Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I will not speak about the budget as I will wait until the statements later today. I want to put a different issue before the Leader. The long-awaited occupied territories Bill will be coming before the Dáil for a vote soon. We know the foreign affairs joint committee strongly recommends progressing the Bill and that the prohibition of imports from the Palestinian occupied territories should be extended to include trade in services, in line with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and the resolution that Ireland co-sponsored at the United Nations General Assembly.

Last week, I saw there was a case for alarm. I want to make sure we get clarification around it so that it does not get lost between the budget and the presidential election. There are possible indications that the Government is going to ignore the recommendations of the foreign affairs committee and leave out a ban on trade in services from the Bill. The first was a speech of the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, to the UN General Assembly last Friday, in which, when referring to Gaza, he said we are legislating against the importation of goods from the occupied territories, and he made no reference to banning trade in services. The second instance, which was highlighted to me by a constituent, was by a Government MEP who, in response to a letter, indicated that the Irish Government was preparing to pass the occupied territories Bill banning trade in goods from Palestinian land illegally occupied by Israel, following the example of Slovenia and Spain.I want clarification. Is it possible that the Government will try to introduce this Bill when we are distracted by the presidential campaign? Could we get clarification on the Government's intention to exclude trade in services in the occupied territories Bill? We need clarification on this urgently, given the level of public engagement on this issue. We deserve to know what the Government intends to do.