John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The symbolism of this Bill coming before the Dáil the day after the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, is a reminder of the long and ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people and the failure of the international community to deliver justice. The Bill is designed to compel the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to divest itself of all current assets and prohibit future investments in any companies operating in the illegal Israeli settlements that are included on the UN database of companies which operate within the illegal Israeli settlements. These settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, their maintenance and expansion are illegal under international law and constitute acts which incur individual criminal liability as war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. We should also recall the commitment by this Dáil on 25 May 2021, when it adopted a historic Sinn Féin motion on de facto annexation, pledging to focus its efforts on bringing an end to the illegal settlement activity. Speaking for the Government, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, stated that the scale, pace and strategic nature of Israel's actions on settlements, demolitions and evictions was de factoannexation.

He also stated the motion signalled our concern at undermining prospects for peace and the two-state solution and that it sent a clear signal of the depth of feeling across Ireland.

However, two years on and the State is still trading with and, through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, investing public moneys in, illegal settlement enterprises in contravention of international law. This means Ireland is profiteering on the back of Israeli war crimes. I have no doubt but that the current depth of feeling in Ireland is one of simply being appalled and outraged at the revelation that the Government has made taxpayers stakeholders in war crimes. Ireland is profiteering at the expense of peace and justice when the Irish Government's stated position is to support a two-state solution, which is being eroded on a daily basis by settlement expansion. The Government is hypocritically undermining its own declared position. Already this year, Israel has green-lit more settlement expansion, fast-tracking a Bill for 7,000 new settlement units in the E1 area, which will lead to a complete fragmentation of the West Bank, to sit alongside the 700,000 colonial settlers in the 300 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The UN Human Rights Council, which published the database of 112 companies to which the Bill refers, passed Resolution 31/36, which obligates all states to desist from recognising or assisting in actions that enable the expansion of the illegal settlements. It is important to note that of the nine companies in which ISIF has invested Irish taxpayers' money, four are Israeli banks. The four Israeli banks in which the Irish State is a shareholder are on the UN database due to the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of these settlements, and to banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities, including loans for housing and the development of businesses.

As evidenced by a growing body of legal experts, human rights organisations and UN experts, settlements are a key component of Israel's apartheid regime over the Palestinian people. Former UN special rapporteur Professor Michael Lynk stated that "Israel has imposed upon Palestine an apartheid reality in a post-apartheid world". According to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, settlements are illegal under international law and Israel must not make any provision to advance settlement authorisation and development. Given his statement and the Government's stance on illegal settlements, how can the Government parties offer anything but full support for the Bill?

The facts speak for themselves. The Government is fully aware of the reality of the choice it must make today. The Bill reflects a sovereign decision for the Government to make. It cannot attempt to go to ground and hide behind the fig leaf of EU trade rules, as it has attempted to do in the past on the occupied territories Bill. Does the Dáil do what is right or does it allow a situation to continue whereby the State has made the Irish taxpayer complicit in supporting the existence and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories? There is a real imbalance between the Government's stated political position and the economic position evident through the ISIF investments. The Bill gives an opportunity to rectify the wrongdoing and adopt a principled position that is consistent with the universal implementation of international law.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is important that we are clear about what we are confronting this evening. The people of Palestine live under an oppressive and brutal apartheid regime. It is a cruel system enforced and intensified by Israel's new government. The systematic violation of human rights and international law sees Palestinians killed, jailed and tortured, Palestinian homes demolished, families driven from their villages, Palestinian schools bulldozed into the dust and Palestinian health clinics destroyed. Beleaguered, besieged and impoverished, Palestinians struggle for their very survival against an onslaught that is relentless.

Annexation and the illegal settling of Palestinian lands is at the very centre of this travesty. The annexation of Palestinian land is part of a strategy to make it impossible for Palestinians to maintain a viable homeland. This must be called out now. Seventy-five years ago, the Nakba saw 700,000 Palestinians expelled from their homeland. A further 300,000 men, women and children were forced out when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. Israel revoked the residency rights of 250,000 Palestinians in those occupied territories between 1967 and 1994 and they have not been allowed the right of return.

The annexation and violent illegal settling of their lands that Palestinians face today is not new. It is a brutal continuation of an injustice they have endured for decades. It is this outrage and the trampling of human rights that Israel claims as defence. Let us be clear. Annexation and illegal settling of other people's land is not defensive action. Let us call it out for what it really is. Annexation and illegal settlement is aggression, attack and conquest. Annexation is illegal and these settlements are racist. Annexation and illegal settling is apartheid.

Through the legislation before us we are challenging the oppression of the Palestinian people. Remember, in the dark days when South Africa was under apartheid, Ireland was a champion of international resistance against this wicked regime. Just as Ireland powerfully stood for justice and freedom in South Africa we must now stand for justice, freedom and peace in Palestine. The Bill should not be contentious. It provides the Dáil with an opportunity to come together in the name of human rights and the rule of international law. We can send a unified message that Ireland will never ever accept the apartheid forced on the Palestinian people.

