Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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181. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to list all meetings which he or his predecessor has held with either the Attorney General, other Ministers, or officials, in relation to the so-called Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 from 1 January 2024 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39006/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government carried out an extensive analysis and review of the Occupied Territories Bill late last year.

The Government’s analysis was that substantive amendments would be required to most, if not all, of the provisions of that Bill in order to bring it in line with the Constitution and to try to reduce the risk of EU infringement procedures.

On 24 June, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill. The General Scheme has now been referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny, which began last week.

The Bill, if enacted, will deliver on the commitment in the Programme for Government to progress legislation prohibiting import of goods from the settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory following the ICJ Advisory Opinion.

Engagement with all relevant interlocutors, including the office of the Attorney General, Ministerial Colleagues across Government, and officials from relevant Departments is a central part of my work and that of my officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Such engagement routinely includes exchanges on the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill.

Furthermore, my Department has been engaging with the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill as pre-legislative scrutiny continues.