Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)

First, I will respond to the thousands of emails I have received and make it clear that I, my party and the Government do not support the genocide taking place in Gaza. We do not support the genocide, the starvation of Gazan citizens or the current actions of Hamas or Israel. We believe those actions are undermining the stability of peace in the region and of the ultimate solution, a two-state solution.

Ireland has taken strong action on this. In fact, we have been one of the loudest voices in the global community on the issue of Palestine. It is difficult sometimes to balance the idea that two of the loudest voices criticising the Government are on the one hand the Israeli Government, and on the other hand the Irish Opposition. It is hard to reconcile those two things.

I will take the example of the measures we took in relation to the UN Relief Works Agency, UNRWA. When Israel and many other countries were seeking to de-fund and discredit UNRWA, the Irish Government was one of the first to step in. Not only did we discredit those attempts to undermine UNRWA, but we were also there with money to support its core services and Palestinian aid in general. I also commend our decision to support the International Court of Justice, ICJ, process of evaluating Israel's actions in the occupied territories.

The latest issue is the sale of Israeli bonds through the Central Bank. It is certainly of concern. As the previous speaker said, we should try to do everything we can legally do to prevent any support. The important word is "legally". The Central Bank does not issue, sell, trade, list or oversee Israeli bonds. Its role is under EU regulation and it is to assess a bond's prospectus and ensure it includes all the disclosures required under the EU prospectus regulation.

This is what the Central Bank currently does. What is important to note and what this motion fails to understand - I take on board the bona fides of those supporting it - is that the Central Bank is independent of the Government in its functions. I think everybody in the House accepts this point. If the Central Bank were not to be independent in its functions, the Minister for Finance would be setting the interest rates for every mortgage in the country. We cannot have a situation where the Government can direct the Central Bank. It is independent and a cornerstone of the way our system works.

The Central Bank does not issue, sell or oversee the bonds. There is strong EU regulation and the Central Bank's own press release is very clear in setting out what it can and cannot do. The Central Bank, however, does have a contract to issue this prospectus and it is an institution that regards its own reputation as important. While the Central Bank has limited grounds on which it could decline a prospectus, it should use every element in the context of its own independence to ensure that prospectus is only approved because of the basic financial regulations it can operate within. If there are any grounds on which the Central Bank as an independent body can decline the prospectus, then it is my belief that it should do so. That is not the same thing, though, as this House or this Government instructing an independent body to do it.

Additionally, all of us in this House have called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. We must, however, make a broader call to our European partners. While there is a great strength of feeling in this House regarding the issue of Palestine, I think many of us cannot understand why many of our European partners are not taking the same position when we see the pictures every night. I know this is, in part, because of the historical relationship and historical facts on the Continent over the last 100 years. We cannot, though, allow what has happened in the past to restrict our ability to prevent a genocide taking place. It is my view that other European Union countries need to come on board with Ireland, Spain and our other partners and that we need to undertake the far bigger and greater sanction of reviewing the EU-Israel trade agreement. We voted for this, although it took too long. We must also introduce European sanctions against Israel, as we did with Russia. The impact of European sanctions against Israel would be far more effective than the passing of the occupied territories Bill, which we are committed to doing, and anything we do here in relation to bonds. Reviewing, ceasing or ending the EU-Israel trade deal would be one of the biggest sanctions we could take against Israel.

Many people, including this week when I was on national television, said the Government was afraid to take these actions because the capitalist system, our relationship with America, business and so on was somehow acting as a chilling effect on us taking these steps. I cannot reconcile that argument with the steps Ireland has taken. This is because I know from people I have spoken to in the United States that they do not understand why Ireland is making these decisions. I refer to the impression that Ireland is already a strong supporter of the Palestinian people and of preventing what is happening there. This is already known around the world, so the argument does not stack up that we are afraid to take certain decisions because they might impact business. Business will never impact the morals of this Government or I would hope any other Government in this State. It is not the reason we are taking actions. Shame on any Opposition Member who says that by not supporting this motion we are supporting genocide. Shame on any Member who says I am supporting genocide because I cannot vote for a motion that is not legally sound.

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