To be true to this principle, there can be no double standards. Remember, two years ago the Dáil unanimously recognised Israel's occupation as a war crime. It is unconscionable that the Government continues to invest in companies that operate in illegal settlements. It should not be happening. Frankly speaking, it is a disgrace. The issue is clear cut. You cannot say we stand for the rights of the Palestinian people while continuing to profit from their oppression and misery. You cannot condemn and deplore Israel's brutality while making money from it. The only return we get on these shameful investments is the violation of human rights and the shredding, repeatedly, of international law. It is back to persecution. It is back to the degradation and collective punishment of an entire people. It is back to apartheid.

These shameful investments fly in the face, I believe, of the values of the Irish people because there is no national appetite for Ireland to support Israeli war crimes. The State must divest from these investments without delay and the Government should really go further. We should see the progression and enactment of the occupied territories Bill, which would ban trading with any illegal settlement. The Government should also take a stand for Palestinian freedom and dignity and for Palestinian nationhood by finally recognising the state of Palestine, as unanimously supported by the Dáil seven years ago. Our history is one of colonisation, oppression, displacement and dispossession. It is also a history of a people's struggle for independence and freedom, a story of a people determined to go on, to endure, to overcome and to take its rightful place among the nations of the world.

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It is also latterly a story of peace and the ability to end what seemed at points an intractable and impossible conflict. To remain faithful to our national experience, we must always stand on the side of those who are persecuted, those whose rights are denied and those who are colonised. We must stand with Palestine. We must stand for freedom, for peace, for a resolution of conflict, for the upholding of international law and for an end to a wicked apartheid regime.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Over the past week, throughout the world, the 75th anniversary of the Nakba has been marked, including by the UN for the first time. This was not simply the marking of an historic event; it was also marking every day of those 75 years, 75 years of rights and justice being denied to the Palestinian people, 75 years of Israeli aggression, 75 years of disregard for international law. What separates the Nakba from other catastrophes is that it is not simply an historic event - it remains the day-to-day lived reality for those forcibly displaced, including those displaced from the 351 villages completely destroyed. The Nakba is very much a lived reality for the families of those 148 Palestinians, including 23 children, killed by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers so far this year alone.

Every day, Israeli disregard for international law continues. Last week was the first anniversary of the brutal murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. It was not an isolated incident and she is just one of 20 journalists killed by Israeli forces in 22 years, and yet Israel continues and the world stays silent. In the past month, we have had Israel demolishing an EU-funded Palestinian school near Bethlehem and another 100 schools are under threat of a similar fate, and yet Israel continues and the world stays silent. In the past week, we have seen the approval of another 1,000 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank, settlements that are illegal under international law, and yet Israel continues and the world stays silent. For 75 years, Israel has continued to act with impunity. As with every other apartheid regime, Israel will continue to do so until the world lifts it silence. As with every other apartheid regime, pressure from the international community is required. It was international pressure and action that led to the downfall of apartheid South Africa and so it will be only through international pressure that we will see the end to Israeli apartheid.

This House, of course, cannot force the whole world to action today but we can lead the way - Ireland can lead the way. I commend Deputy John Brady on bringing forward this Bill, which will compel the Irish Government to divest holdings in companies currently listed as operating within the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Bill does not interfere with EU competencies or treaties; it simply puts our words into simple action. It says that the Irish people will play no hand, act or part in Israeli war crimes. The Bill, when passed, will just be a cog in the wheel of the international pressure required to end Israeli apartheid.

We have had 75 years of the Nakba, which is a shameful indictment on the international community, but we have also had 75 years of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Progressive people all over the world have stood up for the rights of Palestinian people, none more so than the Irish people, who can proudly say that we have always been on the right side of history on this matter. We in Ireland, with our own history of colonialism and oppression, know that we have an obligation to support those who suffer those injustices today. The Palestinian people need that support now more than ever. This Bill is an important opportunity for us to show our support again. I commend it to the House.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It is a great pity that the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs did not stay for this debate because this goes to the heart of the Irish people's stand against apartheid over the years. In 1984, the workers at Dunnes Stores led the way, and within a few years the Irish Government had followed suit and put in place sanctions and bans against the South African apartheid regime. Ireland led the way in confronting apartheid in the world. How did we get to where we are today? How have we gone so wrong? How did we get to a position where Governments refuse to listen to their own people in regard to the apartheid being inflicted today by the Israeli state on the Palestinian people? How can it be that the Occupied Territories Bill has not been enacted by this Government, a Bill that says we do not do commerce with war criminals? Under international law, what is happening in the Occupied Territories is a war crime. This Dáil has passed that motion yet we do commerce with people involved in war crimes.

Not only that, when we have a Bill like this that says we should stop investing in companies that are involved in these activities, the Government says “Kick it back for nine months, we cannot deal with it now.” How can our Government take a moral stand in the world when it continues to allow commerce to be done with people involved in war crimes, when it cannot stop investing in the businesses involved in war crimes and when it cannot even recognise the state of Palestine? It is utterly shameful how far Governments have fallen from the way we followed the Dunnes Stores workers in 1984.

