Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the Bill. I understand fully that the Government has the advice of the Attorney General. Unlike a certain other country close to us, it is not possible for the Parliament to demand to see that advice for very good reasons which I respect fully. Senator Black has taken the step of publishing legal opinions to the contrary and I have had the opportunity to read them. I agree with them. That is not to say there is always one infallible view on these matters.

I agree with Senator O'Sullivan. I stand for the right of Israel to exist and in supporting the Bill, I am not taking an anti-Israeli position. The right of Israel to exist within internationally accepted borders is an absolute right which the country is entitled to defend. I make no bones about that. I do not believe it is an illegitimate state and I want that to be very clear. It has been suggested in public discourse by a former Member of these Houses and by a senior Israeli Minister that the motivation behind the Bill is anti-Semitic. Nothing could be further from the truth. In that regard, I was the person who, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, inaugurated Holocaust Memorial Day. I supported the Irish Holocaust commemoration committee and apologised in public for the way in which Ireland failed Jewish refugees during the Second World War. I have taken a lifelong interest in the appalling atrocities involved in the Holocaust and I object deeply to anybody saying my motivation is anti-Semitic. It is scandalous and wrong that it should be stated. I take particular solace from the fact that not merely is the Bill supported by international lawyers like those whose opinions Senator Black has published, it is also supported by a considerable number of people in Israel.This Bill is by no means anti-Semitic.