2026-06-10

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time". I am pleased to introduce the Bill for the consideration of the House. I am conscious that the Bill has been the subject of much debate not only in this House and the media but also among the wider public. The Government fully understands the depth of feeling in Ireland and in this House on the subject of Palestine. We share these deeply held concerns. They are a product of our history and of our shared humanity. I personally understand and share the depth of feeling in this House. It is consistent with our core values - respect for human rights, dignity and international law - and it is the approach that this Government, and many Governments before us, have taken to different situations around the world where human rights and international law are not respected. I am also very conscious that behind every debate we have in this House are people whose lives are shaped by the decisions of governments and institutions. It is in this context that I would like to clearly set out the purpose of this Bill, including the motivation behind it and what we hope to achieve by enacting it in this way. I would like to address the situation on the ground in Gaza and the reality for ordinary Palestinians more broadly, which is the backdrop for our debate. I have mentioned many times my visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip earlier this year. This is something that will always stick with me particularly because of the painful contrast. On one side, we had warehouses full of food that was going out of date because the labelling was not correct, significant volumes of medical supplies that could not be provided because there was metal in them and it was being suggested they were weapons and children’s toys left sitting there. All that was left ready to deliver on one side while, on the other, more than two million people in Gaza were enduring conditions no one should be forced to survive. Men, women and children have lost their lives, countless more have been injured and entire families and communities have been utterly devastated. Behind every statistic is a human life cut short, a child deprived of a future and families living with unimaginable grief. Today, the people of Gaza continue to endure unimaginable suffering. Intolerable conditions persist, as mass displacement and poor shelter conditions expose civilians to rising public health risks linked to pests and rodents, alongside ongoing Israeli strikes, shelling and gunfire. The food security situation remains precarious, while essential services are at risk of collapse. That is why Ireland has consistently and persistently provided and called for unhindered humanitarian access to people in Gaza. The situation continues to deteriorate in the West Bank. We are witnessing the massive expansion of settlements alongside rampant and escalating settler violence, which continues in an atmosphere of impunity. The scale, speed and severity of displacement and demolitions is unprecedented. In April, the Israeli security cabinet approved 34 new West Bank settlements, the largest approved by any government at one time. The planned E1 settlement near Jerusalem threatens to cut the West Bank completely in half, calling into question the viability of a Palestinian state. The actions of this Israeli Government consistently contravene international law and are part of an established pattern to create a new status quo in the occupied Palestinian territory. Their actions are explicitly designed to bury the idea of a two-state solution. This is happening by design; not by accident. Ireland will continue to defend a Palestinian state consisting of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the right of Palestinians to self-determination, a right already enjoyed by Israelis. We are committed to working with those who want to achieve a just and lasting peace where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in two states, Israel and Palestine, in peace, security and dignity based on the 1967 borders. The cycle of violence that has brought suffering to both Palestinians and Israelis needs to be brought to an end. During my visit to Rafah earlier this year, I announced that we would continue to provide the humanitarian assistance that is urgently needed but I would again use this opportunity to reiterate the need not only for Ireland or the EU but for international partners to continue that support. The Bill we are discussing will contribute positively to Irish and international efforts to prevent unilateral actions that impinge upon the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and upon the viability of the two-state solution. I thank Senator Frances Black and others who have supported this legislation and other Bills for bringing them forward. The two-state solution is the only viable long-term solution. It is as important for Israelis as it is for Palestinians. Those who reject it appear to have no alternative plan. The current cycle of violence cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. Let me be clear: at the same time, this Government has consistently condemned the appalling terrorist actions of Hamas on 7 October and the need for those responsible for the brutal murders of innocent civilians to be held accountable. I must also reiterate the Government's view that the appalling and worsening situation in Gaza, the accelerating and rampant settler violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank, coupled with the ongoing situation in Lebanon can never be justified and demand serious and concrete actions in response. The Bill will contribute positively to Ireland's efforts to uphold and comply with international law, including the findings of the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, ICJ. Because of our own experiences on this island, we feel a deep and personal affinity with those who seek self-determination, and who simply seek to live in dignity and peace. The actions that the Government is taking, including the progression of this Bill, are designed to advance these central objectives. On 19 July 2024, the ICJ delivered an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, a case in which Ireland and more than 50 other states made written and oral submissions. The court concluded that states should "take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". The Bill also represents the fulfilment of a clear commitment made by this Government in our programme for Government where we committed to progressing legislation to prohibit the importation of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Today, we are beginning the process of that commitment. Again, I remind all of us we are talking about people. We are doing this on behalf of families who want safety, children who deserve a future and communities who have endured far too much loss and suffering. We thank this House for the considerations that have taken place since the Government approved the general scheme of the Bill in June last year. This includes the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme undertaken by the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and published its report in July 2025. This report and its recommendations have been carefully considered in the period since publication and in the development of the Bill. I will outline the detailed provisions of the Bill, with a particular focus on the key sections of the Bill. Sections 1 and 2 are standard provisions setting out the relevant definitions, and how the related regulations and orders will be dealt with. Section 3 empowers the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, following consultation with the Minister for Finance, to proscribe by order certain postal codes that correspond to Israeli settlements. It should be noted that these postal codes are already set out under a technical arrangement concluded between the EU and the government of Israel. This is to ensure that importers are aware of which locations are not eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. As the postal codes listed under the EU-Israel Technical Arrangement are periodically updated, section 4 allows the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, following consultation with the Minister for Finance, to amend or replace the list of proscribed postal codes. If new settlements are constructed, they will therefore be captured by the updated list of postcodes at the EU level, and our own list of proscribed postcodes will be updated accordingly. Practically speaking, the approach set out in the Bill essentially develops and updates Ireland's implementation of the existing obligations placed upon operators and customs authorities to distinguish between goods from the State of Israel and settlement goods under the EU-Israel Technical Arrangement, to ensure compliance with international law. Section 5 prohibits the importation of goods originating in postal codes proscribed by order of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Any such importation will thereby become an offence under section 14 of the Customs Act 2015. The Bill does not create any new offences in and of itself. It is proposed that, under the legislation, goods originating in Israeli settlements would become "goods subject to any prohibition or restriction on importation" within the meaning of that phrase for the purpose of the Customs Act 2015. Once the Bill is enacted and commenced, it will be an offence under section 14 of the Customs Act to import settlement goods, and the provision of that Act concerning search, seizure and forfeiture will be available in respect of settlement goods. There has already been some disinformation suggesting that this Bill will target individuals. I will provide clarity on this point. The Bill will prohibit the import of commercial goods from Israeli settlements. A standard exemption is provided for those goods of a non-commercial nature that form part of an individual's personal baggage and are intended for his or her personal consumption or use. This applies in other areas as well. Sections 6 and 7 deal with the matter of possible exemptions and appeals. As I mentioned earlier, a list of postal codes that correspond to Israeli settlements are set out under a technical arrangement concluded between the EU and the government of Israel. Some of these postcodes encompass an area that includes both a settlement area, and an area within Israel proper, and therefore even under the current system they already require some basic checks to determine the precise origin of the goods. Section 6 is aimed at addressing this issue. An importer from one of these postal codes can apply to the Revenue Commissioners for an exemption if their goods originate in the non-settlement part of the listed postal code. Before issuing such an exemption, the Revenue Commissioners will make inquires via the European Commission, or if necessary via another body such as the Embassy of Ireland in Tel Aviv, to ascertain the precise origin of the goods. This process for checking more or less replicates the current system we have. To facilitate the implementation of the process set out above, section 7 sets out the amendments to be made to section 45 of the Customs Act to allow for the importer to be notified of the decision of the Revenue Commissioners and to provide the importer with the right to appeal. Section 8 provides for information sharing and is designed to allow the relevant bodies to work together to effectively enforce the Bill. The remaining sections are all relatively standard provisions and deal with issues such as data protection and other technical issues. There has been a lot of focus on what is not covered by the Bill with several suggestions that we are perhaps watering down the Bill because it does not cover services. I will address this directly. This Government has always been clear on what is possible in bringing forward legislation. We have a responsibility to ensure that any legislation is legally robust and able to withstand challenge. This would not be the case with respect to services. The Government has sought and received advice from the Attorney General on the legal permissibility of an EU member state adopting measures to prohibit trade in services with a third country or territory. In the case of goods, a public policy exemption exists in the EU regulation that controls the import of goods. This allows member states to adopt prohibitions on the import of goods for public policy reasons. There is no equivalent or similar broad public policy exemption relating to external trade in services. Second, it is the Government's considered view that there would be huge challenges regarding the effective implementation and enforcement of restrictions on trade in services. By its very nature, trade in services is broad and wide-ranging. Services are in many cases digital or intangible and subject to a number of different regulatory regimes. The World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Trade in Services regulates global trade in services classified into 12 separate sectors and 150 subsectors. The European Single Market is a lot less harmonised in respect of trade in services than it is for trade in goods. It splits services across a variety of EU legislation. Essentially the implication is that the implementation of this becomes significantly more challenging. The Government must ensure at all times that there is balance in all of the measures it takes, including consideration of any potential economic consequences. This Government will always take a responsible course of action. This contributes more broadly to our ability to lead internationally and to make a difference in progressing the overall objective here. To that effect, Ireland has shown leadership on this issue. We were the first EU country to announce our intention to prohibit the importation of settlement goods and the Government stated clearly at the time that we hoped this would encourage other countries to follow our example. This is what has happened. Spain has introduced legislation. The Netherlands and Belgium are also aligned with our progressive legislation. They are progressing their own legislation, as is Norway. We of course hope to see many others. All are primarily focused on the prohibition of the importation of goods from Israeli settlements. Since taking on this role last November, I have ensured that Ireland remains at the forefront of every effort to support peace and human dignity by ensuring we uphold international law and that this issue is raised at every Council meeting I attend. Under the leadership of then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, Ireland recognised the State of Palestine. We did this alongside Spain and Norway. When it became clear that the prospects of both were diminishing, Ireland did not hesitate to lead on recognising the State of Palestine. We took this decision, despite some strong criticism, because we believed it was the right thing to do. Every decision we have taken with regard to Israel, Palestine and the current situation in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon have been based on the right thing to do. This brings me to actions at EU level. While we are moving ahead on settlement trade at national level, which is the legislation we are discussing today, our preference as stated to this House many times is that collective action be taken at EU level. This will have a much greater impact. I am absolutely convinced that if the EU were to act to progress legislation at European level and all 27 member states responded collectively and effectively, we would have a greater ability to change the direction and actions of the Israeli Government. I fundamentally believe this. We need to do more. The EU has not done enough. I have consistently called for further action and will continue to do so throughout our Presidency. At Foreign Affairs Councils I have consistently called on the European Commission to bring forward proposals to prohibit EU trade with Israeli settlements on the basis of the EU's Common Commercial Policy. A ban on trade with Israeli settlements at the EU level has the scope to be more comprehensive, have a wider impact and, in our view, is essential to ensure that the Common Commercial Policy meets the requirements of international law. Working closely with European partners, we have managed to build a greater consensus. We have for the first time built a consensus for sanctions against violent Israeli settlers responsible for attacks on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, while also supporting EU sanctions against Hamas leaders and those responsible for the atrocious terrorist violence on 7 October. I have reiterated Ireland's previous calls to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, or at a minimum to suspend the trade element of the agreement as previously proposed by the President of the European Commission. This is in itself would have a significant impact in monetary terms on the overall Israeli economy. I believe it would impact change in its decision-making. Ireland's position has increasingly been echoed across Europe. From November when I took on this role to the most recent meeting I attended, the number of member states speaking out and speaking up and that actively want to see Europe to take a stronger stance, and a stronger position has changed and increased. Ireland along with many other member states has brought us to that position. I also welcome today that 460 former and current European political leaders, diplomats and public figures published a joint appeal calling on the European Union to take stronger action in response to Israel's conduct in the West Bank. It is welcome, and I hope it will show progress and a greater level of support for the actions I have outlined. The Taoiseach wrote to European Council President in the past month reiterating Ireland's position on the EU trade ban with Israel and requesting an urgent discussion among EU leaders, so we are not just discussing this at a Foreign Affairs Council or the European Council, but that this is front and centre in Council meetings. As Minister, I have repeatedly called for member states to sanction extremist settlers and entities and those that enable them. I was pleased that agreement could be reached on this in the past month. We next need to ensure that focus and pressure remain. When I attend the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, I will reiterate that we do not just focus on banning travel for extremist ministers in Israel or on the need for a vote to suspend the trade element of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, but that at national level we replicate what we are doing in this Chamber and that the EU support a full ban on trade with the occupied territories at European level. It is clear that our position has been consistent. We have led from the front on the recognition of Palestine. We have led from the front on the issue of trade with settlements and we will continue to lead on the need for effective EU action. I say this not just as a representative of the Government. We have all that in this House from an Irish perspective. Throughout this debate, we are reminded that this is essentially about people. It is about protecting the possibility of a just peace. We cannot lose sight of the immense human cost of this conflict in the lives lost, the families shattered and the generations of Palestinians and Israelis who deserve a future free from violence and fear. I look forward to working with colleagues in this House as we continue our discussions and progress this important legislation in the coming weeks. I hope we can work together collectively to implement this legislation. We might not agree on every element but I sincerely believe that implementing this legislation will send the strongest message possible that we do not accept the actions of the Israeli Government, that we fully support the need to protect the possibility of a two-state solution, which is the only possible solution for peace within the region, and that we will continue to do everything we can to support those who are suffering unimaginable humanitarian issues at the moment. I believe that Ireland can continue to lead in this regard.