To be very clear about this, the Irish people will always stand against oppression and apartheid. The Irish people stood against the South African regime and the Irish people stand against the modern-day apartheid being inflicted by the Israeli state today. If the Government refuses to listen to them, the next Government will do what is right, but it should be happening tonight and it should not have to wait until the next election to do what is right by our people.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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This State is rightly proud of the stand we took against apartheid South Africa. We did the right thing and we were on the right side of history. Today, we see those very same obvious injustices, atrocities and forced removals being carried out on the Palestinian people and, again, the so-called great powers turn a blind eye to them. These are not just historical wrongs lost in the mists of time. Since the start of 2023, 148 Palestinians, including 26 children and six women, have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, and not a peep out of the so-called great powers, not a peep out of world leaders, no collective outrage, no collective condemnation, no collective promise of supports.

The Israeli occupying forces act so brazenly now that just nine days ago they demolished an EU-funded school in a village east of Bethlehem, violating the right to education of the 40 young children attending that school and traumatising those children, who have now lost the school where they had been learning, playing and engaging with their teachers and classmates in what was supposed to be a safe and protected place.

This Bill does not try to right every wrong. It only tries to ensure that the State is in compliance with international law. ISIF has invested Irish taxpayers’ money in nine companies operating within illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, and it is important to note that these investments include four Israeli banks which are instrumental in facilitating the ongoing campaigning of annexation. It should never have happened. We need to do a lot more and supporting this Bill is the very least we can do. While so-called world powers and leaders continue to turn a blind eye to Israel's war crimes against the Palestinian people, Ireland should step forward and do the right thing. This Bill is just another measure and, hopefully, other countries with a conscience will follow suit.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann resolves that the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 be deemed to be read a second time this day nine months, to allow for further consideration of the Bill, as the Bill as drafted raises specific practical and legal questions, is not likely to achieve its intended purpose and it is appropriate to consider in addition whether a combination of legislative and non-legislative approaches could be adopted which would achieve an appropriate human rights based outcome.”.

I had hoped the Palestinian representatives would be in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery at this stage so I could welcome them, but perhaps later.

The Tánaiste has spoken publicly on recent troubling developments and, at the outset, I would like to again express my condolences and those of Members on this side of the House and, I am sure, everybody in the House to the families of the deceased and all of those whose lives have been impacted. Ireland welcomes the ceasefire reached in Israel and Gaza and calls on all parties to refrain from actions that would lead to further violence. Recent developments highlight once again the need to restore a political horizon and a credible peace process.

In responding to Deputy Brady and other Deputies on their Private Members' Bill, on behalf of the Minister for Finance I want to make clear that the Government understands the motivation behind the Bill. The Bill is intended to require ISIF not to invest either directly or indirectly in companies engaged in doing business in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, where they are listed on a specific UN database – we will come back to that - and to divest from such investments where they become known to ISIF.

For context, it is useful to remind the House that Ireland distinguishes between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967, in line with international law. This approach is common across all Government Departments. As part of this approach, Ireland ensures that any bilateral agreements with Israel do not apply to territories occupied by Israel since 1967. A whole-of-government approach is applied to the policy of differentiation and the Department of Foreign Affairs also supports other Government Departments by providing guidance and clarification on the policy of differentiation. The Department of Foreign Affairs also ensures that there is information available for the public and companies regarding Ireland's policy on settlements via the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Ireland’s position on the illegality of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory informs its engagement with the State of Israel across a range of bilateral issues and will continue to do so. This is fully consistent with the approach at EU level where, in line with international law, all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territory occupied by Israel in 1967 and since then. This position was recalled to Israel at the EU-Israel Association Council in October 2022. The EU has also made it clear that this does not constitute a boycott of the State of Israel, which the EU strongly opposes, as does Ireland.

The Bill before the House today seeks to amend the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014 which established ISIF. In summary, it proposes that the NTMA and ISIF would not invest directly or indirectly in a list of companies doing business in the Israeli Illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory named in a specific UN database produced by the UN’s Human Rights Council on 12 February 2020 and would divest from such investment where it became known to ISIF.

It is useful to highlight ISIF’s track record as a responsible investor over time. The fund has already divested, on a voluntary basis, from investments in tobacco companies and companies which manufacture nuclear armaments and, under legislation, from companies involved in the production of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines, and in fossil fuels. I was involved in the drawing up of a Private Members' Bill in early 2008 which prohibited investment in cluster munitions. The Government responded to that Bill and took action to do precisely that and that has been the case with ISIF and its predecessors. These were important changes over the years which reflect ISIF’s commitment to responsible investment.

It should also be noted that ISIF is not blind to human rights considerations when it carries out its current investment strategy. As part of its wider sustainability and responsible investment strategy, including in relation to the issue of companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, ISIF pursues active ownership through its engagement manager, EOS at Federated Hermes which, for context, advises on €1.3 trillion in assets globally. Within this, human rights is a key theme and Hermes engages according to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights framework and the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises.

