Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an occupying power within occupied territory; and to provide for related matters.

This is a two-part Bill. The first part is aimed at prohibiting the Central Bank from dealing with war bonds and the second relates to the protection of workers who refuse to handle goods from illegal settlements. In that regard, I wish to express special thanks to members of the SIPTU and Connect trade unions and ICTU officials who, through conversations, helped inform the second part of the Bill.

The Bill contains provisions that are intended to supplement rather than replace the provisions of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 or the prohibition of goods Bill, the general scheme of which is currently the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny in the Department of Foreign Affairs. The provisions of my Bill are intended to apply generally, but the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is the immediate relevant context. Central to both Bills are the obligations of the State under international law, with particular regard to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, relative to the protection of civilian persons in a time of war.

Ireland recognises the State of Israel and maintains diplomatic relations with it. However, Ireland considers that Israel has, since June 1967 and as a matter of international law, occupied territory outside its borders illegally, including the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem - the occupied territories. Ireland recognises the borders of Israel as they stood before 1967, but it also believes that both the Israeli civilian settlements within the occupied territories and the associated economic activity to be unauthorised and unlawful. Ireland's position accords with that of the international community. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 of 23 December 2016 calls on all UN members to distinguish between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories it has occupied since 1967.

On 30 December 2022, the General Assembly of the United Nations requested the International Court of Justice, ICJ, to provide an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. In its advisory opinion the ICJ confirmed that all states are under an obligation not to recognise as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories. They are also under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories. The purpose of this Bill is to enable additional and partial discharge of the legal obligations referred to by the ICJ.

The Long Title states that the Bill is:

... entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an occupying power within occupied territory; and to provide for related matters.

Section 2 deals with the securities issue by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power. EU Regulation 2017/1129 governs the prospectus that must be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market in the Union. A competent authority within one of the member states must approve the prospectus. In Ireland, the competent authority is the Central Bank.

Section 3 deals with the refusal to handle settlement goods, which it states are:

... goods produced in whole or in part within an occupied territory by a member of the civilian population of the occupying power whose presence and activities within the occupied territory are facilitated ... by the occupying power.

With reference to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Ireland and the European Union as a whole are agreed that Israeli civilian settlements on occupied lands are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible. What this Bill would do, if passed, is ensure that when workers refuse to handle goods from these illegal settlements, they would be protected from losing their jobs. It is in the spirit of what the Dunnes workers did so courageously in the 1980s and with such a wonderful aim. We need to ensure that workers are protected and that they have a right to conscientious objection when dealing, in the course of their employment, with goods sourced from illegal settlements. This is a basic principle. It must be enshrined in law, and with this Bill it would be.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Bill opposed?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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No.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."