Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 33: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will support the application of economic sanctions against Israel in order to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons and bring about a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East. [32290/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Israel is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has never officially declared itself to possess nuclear weapons. It is one of just three states not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is acknowledged as a cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament. Ireland would very much like to see full universality of the NPT and we have repeatedly called on the remaining three states to accede to the treaty as non-nuclear weapons states and to conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. We are also actively engaged in efforts to bring about a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East. At the 2010 NPT Review Conference, Ireland brokered agreement on a text which emphasised the importance of establishing such a zone and which set out a number of practical steps towards achieving this, including the convening of a conference in 2012. We are hopeful that all countries in the region, including Israel and Iran, will participate in the Conference and in the process going forward.

I am continually being asked, by Deputies and others, to consider placing sanctions on Israel, for varying reasons. It is the long-standing position of successive Irish Governments that we do not support a policy of boycotts or sanctions against Israel. To do so would only weaken the weight carried by our views, both in Israel, where we seek to persuade, and among our European Union partners. It also needs to be recognised that there is no prospect at present of such sanctions being adopted at UN or EU level.