It is important that the Government’s approach to this issue is well understood by internal and external observers. In order to facilitate further discussion and debate on this, the Government is proposing a timed amendment of nine months to this Private Members' Bill this evening for a number of reasons. This will allow us to reflect on the best possible approach to take. The Bill was published in March and we are debating it quite soon after its publication. To be honest, the complexity of this issue is such that it requires a good deal more consideration over the next nine months. That time will provide us with an opportunity to reflect.

The Government is concerned that the Bill is drafted in a way that links investment and divestment by ISIF to a specific UN database created in 2020. That database has not been updated since 2020 and we understand that the database does not currently have a clear basis for amending the information on it. Therefore, companies on the database cannot have their data removed, even if they change their investment strategy. We also understand that companies cannot currently be added to the database, irrespective of their approach to investment in the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. The hook in the Private Members' Bill is the UN database but we need to have a greater understanding of how that works. If this legislation were to be enacted in its current form it would still be possible for ISIF to be invested in companies engaged in activities within the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory while respecting the intent of the legislation.

It has also been argued that the UN database is too limited and does not cover all businesses that could be involved in business activities within the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. There is also a question as to whether it is legally possible to link an investment or divestment strategy to the database, given its status and the position in Irish law. That is a genuine question for the drafting of the Bill. Including the names of companies that have no right to be removed from the database may create legal difficulties for the State in terms of those companies remedying their rights over time. When the Oireachtas passes legislation it is assumed to be both legal and constitutional but also operational, in terms of how it is linked to a given database existing in time and how that operates over time. The Government considers that the Bill is flawed in terms of its execution. That may seem like a very harsh line to take but is not meant to be. The issue is the operability of how things are linked in drafting terms and it is important to reflect on that.

The Government is also concerned about the practical implications of using the UN database as a source of information and how effective and appropriate it may be to encourage investment in line with the provisions of human rights and international law. We are seeing environmental, social and governance, ESG, strategies all around the world, whereby companies are moving to more sustainable strategies. We would like to see that happening with companies right around the world. The Government also notes that the publicly expressed intention of the Bill is to send a signal to others regarding investment in illegal Israeli settlements and that this may encourage other investors to carry out similar actions. The level of investment by ISIF is relatively small compared to the overall size of the fund and indeed nationally or globally. It is not obvious that a straightforward divestment by ISIF would carry the same message as is expected, arising from this Bill. While I appreciate that Deputies will say that it is of symbolic significance, we must have legislation that is workable.

Pausing the Bill for now allows for a more considered and comprehensive determination of whether a more calibrated, principle-based approach could be adopted which would have a greater practical impact. Divestment may not be the immediate answer in seeking to persuade companies of their human rights obligations. It is also important that there is a sound legal and informational basis for the State to take action in this area that it can stand over. The State should only be able to take action where it can defend its approach.

All of these matters require that time would be taken to explore a more detailed and nuanced policy approach that the Government is sure is legally sound. Primary legislation such as this proposed Bill - as with the Bill on cluster munitions proposed by former Deputy Timmins in 2008 - can often be a blunt instrument to achieve a specific outcome. The possibility of combining an administrative approach along with legislation needs to be considered as part of any engagement process. Time was taken to introduce appropriate legislation with respect to investment in fossil fuels and cluster munitions. There can be no argument in this House that the Acts in question were not important and successful legislation or that they have not achieved their intended outcome. Legislative changes are useful models but further consideration is needed in respect of investment across a wide range of companies not linked to any business-specific activity, as was the case with divestment from fossil fuels or munitions.

To allow appropriate time to consider the implications and explore the possibility of a more nuanced approach, the Minister for Finance has received Government approval today to tabling a timed amendment for a period of nine months. That timed amendment allows for further consideration of the Bill. Its current drafting raises specific practical and legal questions, including whether it is likely to achieve its intended purpose. It is appropriate to consider whether a combination of legislative and non-legislative approaches could be adopted which would achieve an appropriate human-rights based outcome vis-à-visthe illegal Israeli settlements as opposed to Israel more broadly.

The Minister for Finance is conscious that this is a difficult issue to resolve and time needs to be devoted to it. It is important that we take a consistent approach to the illegal Israeli settlements. I have some concern about some of the language used by Deputies opposite. I hope it is not their position that this language around Israel continues. I also hope that some of that language is not an attack on the existence of the State of Israel.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Oh come on now.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am just marking that as a question.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Excuse me, may I finish?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Allow the Minister of State to conclude without interruption.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I have tried to take a reasoned approach to what I think is very reasonable legislation. I have brought forward similar legislation in respect of cluster munitions. I am expressing my opinion, as the Deputies opposite are also allowed to do, on some of the language used. I hope I am doing that in a reasonable way. I deserve the respect of the Deputies to be allowed to finish my contribution.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I very much welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate this evening. I commend Deputy Brady on his work, along with others, on drafting this important and excellent legislation. The case for supporting this Bill could not be clearer. At its essence, this Bill is a critical tool to end Irish State investment in companies that are complicit in war crimes.