Tá an Bille seo lag. Is cinnte go bhfuil na fiacla bainte de. Níl sé maith go leor ar chor ar bith. Cuirfimid an Rialtas faoi an-bhrú chun é a fheabhsú mar níl sé maith go leor faoi mar atá. It has been eight years, four months and 12 days since Senator Frances Black and others initiated the occupied territories Bill. What is in this Bill and more should have been on the Statute Book two general elections ago. This should already be Irish law. The Minister talked about showing leadership. My experience and interpretation of the last number of years is that this Government has been dragged kicking and screaming every bit of the way. The initial response to the original occupied territories Bill, the one with substance rather than this watered down toothless affair, was to say that it was impossible and could not be done. Since that Bill was published, it has become a clarion call for all who are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and who want to see justice, respect, human rights and self-determination for the Palestinian people. That is not because they suffer from a delusion that it would transform the situation, although it would have an impact in encouraging other states, but because of the statement that it makes, which is that the law has to apply. The law has to apply to Israel and in the occupied territories just as it should apply everywhere else. The experience we have had time and time again as regards Israel's actions against the Palestinian people, in Lebanon and against European and Irish nationals who were kidnapped on the high seas, is that Israel pays no attention to international law. That is why people who want to show solidarity with Palestine have taken this Bill to their hearts and believe it is a vitally important statement. At one stage, Fine Gael quite trenchantly opposed the Bill but it took on all the more urgency and ultimately the presence of a genocide, the greatest crime of all, involving some of the most appalling scenes and crimes we have seen in this century, dragged the Government parties to it in advance of the last general election. None of this can be understated. At least 70,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced. It has been said many times but it needs to be said again that behind each of those numbers is a person and a story. I think of the story of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl, just one year older than my own daughter. That story has resonated with people. Her family were waiting for assistance as they were trying to flee Gaza. There were all these warnings to flee. She was fleeing when she was left alone, waiting for assistance that never came, while her family were shot and killed. She was ultimately killed as well. There are many other stories and examples. Some 20,000 children have had their whole families wiped out. Whole generations have been wiped out and whole communities erased. The Bill therefore took on all the more urgency and, belatedly, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael went to the Irish people during the last general election campaign saying that they would pass an occupied territories Bill. The votes were counted, a government was formed and we were no longer looking at an occupied territories Bill. The considerations had suddenly changed and we were told that the Government might do something in relation to goods but it was not so sure about services. I am not sure that even this limited Bill would be anywhere were it not for the scenes we have seen in recent weeks. It is a poor reflection on the governments of Europe that it takes scenes of European citizens being abused for them to act in concert even in the imperfect way they are now talking about. The Government should put out what the Attorney General has said to it because that same Attorney General told it a number of years ago that pursuing Senator Black's Bill would be a political choice rather than a legal choice. As far as I am concerned, the arguments are thin. The Minister and other Ministers have talked before about the effectiveness of the Bill. It talks about making this an offence under section 14 of the Customs Act 2015. I agree there are circumstances where it will be complex to identify a breach of this provision in respect of services but that does not mean it should not be put on the Statute Book. We cannot capture every instance of assault. It is not possible to convict someone in every instance of assault or theft but that does not mean we do not legislate for it. It does not mean we do not provide for people to be prosecuted where proof exists. There is no reason the same attitude should not be adopted here. The issue of goods and services was discussed at length by the Oireachtas joint committee. It is true that there is a specific clause in the import regulation on goods and services that allows for public policy exemptions. Professor Panos Koutrakos told the committee that there is a public policy exemption to be found in Article 62 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, read in conjunction with Article 52. He went on to say: It would be very odd if EU law were interpreted to mean that the powers of member states to restrict trade in services with third countries was significantly more curtailed than the power to restrict trade in goods, capital and in trade in services. In our view such a conclusion would be problematic and it would be justified by neither a systematic nor a purposive interpretation of EU law. The reality is that this is a political decision. The public policy exemption exists, albeit in a different place. It is a crude analogy but it is like saying that we can act on goods because of a provision in primary legislation but not on services because we would have to rely on the Constitution. That is a crude comparison but it is effectively the same thing. There exists in the basic law the basis for a public policy exemption. In any event, the Spanish have done it. The Minister said that the Spanish legislation related to the advertisement of services. Ultimately, Spain is over the line. Infringement proceedings could be taken against Spain in the same way they could be taken against us were we to move on services. That has not happened. It would be ideal if Spain would go the full hog in terms of services but, having acted on the advertisement of services, it is over the line. Its legislation provides the same basis for infringement proceedings. That has not happened. The road is clear for us. The Minister has talked about leadership before. The reality is that Ireland is no longer leading. I pay tribute to Senator Frances Black and the other Senators who initiated this legislation. They showed leadership but the Government has fallen behind. Other countries are moving ahead. I am close to the end of my time but I will make two final points. The clear objective of the Israeli Government is to close off the possibility of a viable independent Palestinian state. The Minister has talked about European co-ordination and so on and so forth. If we can do that, we should, but the EU has clearly been found wanting. The situation on the ground is profoundly urgent. We need to do everything we can. That includes passing a Bill with teeth. The Government has watered it down and taken the teeth out of it. Two thirds of trade with the occupied territories is trade in services. That is no less immoral than trading in goods with those territories. It is not one bit less immoral or one bit less wrong.

