Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that: — the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 (OTB), first introduced by Senator Frances Black and other members of Seanad Éireann, proposed to give effect to the State's obligations arising under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to ban trade in goods or services with an occupied territory;

— the OTB passed First Stage in the Seanad on 24th January, 2018, almost eight years ago, it passed Second Stage in the Dáil on 24th January, 2019 and has been at Dáil Committee Stage, without progress, for the intervening almost seven years;

— on 19th July, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered an Advisory Opinion which confirmed that, under international law, "Member States are under an obligation... to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory... and to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the OPT";

— the Tánaiste, Simon Harris TD, has stated that the Irish Government considers that the ICJ's Advisory Opinion "represents an authoritative statement of applicable international law which is binding on all states and international organisations, including the European Union (EU) and its Member States";

— on 25th June, 2025, the Government published the General Scheme of the proposed Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025, which was then sent to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for the purposes of pre-legislative scrutiny;

— the provisions of the General Scheme seek to prohibit the importation of goods originating in Israeli settlements but do not include a ban on export of goods, or on the import or export of services;

— the 19th July, 2024 Advisory Opinion of the ICJ did not make any distinction between trade in goods and services for the purposes of international law;

— a range of eminent legal experts who spoke before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade during pre-legislative scrutiny meetings, stated that the obligations outlined in the ICJ Advisory Option applied to both goods and to services, and the Legal Advisor at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the Committee that, regarding the binding obligations clarified by the ICJ, "trade is trade in goods and services";

— on 18th September, 2024, Ireland co-sponsored a Resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which, in line with the ICJ Advisory Opinion, called upon all States to comply with their obligations under international law, as reflected in the Advisory Opinion, and to prevent trade or investment relations with the illegal Israeli settlements, making no distinction between trade in goods and trade in services;

— in advice provided to the Government in 2024, and available online, the Attorney General, in concluding that the OTB is justifiable on grounds of "public policy" under EU law, stated that the State may argue that "the proposed offences", plural, included in the OTB "are necessary to uphold respect for rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms and human dignity" and "represent the fulfilment by the State of the obligations referred to in the ICJ Opinion", and that those offences, plural, include a prohibition on trade in both goods and services;

— equivalent measures restricting trade in goods, services and investment with Russian-occupied territories were adopted by Ireland and other EU member states in 2014, remained in force, and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation noted at the Oireachtas Joint Committee that those laws were adhered to and practically implemented without significant issues being raised by its members;

— research by academics, development organisations, journalists and UN bodies have identified significant trade in services between EU-based companies and the illegal Israeli settlements, including specific and publicly identifiable companies based in Ireland, and that this trade assists in maintaining the illegal situation created by Israel in the OPT, just as trade in goods does;

— on 31st July, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade published its pre-legislative scrutiny report on the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill;

— the Oireachtas Joint Committee's pre-legislative scrutiny report "strongly recommends progressing the Bill and that the prohibition of imports from the Palestinian Occupied Territories should be extended to include trade in services, in line with the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ and the Resolution which Ireland co-sponsored at the UN General Assembly";

— the Oireachtas Joint Committee also recommended that the title of the Bill be the "Illegal Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods and Services) Bill";

— despite the publication of the Oireachtas Joint Committee pre-legislative scrutiny report over three months ago, and its inclusion in the list of Legislation for Priority Publication for the Autumn Session 2025, the Bill has not yet been brought before Dáil Éireann;

— since pre-legislation scrutiny concluded in July, several other EU member states have either fully passed or announced plans to prohibit trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and that several of these go further than the draft Government proposal, including a ban on the export of goods (Slovenia) and a ban on the advertisement of services (Spain); and

— the situation in the OPT remains devastating, including record numbers of home demolitions, settler attacks, and orders for new illegal settlement construction in 2025, and that this current political context requires States to actively defend international law and human rights, and deliver on their prior commitments, rather than delaying or rolling them back; and calls on the Government to: — accept the recommendation of the pre-legislative scrutiny report from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade that the Israeli Settlements in the proposed Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill, should be extended to include trade in services; and

— as a matter of the utmost urgency, bring the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill, amended to include services, before the Dáil, and do everything necessary to ensure the Bill can be enacted before the end of this year.

I am sharing with Deputies Murphy and Coppinger. This Government speaks out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to the issue of Palestine. In one breath it states it stands with the people of Palestine against the crimes that Israel inflicts on them and promises sanctions while in the other breath it reassures its friends in the White House that it is going to do nothing at all, and the consequence of that is that despite promises for nearly ten years on the occupied territories Bill, it still has not passed it. It is bad enough that since 2018 the Government has refused to pass this Bill to impose sanctions on Israel for the illegal settlements in the West Bank but then after two years of a genocidal massacre, the Government still refuses to pass it, having made solemn promises in the recent general election that it would pass it, and is seeking to dilute it by leaving out services. It is an absolute disgrace. There is simply no justification for it. I hope the fact that the new Minister is not here is not a sign of a disrespectful attitude towards this Bill and towards taking the issue seriously.

As our motion sets out, there are simply no excuses left for this Government. Politically the Government promised the Irish people it would pass the occupied territories Bill, with no mention of leaving services out or anything. The Government made a promise and it should keep that promise. The joint Oireachtas committee, which includes Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members, has recommended the occupied territories Bill be passed and the Government got clear legal advice from the Attorney General to the joint Oireachtas committee that there is no difficulty legally with including services in the occupied territories Bill and the ban on the importation of goods from the occupied territories. The Government has stated that the International Court of Justice advisory opinion is an authoritative statement on international law and that it requires all EU member states to prevent the importation of goods from occupied territories but, of course, this Government still refuses to do it, even when other governments in Europe have now done it. Slovenia, Spain and The Netherlands have all now passed Bills imposing sanctions on Israel in terms of the occupied territories. Yet, this Government that I do not know how many times I have heard come in here and claim it is the most pro-Palestinian voice in the EU still refuses to do so.

Of course, the double standards and contrast with what we heard last night in the statements on Ukraine is so blatant it is really outrageous. Rightly, the Government condemned Vladimir Putin for an imperialist invasion of Ukraine. What was the response of this Government to that invasion? It was instantaneous sanctions and 19 rounds of sanctions imposed on Putin for what is and was a bloody, brutal and unjustifiable invasion in Ukraine. However, in the case of Palestine, after two years of a genocidal massacre, 17 years of a criminal siege on Gaza, decades of ethnic cleansing, 700,000 illegal settlements on the West Bank, an apartheid system, denial of the right to return and ethnic cleansing on an ongoing basis and there is not a single sanction. It is shameful. Stop dancing to the tune of Donald Trump and the White House; the enablers of the genocide in Palestine. Do what was promised to the Irish people. Do what is right for the Palestinians and for humanity.

If the Government has any respect for international law and for human rights, it must pass the occupied territories Bill, which, by the way, is only the minimal sanction that should be imposed on this regime. Let us be clear: all the occupied territories Bill does is impose a ban on the importation of goods from the illegal settlements. In our view - and I will be absolutely clear about this- we should be going a lot further than that. There should be a complete boycott, divestment, and sanctions from this criminal regime. A regime that is capable of genocide has no place in the civilised world. This Bill does not even address the issue of the right to return or the apartheid system and the criminal siege of Gaza. It is a minimal sanction in line with the Government's international legal obligations. Do what you said you would do: pass this Bill and finally impose sanctions on this criminal regime.

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