In 2021 this Dáil led the way when it became the first Parliament in the European Union to recognise Israel's illegal occupation as an annexation. In this, we recognised it as a war crime. Today we have the opportunity again to set an example for our international counterparts to show real leadership when it comes to opposing Israel's apartheid regime and to support the oppressed Palestinian people. The Irish people stand with the people of Palestine in word and in deed, including through their cultural and sporting institutions. Our political institutions must follow.

This Bill is a natural extension of the 2021 occupied territories Bill which committed the Irish State to focus efforts to bring an end to settlement activity in the occupied territories. It also aligns with Ireland's national action plan on business and human rights, which implores the Government to implement human rights standards in business. Let us send a message to the world yet again that Ireland is willing to uphold international law, that we support the human rights of all peoples and that we are unwilling to invest in companies that sponsor war crimes. We must show that we stand with the Palestinian people, and that we believe in their human right to live free from persecution caused by the relentless effort by the Israeli state to occupy their Palestinian homeland. This week marks 75 years since the Nakba, and 75 years of human rights abuses, war and violence and merciless pursuit by Israel to occupy Palestinian lands. By supporting this Bill we are not just standing with the Palestinians; we are also standing in defence of the very principles this State was founded on. I urge the Government to withdraw its amendment and I urge all Deputies to support the Bill.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I commend my colleague, Deputy Brady, for his hard work on this Bill and his dedication to the Palestinian cause over the years. The intention of the Bill is to end Ireland's involvement in Israel's illegal enterprise. If the Bill is passed, Ireland could become a catalyst for other European countries to follow.

The National Treasury Management Agency was established in late 1990 to manage the assets and liabilities of the Irish Government. It also has responsibility for the management of ISIF, an independent wealth fund with a mandate to invest on a commercial basis to support economic activity in Ireland. The UN Human Rights Council published a database of 112 companies that have been identified as operating in breach of international law in the occupied territories. The facts are that Irish taxpayers' money has been invested in companies operating with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Irish taxpayers' money is also being invested in four Israeli banks which are instrumental in facilitating the ongoing campaign of annexation through the provision of funding and loans and the operation of ATMs in the illegal settlements, making these banks instrumental in the illegal land-grabs of Palestinian lands. Through their actions, the banks are aiding and abetting war crimes. The Minister of State can take another note of what I said there because I saw her taking notes on the other ones.

I was lucky enough to visit Palestine last year and I saw the Israeli illegal settlements at first hand. These settlements have resulted in a host of human rights violations against the Palestinian population including the unlawful demolition of homes and infrastructure, the destruction of agricultural land, forced displacement, unlawful killings and more. I visited the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank of Palestine where I heard how Israeli forces use skunk water as a way of making Palestinian homes uninhabitable. Skunk water is exactly what it sounds like; it does exactly what it says on the tin. It is highly noxious. It is sprayed on the homes of Palestinian families, forcing them to go because the smell is so unbearable. I was shocked when I heard this and I do not get shocked easy. It is beyond human comprehension that Israel tasked some scientists to come up with something like this to begin with. The reason I mention it now is to show the Irish taxpayers that they are unwittingly funding this barbaric, inhumane behaviour. I urge the Government to support the Sinn Féin Bill fully and not kick it down the road for nine months. The Minister of State said in her statement that "The State should only be able to take action where it can defend its approach." I ask the Minister of State, who raised some questions of her own, to explain how she can defend this approach.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Deputy Brady for bringing this Bill before the House. It is designed to compel ISIF to divest itself of holdings in companies currently listed on a UN database of businesses operating within the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. In simple terms, the purpose of the Bill is to mandate ISIF to divest itself of all current assets and to prohibit future investments in any companies which operate in the illegal Israeli settlements and which are included on the UN database of companies. The intention is that the Bill will end Ireland's involvement in Israel's illegal enterprises and function as a catalyst for other European countries to follow. By taking the decision to invest Irish taxpayers' money into companies which are on a UN database, the Government through ISIF has made the Irish people stakeholders in the war crime that is the ongoing illegal annexation of Palestinian land. Israeli settlements, their maintenance and expansion are illegal under international law and amount to war crimes. In May 2021 the Dáil unanimously passed a motion condemning the annexation by Israel of East Jerusalem and its settlement activity there and in the West Bank.