When the Irish people made their desire for an occupied territories Bill plain during the last election, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, said it would be passed within the first year of any government he was part of. It was clear then and it is clear now that Irish citizens want to see the Government take up a more robust and active policy in support of Palestinians, who are treated as second-class citizens in their own land. Since that election, we have waited 18 months and this Bill is all the Government has managed to produce in all that time. An occupied territories Bill that does not include services might soothe the Government's collective conscience but it will not trouble the genocidal Israeli regime in the slightest. There must be an effective ban on all trade, including trade in services, with Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. Occupiers must not be allowed to legitimise their occupation through trade, let alone profit from it. The Israeli Government is committed to making it impossible for Palestinian people to maintain a viable homeland. It respects no international laws or norms as it pursues a policy of scorched earth tearing down everything that the Palestinian people have built, including homes and businesses, and burying them beneath the rubble. Sinn Féin supported the original occupied territories Bill that was introduced by Senator Frances Black back in 2018. The only party to oppose the Bill back then was Fine Gael. Little has changed since it has taken every opportunity to drag its feet and water down the Bill until we are left with this token gesture. Why does this Government have such trouble in doing what is obvious, doing the right thing? Irish people rightly demand that we take a principled stance against genocide, and the Government continues to make lame excuses. A truly effective Bill would include services. Nothing else will send a strong, unambiguous statement from Ireland that there can be no impunity for Israel's genocide and its continued illegal occupation, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the forced removal from their land.

There is a fundamental flaw at the heart of this Bill. That is the exclusion of services. It is no more complicated than that. I certainly wish to pay tribute to Senator Black who showed leadership when successive Governments refused to act. Senator Black's occupied territories Bill set out a clear and principled position. Before the 2024 general election, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised the Irish people that the occupied territories Bill would be enacted. Instead, what we have before us is a watered-down version that excludes services. I do not know how the Minister can stand over that when 70% of trade between Ireland and the occupied territories is in services. If trading in goods from illegal settlements is wrong, why is the provision of services to those same settlements acceptable? If trade helps to sustain illegal Israeli entities in the occupied territories, why does it matter whether that activity is a good or service? It makes zero sense and compromises all credibility. The Government cannot acknowledge the illegality of the settlements on one hand and then carve out exemptions that allow trade with those settlements on the other hand. The Government says that it wants to ensure that Ireland is not complicit in the occupation of Palestinian land. If that is true, then the services must be included. We are witnessing one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our time - a genocide happening in real time before our very eyes on our phones and televisions in plain sight. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered. Entire families have been wiped out. Homes, hospitals, schools and communities have been reduced to rubble. How many more Palestinian lives must be lost before the Government is prepared to include the services in this legislation? It has to scrap this hallow Bill, pass the original occupied territories Bill, including goods and services, and ensure that Ireland plays no part directly or indirectly in supporting Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and their genocide.

The International Court of Justice's advisory opinion issued in July 2024 concluded that all states are under an obligation "to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence" and "to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories". It could not be clearer. In 1984, some workers in Dunnes Stores refused to handle South African fruit from the apartheid state. It was grassroots action. That then led to our State leading the way in sanctions against South Africa. We did not wait for everybody to fall in line. We did not wait for complete consensus internationally. It started with ordinary people, ordinary workers and trade unionists taking a stand. That is the moral thing to do. We did that because we had independent foreign policy. That was the mindset. What has happened with our Government is an absolutely minimalist approach all the way even when we had genocide broadcast through our televisions and social media every single day and even when 81% of the properties, schools, homes, buildings, churches and mosques were destroyed. Imagine if 81% of the buildings in Dublin were damaged and most of them destroyed. The population of this city is very similar to the population of Gaza. Even in the face of that level of destruction, devastation and loss of lives, our response is absolutely minimalist even with the ICJ's decision giving us full clearance. We will be judged very harshly by future generations. They will compare it with how we dealt with South Africa's apartheid regime but this, and the South Africans will say this, is much worse. This is a scale that is unprecedented in relation to what has happened there in terms of the level of destruction and devastation. There is no honour for the State in this legislation that the Government has brought forward. I am sorry to say it. It is minimalist and absolutely not good enough.

