Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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165. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on his engagements with the EU-Israel Association Council, following the recent meeting of the council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27400/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We are watching genocide on a daily basis. It is incredible to many of us that there remains business as usual in trade, even preferential trade, between the EU and Israel. Too many countries have failed to raise their voices, as the Tánaiste has already mentioned to some degree. We have seen movement but we need more. We need the humanitarian conditions that exist in the EU-Israel association agreement to be put in play. If that is the will of many of the people of the EU states in question, then we need the states to follow through.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy. Following a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council last Tuesday, the EU High Representative announced that the EU would finally conduct a review of Article 2 of the EU-Israel association agreement. This is an important decision that reflects the grave concerns held by member states regarding the situation in Gaza. We went from two countries - Ireland and Spain - calling for this to 17 countries at that meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.

The EU remains steadfast in its calls for the release of all hostages by Hamas, the urgent resumption of negotiations and, crucially, a free-flowing surge of humanitarian aid. However, we are now seeing agreement from a clear majority of member states on the need to exert more effective influence on Israel to reverse course, halt its military operations, to put it mildly, and to cease its obstruction of lifesaving aid. Such a step is about using the European Union's influence to effect positive change on the ground. As the House is aware, Ireland and Spain called for this step to be taken in February 2024. Since then, the situation has only become immeasurably worse with catastrophic consequences for the civilian population and a real risk of famine.

It is my strong view that if Israel is deemed in breach of its obligations - and how can it not be? - such a finding must be followed by concrete action. The human rights clauses in these agreements are not just there for padding. They are not discretional extras. They must have impact. There must be a consequence to breaching the human rights clauses in the agreement. This is a position I have reiterated clearly, alongside my counterparts from Spain, Slovenia and Luxembourg, in a joint letter to the High Representative in advance of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. We underlined in that letter the need for a review to be undertaken urgently. Based on this work, the High Representative, working with the Commission as a whole, should bring forward concrete proposals for appropriate measures. As I have made clear in the Dáil this week, it is Ireland's view that the operation of the association agreement should be suspended pending the outcome of a review of Israel's compliance.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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At this point, there is considerable urgency. We see what people are facing in Gaza. We are talking about the starvation of one in five people. More than 54,000 people have been killed. The most recent figure was 3,924 deaths since the so-called ceasefire. This is a terrible term to use, but Israel okayed 800 truckloads of aid last week. We hear that only 500 made their way in. It is obvious what Israel is doing.

We welcome the fact that we are now talking about a clear majority but we need a timeline for this review. We need to see the appropriate measures the Tánaiste has spoken about as soon as possible. We must ensure we do whatever we can.

I agree that there is an issue with these clauses. There needs to be a better means of dealing with these issues into the future but the people of Gaza do not have time for us to get better rules. We need to deal with what we have in front of us at the moment. What is the Government's plan? What is the plan of the European Union? Does the Tánaiste foresee this happening in a reasonable timeline? I do not know what "reasonable" means in this context.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is right. It is offensive, to put it mildly, that it has taken this long to get to the point of reviewing the association agreement. It is as clear as day that the human rights clauses of the association agreement are being breached. I understand there needs to be a review to establish that, and I get that, but this is something that we called for in February 2024.

I welcome the fact that there is now a clear majority of member states, big and small with different political governments in power, that have recognised this now and joined the Irish, Spanish and Dutch position on this. The fact that there are 17 member states shows how Europe is speaking up about how these atrocities need to end in a way other parts of the world are not. I want that review to be quick. I hope it can be. I expect it can be. We have waited long enough for it to commence, now it needs to conclude in an efficient manner. I accept this is not the majority position in the European Union but our position is that the agreement should be suspended.

In the meantime, we will go ahead with our own domestic legislation and I encourage other European member states to look at what we are doing and also consider banning trade from the occupied Palestinian territories.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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In fairness, we have to put whatever pressure we can on the EU-Israel association agreement but we also have to deal with what we can domestically. On the occupied territories Bill, when will the scheme be sent to the committee? It is anxious to do the pre-legislative scrutiny, but the committee is not permitted to schedule scrutiny until it has received the Bill. The Tánaiste is well aware of the appetite that exists for the Bill to be enacted by the summer recess. On what date will the committee get the Bill from the Tánaiste and his Department? He keeps talking about legal issues. He says he is open to there being delivery on the issue of services, but we need this expanded upon. What are the legal issues?

I do not want to revisit Tuesday's debate. We tabled Israeli war bond legislation. A large number of people have an issue with the Central Bank facilitating the sale of those bonds. We got the OPLA to do look at the Bill. If the Government disagrees with the Bill, is there another means of dealing with the matter so that we can ensure that our Central Bank is not facilitating this?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Every day, the Government looks at what more we can do and is happy to always constructively look at that with the Opposition. I, too, do not want to revisit that debate other than to say the Minister for Finance outlined the Government's position based on legal realities and on the legislation not achieving what we believed Sinn Féin thought the legislation would achieve. However, there is a hell of a lot we actually agree on as regards Gaza. I know that it sometimes does not suit people politically to agree, but this issue it is so important that we have to lean into what we actually agree on and what we can get done.

The Deputy asked a direct question on the occupied Palestinian territories Bill. I cannot give him a date in June but I can tell him it will go to the foreign affairs committee as early in June as possible. In fairness to my officials, they only got the formal Government decision on Tuesday. They now have to draft the Bill. As the Deputy can imagine, they are working away on the general scheme. I have spoken to the Chair of the committee. It will be for him and the committee to decide what they wish to do in terms of how they wish to schedule it. There is a lot of cross-party unity of purpose in terms of a Bill. As I said to Frances Black, I hope one of the outcomes of this Bill is that it genuinely inspires other parliaments and governments to table similar legislation.