Yesterday marked the 75th anniversary of Nakba, meaning "catastrophe". Seventy-five years on, Palestinians continue to suffer abhorrent human rights abuses at the hand of the Israeli state. Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2022, making it the deadliest year in those areas since 2004. Since the start of 2023, in just over four months, 148 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupying forces including 26 children and six women. On 7 May, the Israeli Government brazenly published tenders for at least 1,248 new units in illegal settlements. Also on 7 May, the occupying forces demolished a European Union-funded school, violating the right to education of the 40 children attending it. It should also be noted that Israel previously demolished the same school in 2017 after which it was later rebuilt. At the moment, 58 schools serving 6,500 Palestinian children are threatened with demolition by occupying forces for lack of permits that are virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain. We come in here every day condemning Russia for what it is doing in Ukraine. If we do not apply the same condemnation of what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people, we are nothing short of hypocrites.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Deputy Brady and his team for introducing this Bill. I acknowledge the presence of the Palestinian ambassador in the Gallery today. There is a trend with this Government that is becoming more and more frequent, that is, switching into spectator mode. We have seen the Government standing on the sidelines watching crisis after crisis evolving and we have listened to Government Deputies making statements and comments as if they were just spectators on the sidelines and not actually members of Government. The EU's complicity in Israel's brutal system of apartheid is yet another example of this Government switching into spectator mode, afraid to rock the boat in Brussels. We have seen the Government take strong positions on sanctioning Russia for its crimes but only when other EU states acted first. Thanks to the UN's database of companies operating in the illegal Israeli settlements, it is clear that Irish taxpayers' money is being used to continue human rights violations in these illegal settlements. Successive Irish Governments have taken the position that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. However, ISIF considers it right to invest in and work with those who are actively supporting and advancing illegal settlements and, by so doing, facilitates what is clearly a crime under international law. The Government needs to switch off spectator mode and realise it is a willing participant in Israel's brutal crimes. The Irish Government must step up to the fore in the EU and take a stand against Israel's brutal system of apartheid that has been inflicted on the Palestinian people. ISIF must be compelled to divest itself of all current assets in any companies which operate in the illegal Israeli settlements. It must also prohibit any future investment in the illegal Israeli apartheid settlements. We must send out a clear message that Ireland does not stand on the side of apartheid.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I being by acknowledging the presence of the Palestinian ambassador and that it is the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. I offer my condolences and sympathies to all those who have lost family members and friends over those years.

I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for putting forward this important Bill to which we in Labour our delighted to offer full support. I also acknowledge the ongoing work of our colleague in the other House, Senator Black, who has done so much to forward bring forward the occupied territories Bill. I was glad to support it when I was in the Seanad and it still has strong Labour support there. It has passed through the Seanad and received cross-party support. I hope, notwithstanding the Government speeches, we will see cross-party support for this Bill too. Other speakers have pointed out there has for many years been a strong sense across different parties in government and opposition of support for the cause of the Palestinian people and strong condemnation rightly offered for the breaches of international law and abuses of human rights by the State of Israel. There is a strong tradition of that in all parties in Ireland.

We in Labour are happy to support this Bill. It is in keeping with our long track record on Palestinian rights. Our former leader, Eamon Gilmore, when Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade very strongly advocated for the rights of the Palestinian people. When he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2011, he made a speech that was groundbreaking at that time. He stated Ireland would support the Palestinian bid to become a full member of the UN and he repeated this position on numerous occasions as Minister. I have been a long-time supporter of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Sadaka campaign and the rights of the Palestinian people. I had the pleasure, along with many Labour colleagues and colleagues of all parties, of attending the Amnesty picnic in front of Leinster House last week where this important issue was raised. It was acknowledged Israel has been carrying out what is effectively and apartheid system against the Palestinian people. Even in the days since then we have seen dreadful violence, including killing of Palestinian children and ongoing oppression and abuse of Palestinians.

It is, therefore, essential that we continue putting on pressure internationally and in Ireland to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and to address the gross human rights abuses being inflicted on the Palestinian people, who have lost so much over the past 75 years, which we recognise this week with the anniversary of the Nakba. I think we all recognise the State is committed to working for a resolution of the crisis in the Middle East and to ensuring there will be a two-state solution. However, we must look at actions we can take, rather than just at words and offering support at the international level. The Bill represents an action that can be taken in Ireland. It is an opportunity to ensure taxpayers' money is not directly or indirectly funding Israeli breaches of international law.

To date, the National Treasury Management Agency has invested through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund in nine Israeli companies, including four banks, that operate in illegal Israeli settlements. These banks provide direct financing to Israeli construction, infrastructure and maintenance projects being undertaken on land expropriated from Palestinian people. The ISIF is funded by taxpayers' money, which means Irish taxpayers are de facto investors in the financing and sustenance of apartheid. There is a dreadful irony here. When I was on the foreign affairs committee between 2016 and 2020, it was well-recognised than not just Irish but EU taxpayers were financing development programmes in Gaza and the West Bank, only to see the results, including schools, homes and Palestinian infrastructure built with EU moneys and public moneys from here, being demolished by the Israeli state. This is part of a regime of demolitions and forcible movement of Palestinian people. We have seen this over a long period and this Bill is one small way in which we can achieve some sort of recognition of that appalling practice. It has been condemned at EU level too that EU money has been used, rightly, to pay for the building-up of Palestinian infrastructure that is then being demolished by the State of Israel, apparently with impunity at international level. In recognition of this, and so much more, the Dáil voted unanimously to recognise the de facto annexation of Palestinian land by Israel. International law recognises this as illegal. Given our own history of colonialism, we are in a unique position to understand the Palestinian struggle. It is ethically questionable to continue investment in the economy of settlement lands where this investment helps to expand the occupation.

