Results 6,381-6,400 of 6,433 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Okay. There is this issue of reconciling international law and EU law and it seems to me that the position of the Department is that international law needs to be reconciled to the international law position rather than the reverse. The Attorney General, as I understand it, received in advance of that legal opinion some detailed legal opinion from Professors Takis Tridimas and Panos...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I am not asking Mr. Smyth to do that. Did he consider the advice that was received by the Attorney General, which, I believe, was also received by the Department? Did he consider that advice, the legal opinion, offered by those two legal academics?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Okay, but that relates to previous legislation. On this legislation, the Department has offered a legal basis for proceeding in one area and not proceeding in another one. We do not have the Attorney General's position but Mr. Smyth has offered a legal position on behalf of the Department, at least in some sort of interim way. In coming to that position, which he has articulated here,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The position of the two professors, as outlined, is that the public policy obligation would apply equally to services and goods. Does Mr. Smyth take issue with the argument they make?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: It seems to me that this flows to the logical conclusion that somebody will potentially take infringement proceedings, as people can do in respect of any legislation. That is the position that applies. I know it is said sometimes that we risk infringement proceedings but anyone can take infringement proceedings provided it is non-trivial. The defence of the Irish Government to infringement...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will let Mr. Smyth in in a second. The defence would be relying on the same judgment, and the judgment makes no distinction between goods and services. It is very clear that such trade, as far as the court is concerned, is illegal under international law. The defence would be precisely the same. Why would it be good enough for one and not good enough for the other?

Written Answers — Department of Health: Middle East (1 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 668. To ask the Minister for Health since Government approval was secured in September 2024 for Ireland to evacuate a number of sick children from Gaza for treatment and care, following an appeal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to address the current health needs of people from Gaza, the number that have been treated to date in 2025; and the number that remain outstanding at this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the witnesses for being here and I thank them very much for their work on this over many years. We are all very keen to work through the detail of this. The purpose of these committee meetings is to try to flesh out that debate on goods and services. It might be no harm to maybe draw back for a second. Why does Senator Black believe the occupied territories Bill is important? Why...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Senator. That is absolutely right. For me it is about Ireland using what levers it has, and this legislation in one. It is also about representing consequences for actions because there is just impunity on a grand scale. I will direct my next question to Mr. O'Neill, but also for any other speaker. In concrete terms at this moment in time what kinds of goods and services...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: For those companies trading currently, or those individuals who are trading, between Ireland and the settlements and vice versa, are there risks already? Do they potentially face criminal sanction from existing legislation? Does the Department of enterprise provide any advice on it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will pick up on the points Mr. Liston made about the International Criminal Court Act and the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act. Under those Acts, as I understand it, a person or company based in Ireland could currently be prosecuted for trading with the occupied territories. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: People can take cases in all sorts of ways. Could it be argued that someone who was subject to such a prosecution could seek to take a case of infringement proceedings against EU legislation on that basis? It is a difficult question to phrase. Could someone take a case or infringement proceedings to the European Court of Justice that it is a legitimate or wrongful interference with trade...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: That is precisely-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: That is precisely the point. The Irish Government would presumably adopt the same defence it might to infringement proceedings, if someone were to take a case on the basis of services under this legislation. Would it be fair to say that the defence of the Irish Government would be precisely the same if it were defending this legislation, if it were to include services, that is arguing there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will be as quick as I can. The infrastructure of the previous legislation in regard to applying to occupied territories generally was preferable. It is not a reason to stand in the way of this legislation, but these are not the only areas that are occupied contrary to international law. It would be right not to permit trade with or to have sanctions against trade from Russian-occupied...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Yes, I will follow up on the question I asked Mr. Liston a short time ago before we ran out of time. The application of international law is binding on Ireland as a member state. There was some attempt to confuse the matter by talking about how European countries pool their obligations and so on. The Department also spoke about "empowering legislation", I think that was the phrase used. I...

Student Fees: Motion [Private Members] (8 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: For a couple of days I really could not get my head around what the Government was at in relation to this. Was it some sort of internal politics between Departments, trying to bounce somebody into making an announcement? Was it sheer incompetence? I could not understand it. Why would the Government just walk into a problem that had not been on the horizon? Why would it create this stress...

Post-European Council: Statements (9 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Rachaidh mé tríd na hábhair faoi mar a bhí siad i ráiteas an Taoisigh. In the first instance, I will say again that we abhor the Russian Federation's criminal invasion of Ukraine. It is a war of aggression that has caused untold human suffering. It is very clear from the events of recent weeks that Vladmir Putin has no interest in peace and that he is using...

Post-European Council: Statements (9 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: How long do I have?

Post-European Council: Statements (9 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Apologies, I was not anticipating this and am not sure this was a feature during the last statements on-----