Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

200. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his Department has ever expressed concern regarding the issuance of a dual use export licence in relation to an end user based in Israel. [27333/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is the national competent authority with responsibility for export controls, including controls on defence-related exports and the export of dual-use goods.

Officials of that Department carry out assessments and checks on all export licence applications to ensure, as far as possible, that the item to be exported will be used by the stated end-user for the stated end-use and will not be used for illegal purposes.

The role of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in relation to each export licence application, including those involving dual-use items, is to provide foreign policy observations against the eight assessment criteria of the EU’s Common Position. Those criteria include an assessment of the respect for human rights in the country of final destination and the internal situation in that country as a function of the existence of tensions or armed conflict.

Those foreign policy observations inform the assessments carried out by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. If there are any concerns that the goods to be exported will not be used for the end use or by the specified end user as detailed in the application that application is denied by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. This also applies if the exporter does not provide enough information on the intended end-use for officials to make an informed decision.

In 2024, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided observations on 47 dual-use export licence applications where the end destination was listed as Israel. So far in 2025, the Department has provided observations on 5 dual use export applications. I understand the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has denied 4 of these applications in 2024 and one to date in 2025.

It should be noted that the majority of dual-use exports from Ireland, including those to Israel, are mainstream business ICT products. By applying export controls in a robust and transparent way, legitimate business transactions by reputable Irish traders are facilitated while ensuring the thorough risk assessment of the exports of controlled goods, including in the context of ongoing conflicts.