There is also a significant workers' rights crisis and as the party of work and of the trade union movement, I wish to highlight it. There is also a significant workers' rights issue at play here, especially with Israeli companies financed indirectly by some of our money. Palestinian workers do not enjoy the same rights and protections as Israelis in the illegal settlements. To work on the settlements, Palestinians must obtain a permit from Israeli authorities. They need permission to work on land that was in many cases illegally expropriated from them. These work permits can be annulled at any time, including when Palestinian workers seek to organise collectively to demand their rights and seek to unionise or engage in political activity. Permits are tied to their employers and this means workers in the occupied territories are especially vulnerable to what would be regarded in any country as labour rights violations. Palestinians face salary discrimination, poor working conditions, the withholding or denial of wages, the arbitrary cancellation of work permits by the Israeli authorities and they are unable to switch employers. Israeli labour regulations technically apply to employers in the settlements, but they are rarely enforced and Palestinian workers are, as we all know, reluctant to demand their rights for fear of losing their permits. That very important aspect underlies the motivation for this Bill.

As a final point, there is considerable international precedence for divestment from Israeli enterprises on ethical grounds. Norway’s largest pension fund divested from 16 Israeli companies that operated on illegal settlements, while a major Dutch pension fund did similarly. We have rightly agreed to divest the ISIF from fossil fuel undertakings. That decision was a result of climate policy, but it is clearly an ethical matter. I am reflecting on the context of President Higgins's important speech about the economy in which he spoke so powerfully about the need to ensure economy, ecology and ethics are aligned and linked, namely, that we cannot detach our economy from our ethics and we clearly cannot detach ethics from our foreign policy. We are proud Irish foreign policy is bound up in ethical considerations and, therefore, as part of that policy, we should seek to ensure, in any way we can, that public money is not being used to contribute to violations of international law and to the oppression of a people, namely the Palestinians.

In supporting this Bill, we are taking more than a symbolic act in support of the Palestinian people. If this Bill were to be passed by the House and not delayed as the Government is proposing, it would send a clear message to the Israeli Government and Israeli businesses that we condemn the actions of the Israeli regime that inflict abuses on the Palestinian and which are in breach of international law. Supporting this Bill shows we stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle for self-determination and their struggle simply to see the norms of international law respected and their rights being respected at that level too. I urge the Minister of State and all Government colleagues, many of whom have stood in support of Palestinian rights on multiple occasions, to support the Bill and not delay it. They should join with us on the Opposition benches, from which the Bill is going to receive strong support, to ensure we speak collectively as an Oireachtas not just in support of the Palestinian people but in support of international law.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I commend Sinn Féin Deputies on bringing forward the Bill. We in the Social Democrats will absolutely support it.

In January 2022, Deputies Connolly and Carthy asked parliamentary questions about the potential for Ireland recognising the State of Palestine. The then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, replied:

The Government has pledged to honour our commitment to recognise the State of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or when we believe doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory.

He went on:

As I have stated previously, in the absence of progress towards a two-State solution, I would be prepared to recommend to the Government early recognition by Ireland of a State of Palestine, if and when it might be helpful, and this is a matter which I discuss regularly with EU colleagues.

Despite those admittedly strong words, 2022 proved to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began keeping records of these atrocities. Some 171 people were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank that year.

This number included the murder of more than 30 children. That same year, 9,000 Palestinians were injured and maimed by the Israel Defense Forces, IDF. The Irish Government continued to offer words of condemnation and nothing more.

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the murder of the Al-Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh. Shireen was shot in the head by an IDF sniper while she was simply doing her job - reporting on a raid by the Israeli Government at a refugee camp outside the occupied city of Jenin. In any conflict, there are moments that live long in the mind's eye and there are few among us who were not sick to the pit of our stomachs when, not content with taking the life of this innocent journalist, renowned throughout the Arab world for her courage in reporting the truth of the Israeli state's oppression of the Palestinian people, the forces of the Israeli state saw fit to attack her funeral procession to the point that, momentarily, it looked like her under siege pallbearers would be forced to drop her coffin to the ground. The Irish Government continued to offer its condemnation and nothing more.

This year has been, and will continue to be, even worse for the Palestinian people. Some 120 people have been killed so far this year. Since the start of the year, a Palestinian child has been killed on average once every three days by the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF will assert that such a figure is a result of from where Hamas and Palestinian Popular Front militants choose to position and launch rockets. Even if you were to do the moral contortions it needs to view this as a justification for the wanton targeting of children by one of the most heavily armed nations in the history of the world, you would still have to come to terms with the fact that many of these murders of children are in cold blood and achieved through bullets rather than bombs. When Israeli forces entered the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem, 14-year-old Zaid Saeed Ghuneim had just finished dinner and was on his way to his grandparents' house when he took shelter from an oncoming IDF raid by sheltering in the garage of his own home. Upon discovery, he was pulled from his place of hiding and shot once in each leg, twice in the back and once more in the neck.

