Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to list the military equipment, munitions and hardware purchased from Israeli-based or Israeli-owned defence companies in each of the past ten years; the current contracts that are awaiting delivery over the next five years; and the value of each. [13274/24]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the engagements between his Department and-or the Defence Forces with the Israeli Defence Forces or other Israeli bodies since January 2023; and if proposals for further engagements are currently under consideration or review. [13158/24]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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This question relates to the purchase by the Department of Defence of military equipment, munitions and hardware from Israeli-based or owned defence companies in the past ten years and whether those contracts are ongoing or any future contracts are pending.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 9 together.

I am advised that my Department has had no engagement with the Israel Defence Forces or other Israeli state bodies since January 2023. Similarly, the Defence Forces have had no engagements during this timeframe, save any arising as part of an overall deployment of the 12 Defence Forces officers serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, UNTSO, mission. Three officers are based in UNTSO headquarters in Jerusalem, with a further officer based in Tiberias in Israel. There are no proposals for further engagements under consideration at present.

My Department has purchased several lines of defensive equipment and hardware from Israeli owned and-or based companies in the last ten years. No munitions were purchased from Israeli owned and-or based companies during this time period. A tabular statement will be circulated setting out the detailed information requested by the Deputy.

In summary, the equipment purchased relates to micro unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, systems, fire control or target sensor systems, optical sights and infantry bridging platforms, to a total value of €11.5 million. All equipment platforms contracted for have been delivered with no further deliveries pending. I am advised that current contractual arrangements extend to the support and maintenance of the existing Orbiter UAV equipment only, with an anticipated annual cost of €295,000.

The principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces for the acquisition of goods and services. This is a European Union law requirement and is in accordance with the defence and security directive. 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 e-tenders site and on the Official Journal of the European Union, where appropriate. Such tender competitions are open to any company or country, subject to the terms of all United Nations, OSCE and EU arms embargoes or restrictions. No such restrictions or embargoes are in place on Israel or Israeli companies. EU procurement rules direct that defensive equipment contracts be awarded on a merit-based system, having regard to selection and award criteria published in the competition concerned.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I do not know where to start on this. I have been raising this issue for a long time in this Chamber. There is no ethical component to the purchasing of weapons from Israel or any other country that is at war. Given the slaughter that is happening in Gaza and the history of Israeli actions in respect of Palestine, there should never have been any purchasing of any equipment for the Defence Forces. That we purchase unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, from Israel and that it is still involved in their maintenance and, therefore, can gather information on their use and put that information to use in attacking civilians in Gaza is very suspect. All of this needs to end. Will the Tánaiste take on board the need to have ethical purchasing and procurement from Ireland's point of view, that is, not to be dependent on the UN or any country at this stage, given what we have seen in recent months?

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Further to that, a related matter is the services provided by Ireland to the Israel Defense Forces. Since 2018, six members of the IDF have trained at the United Nations Training School Ireland or under NATO's Partnership for Peace. It is abhorrent that Ireland has facilitated the training of members of the IDF over the past 13 years, throughout which Palestinians were subjected to brutal oppression and onslaughts by the IDF. Almost as a sick joke, these courses included one on the international protection of civilians and another on international military relations. We have seen starkly over recent months what civilian relations mean to IDF personnel. We saw it previously during the Great March of Return years, which happened around the same time this training took place.

It is welcome that the Tánaiste has confirmed no such training will take place this year, but will he confirm to the Dáil that it is now Government policy that no such training with the IDF will take place in the future?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, Deputy Carthy's point relates to a later question, if I am not mistaken.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It relates to Question No. 9.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am referring to the point about training. It is a United Nations training programme, and we do not get to choose which members of the United Nations get to participate on a United Nations training programme. That was the situation there. The Deputies can colour these positions and put a sort of a spin on them, but my understanding is clear that members of-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Would the Tánaiste do it with Russia? Would he have our troops training with Russian troops?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am just making the point it is open to countries to apply if there are United Nations training programmes. We do not get to decide who is or is not a member of the United Nations, although we can have a say in it if there are votes and so on.

To respond to Deputy Ó Snodaigh, again, the trade law is there with respect to public procurement and tendering. I certainly have reservations in respect of Israel generally in terms of the arms industry and procurement but there is the broader context of the UN, the OSCE and the European Union, and it is European Union law that we be fully merit based in procurement. I think it is a stretch to suggest that somehow any knowledge of how we use the UAVs would be subsequently used in an attack on Gaza. I do not think that is credible, to be frank, but there is a broader question of procurement from a country that is engaging in what we are very clear is an illegal occupation.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is good that the Tánaiste has reservations, but reservations do not lead to the suspension of all trade with Israel and, in particular, any trade from Ireland to Israel in the form of dual-use goods. In the case of this question, it is to do with trade between us and Israeli companies where defence companies, such as Aeronautics Defense Systems, the company we bought from which the UAVs, or Elbit Systems, from which the State has previously bought surveillance and target acquisition suites for armoured vehicles that are being used by the Defence Forces in Lebanon. That is a bit strange, given there is a maintenance component to that. In maintenance, equipment is serviced, meaning the electrical and computer components have to be interrogated, which is where the UAV information comes from. Ireland needs to suspend all such trade and we also need to campaign in the EU and the UN for all such trade to be suspended, whether that is the EU-MED agreement or otherwise, especially in the case of defence contracts.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I concur with Deputy Ó Snodaigh. There is an onus. It is not acceptable that we would hide behind either EU or UN rules and say that because these are the rules, we are just going to allow ourselves to become complicit in what is an elaborate and extensive Israeli war machine. It is imperative the Tánaiste give a commitment that he is doing everything he can to disentangle Ireland from any association with the IDF or Israel-based arms manufacturers, knowing, as we do, that those organisations are currently responsible for what has been described before the International Court of Justice as a genocide. It is important that we send out a clear statement that Ireland is doing everything in our power to disentangle ourselves from any association with these bodies.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Again, the principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. Deputy Carthy knows that and Deputy Ó Snodaigh knows that. It is an EU law requirement and is in accordance with the defence and security directive. I do not know whether the Deputies are saying explicitly that we should simply break the law-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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In this case, yes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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They said we should campaign. I do not think we are not in a position to do that, although we have written to the EU with Spain. Ours are the two countries in the EU that have written to the EU in respect of the trade association agreement with Israel, and Ireland has said we want a review and examination of that in the context of our view on Israel's non-compliance with the human rights clauses within that trade association agreement. We are campaigning in respect of this issue. We are using every mechanism we have available to us to raise these issues and we will continue to do that. We have called repeatedly for the immediate humanitarian ceasefire and were one of the first EU member states to do so, with unimpeded access of aid into Gaza and also the release of all hostages held by Hamas. We have also intervened in respect of the International Court of Justice case regarding the occupation in the West Bank and the legality of that. The UN has sought an advisory opinion and, as the Deputies will know, the Attorney General spoke recently before the ICJ following a written submission we made in July 2023.

Ireland is pursuing all these issues relating to the occupation and the occupied territories in respect of UN resolutions.

We contest these issues forcefully and robustly at UN level and we raise them in all forums - political, diplomatic and legal. We will continue to do that. We do it, generally speaking, within the law. We operate within the law as a country. Once you start deviating from the law and breaking the law on any given issue, you lose credibility over time in respect of your international commitments.