Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will confirm that there have been no purchases of weapons, ammunition or equipment from the State of Israel since October 2010; his plans to put in place an ethical procurement system for the Defence Forces in which these kinds of materials would not be purchased from Governments involved in systemic human rights abuses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12052/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that there have not been any such purchases by my Department since October 2010.

The Deputy will appreciate that the principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts must be used by the Department of Defence for the acquisition of defensive equipment for the Defence Forces. Central to those procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition between suppliers through the submission of tenders following advertising of the tender competition on the eTenders website or on the European Defence Agency's electronic bulletin board. Such tender competitions are open to any individual company or country in accordance with the terms of all UN, OSCE and EU arms embargoes or restrictions. There are no such restrictions or embargoes in place on Israel or Israeli companies. The Irish Government has consistently been opposed to proposals for trade, diplomatic, cultural, academic, sporting or other boycotts of Israel.

The primary purpose of the procurement of defensive equipment by the Department of Defence is to enhance the capability of the Irish Defence Forces on overseas peace support operations and to afford the greatest possible force protection to Irish troops on such missions.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad to hear there has been no procurement from the State of Israel. I accept what the Minister said about tenders being open to companies from all countries, but does he agree that the question of which tender we accept is ultimately a decision for his Department?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I think the Deputy misheard me. I said there had been no such purchases from the State of Israel since October 2010. Ultimately, there is a tendering process to which there are applicable European Union regulations, and my Department adheres strictly to the prescription provided by the laws that we must observe.