There is no legal or moral excuse for what this Government has done to the occupied territories Bill. For eight long years, it stalled and delayed. Now, it has cynically gutted the legislation by excluding services. Almost 70% of our trade with the occupied territories is in services. If we exclude services, this Bill will fall far short of its potential and what is necessary, appropriate and right. The Government claims legal impediments. That is a hallow argument. It is no argument at all. The International Court of Justice makes no distinction between goods and services. Spain has led the way. It has banned the advertising of services from illegal settlements. If I cannot advertise an AirBnB property, then I cannot sell it. The Government should not pretend that banning advertising amounts to nought. It is effectively a ban on the sale and supply of services. The Spanish Parliament voted decisively to do this. If Spain can do it, Ireland can do it. That, of course, is the whole point. It is not the case that the Government cannot include services, it does not want to. Instead, it wants to blunt the impact of this law. How do we know if it could include services if it wanted to? It is because they already are. The Government already applies sanctions on services in Russian occupied Ukraine. It knows how to do it. It is simply refusing to apply the same standard to the rogue state of Israel. This is a political decision - plain and simple. It is incomprehensible. The Government must work with the Opposition to pass an occupied territories Bill that includes goods and services. No more excuses. No more double standards. Apply international law and act now.

The Minister is relatively new in the role as the Minister for foreign affairs. I am really concerned about the route she is going down on a number of issues. This week is outlining the Minister' policy position in terms of the Department of foreign affairs. The Government is looking to dismantle the triple lock, totally against the wishes of people. That is the dismantling of our neutrality. Now, the Government is looking at completely and utterly hallowing out the occupied territories Bill by excluding services from that Bill. Again, it is going completely and utterly against the wishes of the people. There are other governments and states that do not have the people on their side when it comes to Palestine or when it comes to passing the likes of the occupied territories Bill and including services. However, the Government does. It has the people on its side in relation to this. The people have been extremely clear that they want services included. The Bill the Minister has brought forward today has been gutted. It has been stripped of its original intent and purpose. The Government has decided to hollow out this legislation and shy away from standing up to the Israeli Government and its genocidal violence. That is what the Minister is doing by bringing forward the legislation in this form. Excluding services blunts the impact of this legislation against the rogue Israeli State. We know where the money lies. It lies with services and to not include services in this Bill is simply outrageous. As other colleagues have said, the Government could do this. This has been done but the Government is choosing, politically, not to do it. The third issue I have with the Minister's policies in the Department of foreign affairs relates to the Security Action for Europe, SAFE, legislation. The Minister has been quoted in the media as saying that she would like to see Britain included in SAFE. Has she not read the report of the Oireachtas committee on finance on the SAFE legislation? Has she not seen the recommendations that came out of that report, which were completely opposed to the policy intent of the Minister?

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Like many others I am really disappointed that the Bill has taken this pathway, first, that it has taken so long to get here, despite the Government's electoral commitment and, second, that it is now watered down. Despite what the Minister said in her speech, everybody on the Opposition benches will agree that it is watered down. I will speak first, as the Minister did, to the existing situation and what is going on and then I will get into the nuts and bolts of the legislation itself a little later on. I am really glad that the Minister used the term "self-determination" because we have lost sight of that, a little bit, at times. We are so focused on the atrocities that Israel is committing, the crimes it is committing and the methods it is using in its ethnic cleansing and expunging of people from the land they are from, that we lose sight of what we are actually trying to work towards here, which is the self-determination of the Palestinian people. I am really heartened to hear that it is, as she said in the top of her speech, something that she is still absolutely focused on. I will also pick up on the two-state solution the Minister mentioned throughout her speech. Although that is obviously the stated goal of the Palestinian authority and most governments, it is rapidly slipping away from us. Israel is building its cities and its occupation on top of Gaza. There will be no opportunity for a two-state solution unless urgency is brought to the global response to Israel. That, for me, is deeply concerning because the people of Palestine are looking on as the supposed tools of international law are completely flouted on a daily basis in their existence but also in our response, as states, globally. They are looking at that response of a two-state solution slip from their grasp and are wondering how they are ever going to have their right to return realised. The phrase that is not in the Minister's speech, which we need to focus on again as international actors, is that right to return. I have heard Palestinian civil society contributions recently on how five generations of refugees will still name their village of origin in the West Bank or in Gaza, even though it is now occupied or under rubble. They will speak of how they cannot go outwards because of the occupation and so they must go upwards. Cities become refugee camps because of the very geographical fragmentation that Israel has imposed on Gaza, the West Bank and now on Lebanon. Some of the research that I have done recently and some of the people I have spoken to in civil society have raised a question for me that I want to throw out today. I have raised this in the last couple of days in various debates. One of the lines from that which frustrates us all is when the Government says it is a leader, that it is doing everything it can, that it is lauded internationally and that the Palestinians thank us for it. I find that last part really hard to take. Of course they are going to thank us for recognising the State of Palestine and for providing aid. Of course they are not going to turn their back on that but I want the Government to delve a little deeper. I want it to go beyond the Palestinian authority. There are parts of civil society in Palestine who will say that the Palestinian authority is an Israeli mechanism. It is there to support a two-state solution but it will oppress leaders who are emerging from civil society right now in Palestine. I urge the Minister to listen to those voices, to listen to the people who are talking about what it is like on the ground and who are seeking that self-determination beyond the two-state solution and that right to return. These are the people we must all listen to now and I urge the Minister to do that. I have also been prompted to cast my mind back to two and half years ago and to think about what those first few months were like for us all when the genocide started or, rather, escalated into the phase that we are now in because obviously this has been going on for decades. I will get to that in a minute but two and half years ago we were discussing things like "Have they really bombed a hospital?", "Was it an accident?" or "Was it intel that was dodgy?" Then we had the propaganda flowing from Israel to say that it had not committed any war crimes and this was all legitimate. Slowly, slowly, our respect for Israel's legitimacy was eroded over that period. It is really important to remember how we got here because now we are at a point where life is so depraved in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. We have to just think about this for a minute. I was graphic this morning and I am going to get a little graphic again now. Apologies, I am not doing this gratuitously but I want us to remember the agony and the persecution that people are going through. One of the things I am hearing again and again from civil society in Palestine is that the situation for political prisoners is beyond at the moment. It is too much. There are 10,000 people in 20 prisons. Nineteen of those prisons are in Israel so those people cannot be visited by their loved ones. An estimated 50% of those political prisoners have had no trial or charge laid against them. We all know now that the death penalty looms over these people because the Knesset has approved that. In those prisons, torture is routine. We have heard the stories. It is not isolated. It is systemic torture, rape and brutality. Scabies is allowed to flourish in the prisons. The Israelis will not treat it because they do not want to and other diseases are starting to flourish as well. This is what is happening right now, on a daily basis. There are children in these prisons as well. The settler policy is essentially allowing Israel to distance itself from what is happening on the ground. Israel brings in settlers who are violent and extremist people, no question, but that is done on purpose so that the Government can slightly distance itself and say it is the settlers who are doing it. Settlers will take the land of a Palestinian family while they remain in their home right beside it. This family will have to watch as Israeli settlers farm their land, violate them and pour aggression after aggression on to them. That is what is happening and it is allowing Israel, as a State, to distance itself from it. It is insidious. Israel is doing this so that when it annexes the West Bank, it will be an easy process for it. There is no question on the "if". Israel is right there, poised and ready to go for this. That is why remembering the self-determination is so important. I will also talk about how we have got to this point. I urge the Minister to read Francesca Albanese's book, When the World Sleeps, because it gives us such a better understanding of how we have got to this point. This is the last phase of Israel's activities over the last number of decades. Its policies of fragmentation have got us here. Fragmentation is about dividing the geographical land and communities. It is about pulling from one family a child, or an adult, and keeping them detained long enough so that their community is suspicious of them when they are returned. It is about keeping people apart and sowing suspicion and division within families, villages and communities across Gaza. That fragmentation is a written policy. The Israelis want to wipe out the Palestinian people. Public opinion here in Ireland is so clear on this. It is so clear where we need to be and I have said before that this Government has squandered that mandate. This week I remembered that during the 2024 election I canvassed a family. It must have been in September or October of that year. When they answered the door, it was one of the few times that I have actually cried on a doorstep. This family were so upset. They said they were watching the news every night, eating their dinner and crying at the atrocities that were happening. That was two years ago. It was after the ICJ ruling, by the way, that we are only now dealing with. I have no faith that in response to any of this, we have seen the appropriate level of urgency, ambition or leadership from this Government. The thing that stands above everything else as an exemplar of that is the Government's treatment of the occupied territories Bill. I want to use some of my time to dispel some of the myths around the occupied territories Bill that I have heard from the Government in the last few months. When it comes to decisions like the exclusion of services from the Bill, which is a political decision the Government has made, we deserve honesty and transparency on the real motivations that inform its rationale. We cannot and must not have a difference between what we say and what we do. First, services need to be included because of the ICJ ruling. The 2024 July advisory ruling by the ICJ is what the Government cited as freeing it up to pursue the occupied territories Bill. If that is the case, this Bill should be about bringing us into compliance with the ICJ ruling, but this legislation simply just does not achieve that. I remind the Minister, Deputy McEntee, that in the negotiations with Senator Black, in one of the first meetings I had with her, I asked why the Bill was restricted to the occupied territories in Palestine. I asked why we should not broaden it so that all occupied lands across the world have sanctions against them given that we should not be trading with any occupied territories. The answer was that it makes it more compatible with the ICJ ruling, so we will go with that because we know we can secure it. Not only did that ruling give clarity on our obligations, but it clearly called for action on trade with all of the settlements. It noted that all states are under an obligation to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with the settlements. The Government at the time said it would pass the occupied territories Bill on that basis, yet there is a gap between what it said and what it is now doing. Second, trade law does not discriminate. We know that in international trade law there is no legal distinction between goods and services - trade is trade. We had that confirmed by the committee during pre-legislative scrutiny. We heard from legal experts who, time and again, told us that there is no legal distinction between goods and services when it comes to fulfilling our obligations. The Government's own analysis stated that "the only reasonable reading of the International Court of Justice advisory opinion is that a complete prohibition on trade with Israeli settlements is required". Yet, there is this gap between what the Government says and what it is now doing. Let us take a look at the Government's argument about jobs. Once we have made our way through the double-speak on why services are not included in this Bill, we get closer to the real reason. When we get past the barrier of "It is not possible", we uncover the truth, which is that "We do not want to". The Government has caved in to threats and weasel words from corporate lobbyists whose views and wants are more important than international law, the will of the Irish people and the lives and livelihoods of the people of Palestine who face daily threats, violence and apartheid from the occupation. Letters signed by a handful of members of the US Congress matter more to the Government than the tens of thousands of letters, emails and phone calls from the Irish people who elected us to this Chamber. Another myth is the Government's attempt to say that services do not matter. After the Cabinet met on 26 May, the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, tried to conflate two things. He said that a ban on services was "not implementable" and he tied it to the impact on US multinationals. This tells us that it is not that the Government cannot ban services, as many legal experts showed us it could do during the pre-legislative scrutiny, but that it does not want to. Spain is home to many US multinationals that host Airbnb and booking.com listings of homes stolen from Palestinians in the West Bank. Spain included services in its legislation and now those listings, about 200 of them, are gone. That might not seem like a lot to this Government but it means a whole lot to the Palestinians who have had their homes stolen. Spain did it, so why can we not do it? Despite Spain including bans on services, it has not seen US companies shut up shop. The US is still one of the country's biggest trading partners and these bans on services do not touch its federal and anti-boycott laws. The sky the Government keeps telling us will fall in still seems to be doing just fine over Spain. Spain's courage has shown us that if we fail to include services, it is a political choice in the face of empty threats from business lobbyists, while genocide, apartheid and occupation are happening in front of our eyes. Leadership means including services, shifting the dial and pushing our colleagues to do the same. It does not mean sweet words in this Chamber, promises at election time and excuses that never, ever stand up to scrutiny. We hear vague inferences about economic impact but no figures. We also hear from the Government, when it is trying to minimise the importance of this Bill, that trade with the occupied territories is minimal. The Government cannot say the trade is so little that it does not matter and so large that it will pull down the Irish economy, and expect us to accept that. Finally, let us tackle the largest myth that it is legally not implementable to include services. Legal experts said that it is doable. The Minister does not have to take my word for it. She can take the word of leading global experts such as Professors Panos Koutrakos and Takis Tridimas. She can take the word of BIinne Ní Ghrálaigh or 400 of Ireland's leading lawyers who signed a letter to that effect, or she can take the word of her own Attorney General who said it was a political choice to exclude services. There is a clear public policy exemption under EU law when it comes to trade. If we can rely on it for goods, we can rely on it for services. Pass the occupied territories Bill, and in full.

