

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