Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 7, which relates to the sale of settlement goods, provides that it "shall be an offence for a person to sell or attempt to sell settlement goods". The burden of proof will be on the State. It will be difficult for the State to prove that the goods were produced in a location where settlement had occurred. That will be one of the problems with this legislation.

I agree with the point that was made about the whole Palestinian issue. When I was a Member of the European Parliament, I was a member of the foreign affairs committee and the human rights subcommittee. I visited Palestine in 2009 after very severe bombing of Gaza by the Israelis. I saw the damage that was done to many people. This is about settlements. People move into Palestinian areas with mobile homes and then complain that they do not have adequate protection. Israeli troops are then deployed to give protection to those mobile homes. When the troops are in place and are providing protection, the construction of new houses and new business premises begins. The Israeli Government, which stands idly by while this goes on, authorises the presence of troops in these areas. This movement into Palestinian areas is totally illegal, but has been allowed to continue not for a number of years but for decades at this stage. As part of this entire process, boundaries are put in place around areas in which Palestinians live. I have seen live electric wire being used on fencing. I am not talking about the electric fences we use in Ireland to control animals on farms. I am talking about real live electricity being used on fences to control where Palestinians can go. To me, it is appalling that this exists in part of the area we are discussing.

We have a part to play. Ireland has a population of between 4.5 million and 5 million and is part of a community of 500 million.I think the biggest mistake that Europe has made in the past ten years in not appointing a high powered person to deal with foreign affairs. There is a significant vacuum in world politics as a result of the way America has developed in the past number of years. Europe can play a major part, but it needs a person of ability to deal with this issue in light of foreign affairs. That is what is lacking in the European Commission.

Ireland, a country with a population of 5 million, can exert significant influence by using the European mechanism to bring about peace and a new system between Israel and the two-state solution. If access to a market of 500 million is restricted, it has a far more powerful effect than limiting the access to a population of 5 million. The Tánaiste is correct about using his influence at European level to get the EU involved in trying to bring about a solution. It is extremely important that the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Ministers use every opportunity at European Union level. We must use our influence to bring about the changes required in the European Parliament. I am not convinced that under the current US Administration we will see the change we need to bring about a peaceful solution.

In Israel there has been a tragic loss of life. In the four weeks prior to my visit to Israel in 2009 a total of 1,200 people of which more than 300 were children lost their lives in a conflict that has been ongoing for four decades without a real international effort to bring about an everlasting solution.

It is time the European Union stepped into the breach. Ireland can play its part, but while it is important to debate this Bill, and we may need to come back to it in the not too distant future, at present we should use our influence at European level to bring about the change that is required.