I thank Deputy Gibney for outlining very clearly why services need to be included in this Bill. I will further develop that case because the Government is making a fundamental mistake in not including services. I will outline some of the international law, practice and findings in relation to the West Bank and what is going on. It is deeply disappointing that the Government has decided to exclude services from the Bill. This effectively significantly reduces the impact of the changes. The argument that Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh has made is that this is going to be more negative than if it had not been done at all. I will outline why that is the case. I will also outline the reality of what trade in services means right now and what is happening. We know what the ICJ has found. We know Ireland's legal obligations under that ruling in terms of settler violence and illegal settlements in the West Bank. I will talk about one specific case which will highlight the reality and take this discussion down to a human level when we talk about excluding services. It is the issue of Airbnb letting properties in the West Bank. I have done some research on this. There is a particular Israeli settlement called Tekoa near Tuqu’. In September last year, the Secretary General of the United Nations outlined how this particular settlement has expanded, removed Palestinians from their land and occupied it. In his report, the Secretary General found that Tekoa is one of the largest single land expansions from a single settlement to date. According to Palestinian residents in the Tuqu’ wilderness, settlers from the nearby outposts and settlements co-ordinate surveillance, harassment and attacks to force Palestinians from the area. This report is from September just gone. This settlement expansion and displacement of Palestinian herders was accompanied by the construction of military outposts, settler patrolled roads and a metal gate to restrict Palestinian access, indicating a degree of co-ordination between settlers and the state. Infrastructure projects include electricity lines, internal roads connecting the Tekoa settlement to the surrounding outposts, and earth mounds erected to block key routes, isolating Palestinian communities and restricting movement. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has documented settler attacks that forcibly displaced families from the wilderness around Tuqu’. One family of three brothers, their wives and eight children were displaced five times between October 2023 and late 2024. The report goes on. I went on to the Airbnb the site today and I looked up information on renting an Airbnb in Palestine. What came up but Tekoa, that very place. A number of properties are on Airbnb to rent on land that is illegally occupied and where the UN has found people have been displaced. One guest suite in Tekoa is advertised as a fully furnished luxury apartment isolated in the village. It is described as a 15-minute drive from Jerusalem. The apartment offers a locally authentic resting spot and a clear view of the desert where no one has set foot, which is of course completely untrue with regard to Palestinians. The advertisement also describes a "wide and beautifully decorated" house in another area where you can "forget all your worries here". This is what Ireland is facilitating via Airbnb and data centres in this country. We are facilitating that. The commercialisation, commodification and exploitation of illegal settler land is being facilitating by removing services from this Bill. To quote directly from a human rights barrister who is lauded by the Government in terms of her work on the ICG case: There is no basis in international law for differentiating between trade in goods and trade in services in the manner ... [you are proposing], and no international law justification for legislating for less than full compliance by Ireland with an international obligation articulated by the ICJ. That could not be clearer. The Government is effectively saying to the international law that it is not going to oblige by it. She went on to say: The flipside is that, if Ireland were to pass selective or restrictive legislation that did not fully comply with its obligations [which this is], that could have a very negative impact. It could be used by other states to say "this much but no more". It is not overstating the case to say that doing so could be extraordinarily harmful not only to the international legal order but to the very people and the very rights Ireland would be purporting to protect through this legislation ... We are at a stage when the fundamental precepts and structures of international law are under quite severe assault. For the Government to pass legislation that it does not believe to be fully compliant with its obligations would be deeply regrettable. Why is the Government trying to have passed a Bill that does not fulfil our obligations under the international Court of Justice ruling in relation to genocide? This Bill should not be passed as it is and should include services.