There are many more examples - more victims, more acts of depravity and more words of condemnation from the Irish Government, which tempers itself from action in the disillusioned belief that we have some influence in advancing a two-state solution. We do not.

I do not for a second believe that any of us in this Chamber have a monopoly on compassion, care or revulsion when the oppression and violence wrought on the Palestinian people by the State of Israel are raised, but there is a very real divergence when it comes to how we should respond to this increasing depravity. I often get the impression that the parties of the status duobelieve that we on this side of the Chamber somehow do not get the nuances of diplomacy or statesmanship, so I will ask a question of the Minister of State about the approach that our Government and other leaders across the EU and US have deployed so far. The extremist Israeli Government minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has just been given sweeping powers over the West Bank and who, after the 26 February attack on the Palestinian town of Huwara by hundreds of settlers, leading to the deaths of Palestinians, said: "I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it, not, God forbid, private individuals." Does the Minister of State honestly believe that this person or the extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir will ever come to the negotiation table with our Government and settle into a peace of any kind with the Palestinian people? I appreciate that we are well intentioned, but we are now at the point where we are making patsies of ourselves to the war crimes of the State of Israel towards the Palestinian people.

In her contribution, the Minister of State asked us to be careful with our language, so I will ask her about a particular word and whether we should continue to use it, namely, "apartheid". "Apartheid" is a specific word that has meaning in international law, but the Irish Government refuses to use it even though such human rights organisations as Amnesty International have found that the circumstances inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the State of Israel are just that. This does not make us statesmanlike. It makes us complicit.

Israel treats Palestinians as an inferior racial group, segregating and oppressing them wherever it has control over their rights. Israeli laws and policies are designed specifically to deprive Palestinians of their rights. Does anyone in this Chamber on the Government side or elsewhere believe that illegal settlements, enforced evictions against the Palestinian people by the Israeli state, demolitions, torture, detentions and unlawful killings, which have been widely reported by reputable sources, are not taking place? I do not believe that anyone does, but we tie ourselves up in phraseology. This is not about phraseology or whether a particular word is helpful. It is a matter of law, and international law is clear that such a system of domination and oppression by one racial group over another constitutes the crime against humanity that is apartheid. If we recognise that these systems of oppression are in place, it is beyond insulting that we continue to quibble over phraseology. The Taoiseach is on record as saying that the Government would not use the term "apartheid" in describing Israel's policies against the Palestinians. Again, this is not about the terms used. The crime of apartheid is being perpetrated whether we like or use the term or not. Amnesty International, among other human rights bodies, has been clear about this. It is about law, respect for the rule of law and respect for human rights and the dignity of millions of Palestinians, whom the international community has failed to protect for decades. As we equivocate, we make ourselves complicit in that.

Ireland must impose targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes, against Israel's officials most implicated in the crime of apartheid and impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, working in concert with our partners across the EU. This is the very least we can do. I would go further than the Bill. lf we believe that the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation because of its grotesque invasion and the terror it is inflicting upon the people of Ukraine are legitimate and that we had to move quickly and swiftly in that instance, what is the difference in this instance? Why have we been so slow to act? Why do we continue to see ourselves as somehow being impartial? We regularly say that we are not neutral when it comes to the politics of the war and Russia's grotesque invasion of Ukraine. Why, then, do we make ourselves politically neutral in this instance?

I appreciate that we have gone further than most, but there is still a way to go. Ireland has examples of doing this. It is regularly cited, and should never become a cliché, but consider what the Dunnes Stores workers did in standing up against apartheid in South Africa. It mattered. It made this State seem courageous in the eyes of the world. It demonstrated that those workers' refusal to handle goods coming from apartheid South Africa had meaning. When Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu visited Ireland, they referenced that act. Yet we continue to wait.

There may come a point when those extremist ministers sitting around the table of the Israeli Government tell us they are ready to sit down and negotiate, but what does the Minister of State believe will be left of Palestine by that time? How many more children will have died before that happens? They will sit there and say they are now ready to talk, and we will say we could have done more. We absolutely could do more. We regularly discuss Ireland's place in the world in terms of some crises and conflicts. This situation demonstrates perfectly what our place in the world could be. We are a country that stands for peace. We are a small country that stood against its oppressor and gave gifts like boycotts to the world. We need to extend that to this situation and stop doing business with apartheid states that oppress people. There must always be a place for negotiation, but there must also come a time when we say "No more" and we act. We can be world leaders in this regard.

I implore the Minister of State not to wait nine months. I believe that, like everyone else in the Chamber, she feels that these horrors have gone too far. We must draw a line in the sand and say we will not go beyond it, that the Irish Government and the people of Ireland will no longer be complicit in these war crimes and the apartheid inflicted on the Palestinian people. We will be world leaders when we say we will not do business with Israel. We will encourage our allies across the EU and, if necessary, the US to follow us in that.