I welcome this Bill being progressed and the opportunity to speak on it today. This is very important and, frankly, overdue legislation. Like all Members of the House, I am appalled and horrified by the treatment of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli authorities and I condemn the Israeli Government, the genocide it has committed, the ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands, the destruction of homes, the forced displacement of families and collective punishment of an entire people. The Palestinian people have endured decades of oppression, dispossession and injustice. They have had their land stolen, their basic rights denied and have been subjected to a system that no person should ever have to live under. Ireland has been one of the strongest supporters of the Palestinian people and our support has been unwavering. We know from our own history what it is like to experience oppression, abuse and discrimination. We know what it means to be denied dignity and freedom, and that gives us a particular understanding and responsibility to speak out on behalf of the Palestinian people. This Bill is not perfect, and we are all aware of the calls for the inclusion of services. I support the inclusion in particular of the advertisement of services, and if the Government could see its way to include services fully, I would support that also. We should follow what the Spanish have done. It would be helpful if the Government published the legal advice it has received on the inclusion of services. The European Union must also do far more. The EU cannot lecture the world about human rights, freedom, and democracy while some member states fail to take meaningful action and are blocking the suspension of the EU trade agreement with Israel. EU sanctions have significant weight and influence. The EU must use that power and influence to prevent the suffering of the Palestinian people and the destruction of their land. We should be clear about what the illegal settlements are and what they mean in reality. They mean families forced from their homes, people being spat at, abused and degraded by violent and thuggish settlers, and children harassed on their way to and from school and prevented from playing freely as all children should. It means the Palestinian people do not have the chance to live normal, safe and dignified lives. These settlements are illegal and wrong, and we cannot trade with them as normal. We cannot condemn the settlements and actions of the Israeli authorities on one hand and allow for occupation on the other. I urge Ireland, the European Union and the international community to stand up for the Palestinian people and continue to take further action. We have the influence and we must use it. The Palestinian people deserve freedom, justice and dignity. We owe it to the people of Palestine to show them that the world will not watch their suffering in silence but will instead stand up and take action.

At the outset, I commend the work of Senator Frances Black on this Bill. She has led from the front on it for many years. I acknowledge in this House the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Collins, who worked with Senator Black to introduce this legislation to the House, albeit in a different form than the Minister has presented today. On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice delivered an historic advisory opinion. Its findings were unequivocal. The court held that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible, and Israel must cease all new settlement activity, evacuate the settlers, and make reparations for the damage caused. That is the considered judgement of the world's highest court. The court told every state it must not aid or assist in maintaining that unlawful situation. This Bill is part of Ireland’s response to that judgement and to the dire conditions in which the people of Palestine live today. Ireland has, of course, recognised the State of Palestine and intervened in the South African genocide case at the ICJ. We have funded UNWRA when others moved to defund and dismantle it and stood at the United Nations and the European Council, often almost alone among our partners, and refused to soften the truth of what was being done to tens of thousands of people in Palestine, that is, famine in our time, and we are a people who know what famine is, and the destruction of homes and hospitals. With this legislation, Ireland joins the first group of EU states to prohibit the importation of goods originating in those illegal settlements. I hope we will be joined by many others. Once enacted, such importation becomes an offence under the Customs Act. The Bill uses the postal codes already identified under the EU-Israel technical arrangement, so it is precise, workable, and built to withstand challenge. There are many who have discussed the issue of services, and as somebody who would wish to see services included in this Bill, I have listened carefully to what the Minister has informed us of. She has sought advice from the Attorney General. It seems that for goods, the EU provides a public policy exemption that lets a member state act for goods. However, no equivalent exemption exists in regards to services. We have to examine the practicality and legality of implementing that. There are more than 120 subcategories of services and that makes it incredibly complex and difficult to implement. People have referenced Spain and I note Spain has not banned trade in services but the advertisement of those services, and I would support the Government including such an amendment in the legislation. I note also that there are people in this House who have voted for a full boycott of the entire Israeli state. We have to be conscious of what a sanctions regime should do. Government must act in a way that holds in law and does not wound our people more than those we wish to hold to account. All sanctions regimes have, as their principle, the core that we hold the sanctioned state to account more than the countries which implement the sanctions. That is the case with the Russian sanctions. They apply to certain services, companies and individuals. People in this House who voted for a total boycott of Israel have not thought out fully the implications of that for Irish people and the jobs of Irish people. That is not in any way to say that just because somebody works for a company that might have a small office in a part of the Israeli state, somehow that person working in Leixlip is complicit with genocide. That is an abhorrent thing to say. Many people who are working for multinational companies condemn what is happening in Gaza. Simply because they work for a certain company should not mean they should be punished. Who should be punished is the Netanyahu government and the Israeli state committing this genocide in Gaza.

It has taken the Government eight years to finally bring this version of the occupied territories Bill before this House - eight years of delays, eight years of dithering and eight years of blocking the Opposition. During those eight years, Israel has gone on a genocidal rampage in Gaza, murdering 70,000 people: men, women, children and babies. It has established dozens of illegal settlements and moved tens of thousands more settlers onto Palestinian land in the West Bank. After all that, the Minister comes in here with a Bill that has been gutted. Some 70% of the trade between Ireland and Israel is in services, but this Bill allows that to continue because only physical goods will be subject to the ban. The International Court of Justice makes no distinction between goods and services. It says that states must prevent all trade and investment with illegal settlements. What, then, is the Bill before us? I will tell the Minister what it is. It is a half-arsed attempt to be seen to do something. It does not go far enough. We need to have some guts on this issue and include services in this Bill. If Spain can do it, so can we.

How can the Minister justify banning trade with Israel without including services? Services are such an essential part of the occupied territories Bill, yet the Government continues to downplay their importance. Take Airbnb, for example, on which there are roughly 300 properties listed for rent in the occupied West Bank, homes stolen from Palestinians by Israeli settler thugs who then lease them out for profit. That is utterly depraved and completely illegal. These 300 properties represent only a fraction of the more than 8 million properties available worldwide on Airbnb, but for Palestinians whose homes have been stolen and who had lived in those homes for several generations, the sick thing is that they would not be allowed to lease those houses because they would not be allowed to use the apartheid roads to get to these places, as Conor O'Neill from Christian Aid told us yesterday. To suggest that Ireland blocking Airbnb from renting these properties will threaten jobs is farcical. The properties account for less than 0.00004% of the industry but it is 100% the right thing to do. Including services in the Bill now also has a precedent, thanks to the Spanish Government. The Government should not try to mislead us that Spain banned only advertising services. Airbnb cannot list properties in the occupied territories under the occupied territories Bill. It is not just advertising. Our Taoiseach downplaying that to mere advertising is disgraceful. Spain has not seen any kind of financial or economic backlash from the United States, as so many have said would happen to us here. Nobody has lost their job in Spain over this and no company has moved abroad. This genocide is not hidden from us; it is unfolding in front of us in real time, before the eyes of the world. Every day we witness unimaginable suffering. Future generations, including our children and grandchildren, will ask who spoke out, who acted and who cowered when courage was called out for. My generation often ask what we would have done if we had seen the Nazi Holocaust. Would we have remained silent and looked away? This is no longer a hypothetical question today. Ireland must send a clear message that we believe "never again" means never again. Including services in the Bill will not end the genocide - that is true - but years from now, when people look back on history, when our kids are reading their history books, they will see that Ireland did not just choose the bare minimum. Let it be said that when we were confronted with a genocide, Ireland gave it 100%. This partial Bill the Government is bringing forward brings dishonour on Senator Black's original intent.

I acknowledge the presence and work of Senator Frances Black. It requires some degree of fortitude to deliver a Bill from the Opposition or as Independents in the Seanad and to see it through to this point, eight years later, in the Dáil. I offer my heartfelt commendation to the Senator on getting the Bill this far, although it is clear that this is not the Bill she wrote. She is, however, the impetus and the source behind it. I also acknowledge to the Minister that two Thursdays ago in the Dáil, I accused her of mothballing the occupied territories Bill. I did not believe she was going to bring this Bill to the floor, and she has done, so I apologise for that and say to her "fair play" for bringing it forward. What I am not surprised about is that the Bill that has found its way to the floor is not the Bill we wanted to see. It is not the Bill we discussed and recommended through pre-legislative scrutiny last summer with unanimous agreement. It does not include both goods and services. The Minister, as Minister for justice previously, would have stated on a number of occasions how Fine Gael is the party of law and order. That is a tagline Fine Gael members have attached to their party over many years. However, Fine Gael is ignoring international law when it comes to this Bill because the ICJ and international law make no distinction between trade in goods and trade in services. In committee, the Minister's own Department of foreign affairs legal advisers accepted that a ban on goods alone would be only "partially compliant" and would move us "towards compliance" with international law. These are important points, and I know that they were made because I was at every committee hearing last summer. I worked with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers, along with everyone in opposition, to unanimously recommend that both goods and services be included in the final Bill. Now those same backbenchers are going to support a Bill that goes against the recommendations of that committee. It is absolutely ludicrous and it shows, if there was any doubt, where the real power lies in this country. It is not with the majority of people who, poll after poll, have demonstrated support for this Bill to include both goods and services. There is a disproportionate amount of power with American multinationals and the Trump Administration, whose finger has been very clearly put on the scale. The threats from ambassadors and members of Congress in written form have had an impact. We have seen a capitulation in terms of this Bill, with the removal of services and accusations that the Opposition are dealing in fantasy economics. The truth, however, is that the only one dealing in anything of the sort is the Government in terms of its cowardice in overly bending the knee to the United States and the Israeli lobby. No matter how this is spun, the simple truth remains: a euro flowing into the settlements from trade in physical products provides the same support and recognition as a euro flowing into trade in services. What does it say about our courage of convictions if the only thing we can do in response to war crimes is pass a watered down version of a Bill that has become totemic not just for Senator Black or for those of us in opposition but also for the Government, since the Government parties included it in their election manifestos and their programme for Government? Israel is committing and has committed huge atrocities, war crimes and genocide. There is no longer any debate about that. Every day that passes, every day the West turns its head away and pretends that what is happening is not happening, allows Israel to get away with it. There will be more families who will have lost loved ones today, more children who will die just because they were born in the wrong part of the world. We have an opportunity to do things, and this is one of them, but, unfortunately, what has been put before us in the Chamber today is not as strong as it should be. People want leadership from the Government. They are crying out for it and they deserve that leadership because it is how they feel in towns and villages all over this country. I am struck when the Taoiseach gets up at Leaders' Questions and tells the Chamber that he has met with the Palestinian ambassador or some other official and that they are thankful to the Irish Government, as if that is full support for everything we are doing. Of course they would be thankful, because they are seeking any form of support they can get in a world that has turned its back on them. However, the Government cannot argue seriously that it is the champion of this legislation. This legislation that has come through, unfortunately, is lacking, as I have laid out. The Government could not even lead from the front when it came to the football game, which has been debated yesterday and today. It is always found wanting when it comes down to the crunch. That is not to say the Government has not done things that are important. The recognition of the State of Palestine is important, and I acknowledge that there is work being done with other nations in Europe in terms of sanctions. However, in dealing with this Bill and its potential, we cannot help but feel the Government is leaving stuff behind and leaving out services due to pressure from the outside. We talk about Israel in this Chamber so often and we get accused by Israelis and supporters of Israel of all sorts. We have been confident and strident in our view that Israel is acting as a criminal, rogue and genocidal state, and we need to pull every single lever that we possibly can. Every piece of legislation that we bring in should be as strong as possible. I am keeping my temper as even as possible because we have delivered many emotional speeches in this Dáil, but we are now at the meat of the issue in terms of this Bill. I imagine this is going to go to Committee Stage and we are going to do everything we can to get services added to strengthen the Bill. I urge Government Members to return to the spirit of the summer of 2025 in the foreign affairs committee and to open their minds and hearts to the Palestinian people and look to change this Bill. We have the figures on the deaths, the genocide and the killings. We have put them on the floor of this Dáil so often, but they cannot lose meaning and impact. A total of 18,000 children have been killed in this conflict since 7 October. We spent the last two days talking about two football games. That is 18,000 children who will never get to see a football game or a sporting event of any sort. It is 18,000 children whose lives have been taken away by this criminal regime. We know that this Bill will do very little to save lives, but it will send a strong message. The stronger this Bill is, the stronger the message it will send, which is why services matter so much. That is where the real sanctions lie. As a modern open economy, 70% of Ireland's trade with the wider world is in services and just 30% is in goods. The same is true of Ireland's trade with Israel. While the CSO has not published the data specifically on trade in services with the illegal settlements, the direction of travel is clear and tallies with other research. Physical goods like dates and olives are only a fraction of the economic relationship. The Government's legal advice excuse just does not wash. Frankly, it is insulting that it continues the pantomime about it when we all know the Government has been spooked by potential economic scare impacts, ignoring the work of the foreign affairs committee and all the experts. Even when we had IBEC in, when we tried to pin down anyone who may have been pro diminishing or diluting this Bill, they could not give us any facts or numbers for potential job losses or economic impact. They just do not have it because all they can rely on is scare tactics and scare economics. We have the facts. We have the moral justification. I urge the Minister to please open herself to include services on Committee Stage, to strengthen this Bill and make it all that it can be.

I am pleased to see our colleague, Senator Frances Black, here this evening. It is only right and correct that she is here. I was proud to have been one of the co-signatories of the originally intended occupied territories Bill back in 2018 - the Bill, the Minister will not need reminding, that included services. The addition of services is legally complex but it is also permissible. It is politically difficult for this Government. That is the reality and that is why it is being excluded. My colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, set out in very clear terms the position of my Labour Party colleagues and me. We are of the very clear and unequivocal and unambiguous view, that the legislation produced in 2018 - the legislation we need to see here today - should be reflective of that text and spirit. In fact, the legislation published back in 2018, which passed Second Stage in the Seanad, ought at this stage to be on the Statute Book already. We in the Labour Party did not need Israel's genocide in Gaza, the illegal detention of peace activists by Israel or the actions of fascists like Ben-Gvir a few weeks ago to persuade us that a serious and practical stand needed to be taken against the genocidal regime in Israel. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing. Services should be included. They should be at the heart of this Bill for all of the reasons my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, has outlined. I accept this is a contested space. To me, the debate on where one stands on this issue is not one of legal interpretation. It does not break down on legal lines, it breaks down on political, ideological, moral and ethical lines. To say the least, the debate in the public sphere on this proposition over the last three years has been interesting. I was not born yesterday. I have been around quite a number of years. I have a very keen ear attuned to economic trends and questions of investment in Ireland and jobs. I am a member of the Labour Party. My principal purpose in politics is to ensure that the material conditions of the Irish people are looked after and improved, and that we have meaningful, good, decent, well-paying work with good conditions, but the kind of shape-throwing we have seen by commentators who say they have an insight into the minds of US investors about the impact on Ireland of taking a stand like this, including services in this Bill, is, to say the very least, overdone. As we know, capital has no conscience. Investment will stay here despite all of the protestations to the contrary. We cannot and should not relent on the basis of some form or threatened form of imagined economic blackmail from US politicians or anyone else. Even the war criminal, Netanyahu, is losing the support of Trump and he needs to wake up to that reality. In any case, this is hardly the point. We have a moral and ethical responsibility and a legal and political responsibility to take every conceivable action, to use every lever available to us, as Deputy Smith has said, to oppose, counter and stop genocide. The question here this evening is whether we all, as legislators, public representatives and citizens of this Republic, can truthfully and honestly say we have done that to the best of our ability. We accept that Ireland has taken a leadership role on Palestine internationally. We have done that over the decades but, by God, the bar internationally is disgracefully low. We need to include services in this Bill for it to have a meaningful impact, the kind of impact we all want to see.

I thank the Minister for her statement. I want to be constructive in the time I have. I welcome the fact that we, belatedly, have an occupied territories Bill. I rise here with my colleagues in the Labour Party to be critical of the Government for failing to include services because I personally feel, and we in the Opposition can feel, almost by extension, the orange fingerprints of Donald Trump all over the exclusion of services from the Bill. There has been so much economic scaremongering and attempted bullying coming from the US in relation to this matter. It is important to remember that many of the letters that were written came from a small but vocal minority of people from the US Congress. There is a precedent for the inclusion of services. We have seen how it can be done in Spain. We have also seen how it has not resulted in economic Armageddon. I would argue that if Spain can take a principled, legally sound stand without bringing economic ruin to its industries, then so can Ireland. If we ban the import of goods but allow the exchange of lucrative services, we are making a mockery of our own values and we are giving a green light to economic activity that entrenches this illegal occupation. An occupied territories Bill without services is a Bill without much impact. I very conscious that we are taking on the EU Presidency. As I said last night in the Chamber, we had Kaja Kallas only 200 metres from us last night. As we take up the EU Presidency, it is an opportunity for us to lead by example, which I believe we have done, but we need to go further than we are going with this Bill. While we are one of the first countries to pass this legislation, I urge the Government not to introduce a watered-down Bill because every EU member state that follows will use our weak legislation not as a bar, but as a floor to do the bare minimum. When we look at the systematic torture that Israel is inflicting upon Palestinians, including the use of sexual violence, the persecution and torture of political prisoners and the indiscriminate shooting of innocent children, it shows us clearly why now is the time for us, as a country, to be brave and take a stance. I acknowledge that this Bill goes some way towards taking that stance but as the ICJ and international law does not distinguish between goods and services, we need to go further.

As we all know, there are moments in the life of a nation when hesitation becomes moral failure. This evening, Ireland stands at such a moment. The occupied territories Bill is not simply another Bill. It is a test of our values and courage and our willingness to act when international law is being trampled upon and human dignity is being denied. As we all know, for decades, the world has watched the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. These settlements are built in direct violation of international law, condemned by the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and human rights organisations across the globe. These settlements are the daily machinery of dispossession with homes demolished, land seized, families uprooted and entire communities pushed aside. This should ring so strongly and deeply, in our psyche. Ireland cannot continue to speak the language of human rights while refusing to legislate fully in the defence of these. Passing the occupied territories Bill in full, with services included, is the minimum moral response required of a country that claims to stand for justice. There are, of course, those who will say we must wait, we must seek the permission and we must not upset our powerful partners in the USA or Israel. Human rights are not conditional, however, and international law is certainly not optional. Ireland's sovereignty and our right to legislate in accordance with our values must never be outsourced to the likes of America or Israel. The world is witnessing a catastrophe in Palestine that can only be described as unbearable. Entire families are being wiped out. Neighbourhoods are being reduced to rubble as we see on our TV screens. Children are being pulled lifeless from the ruins. This is not a conflicts; this is the systematic destruction of a people. The scale of suffering inflicted by the Israeli state on Palestinians is a stain on the conscience of humanity. No people should ensure such relentless bombardment, starvation or displacement. To stay silent is to be complicit. The Palestinian people deserve protection, justice and the full recognition of their humanity urgently, unequivocally and without delay. The Bill must not be anti-anyone. It is pro-law. It should be pro-justice and pro-human dignity. It simply states that Ireland will not be complicit economically, politically or symbolically in the ongoing violation of international law through settlement expansion. Ireland has a proud history of standing with the oppressed. We must not shrink from that legacy now because the world is watching and history is watching. The people of Ireland expect leadership, not excuses. We must not have a watered-down Bill. I commend Senator Black on eight years of work on this very important legislation.

I support the Bill. This is not an issue to which I am a stranger. I have spent quite a lot of time in the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza. I have witnessed the way the Israeli Defence Forces have behaved. I have thankfully never been a direct victim but I have had stones thrown at me by Israeli settlers in Hebron, so I have seen first hand what is there. I have seen sonic bombs being flown over Gaza city. I understand what is happening there. I have consistently over 25 years been appalled by the manner in which Israel has behaved towards Palestinian people and the disgraceful attitude and actions it has perpetrated over that time and long before that. There is no doubt but that this legislation is entirely morally justified and important from the point of view of the principle that is at stake. However, we should not be dishonest either or unrealistic about what it is actually going to achieve. The reality is that banning trade with the occupied territories, whether that includes goods and services, is going to have very little impact in real terms on the conflict that shocks and disgusts us all. For that reason, I did not support Deputy Boyd Barrett's Bill recently, which sought to introduce sanctions on Isreal. However much I morally supported it and thought it would be wonderful to put in place, it is not reasonable to suggest to people that can be done because legally it cannot. We, as Members of this Chamber, are bound by the restrictions of international law and, indeed, European Law and the abilities we have to restrict trade, for example. It is important for us, absolutely and unequivocally, to condemn what Israel has done and is doing and to equally condemn the precipitation of the most recent attacks since October 2023 by Hamas and the way it has essentially sacrificed its own population of ordinary innocent civilians on the altar of its political and war ambition. It is disgraceful for them but the resulting overreaction from Israel is unconscionable, illegal and genocidal. This Bill, therefore, makes sense in that regard but we also have to have regard to what it can and cannot achieve. I regret that the Bill does not include services. I think it should. I recognise that it is largely unenforceable. I recognise that fact, but there are lots of laws in this country that are not enforceable. We are not saying, for example, that nobody speeds. We are not saying that no people under 18 buy alcohol. We are not saying that people do not break the law. The fact that a law can be broken or is difficult to enforce is not a good reason not to put it in place. I understand that argument against it. I also understand that there may be consequences from other jurisdictions in terms of passing this, but we do not make laws in this Chamber on the basis of what other countries think about those laws. I also recognise the reality of the situation, however. I would not underestimate the effect that Ireland has had on this conflict. When Hamas committed that attack in October 2023, it precipitated a reaction from Israel that was entirely predictable, if appalling. For a long time after that, however, Ireland was the only voice in the western world and in the European Union speaking against that. We were certainly the first country to come out and actually voice what was happening to the Palestinian people. There is a bravery in that that I fear has never been properly recognised in this Chamber, certainly by anybody in the Opposition. It is worth recognition because although there has been relentless criticism of the Government's action since then, the reality is that the Government, the Ministers for foreign affairs, Deputies McEntee and Harris, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have built a coalition of European countries that are now supporting action against Israel and supporting criticism of Israel whether that is Spain, Malta, Slovenia, Belgium or the Netherlands. That is the way we will actually achieve something here. We cannot do it alone. No matter what Bills we pass here, we cannot stop the slaughter in Gaza but Europe can. The disappointing thing is that we have not yet brokered that real confidence at European level to stop this from happening, and that is what we really need to do.

The Bill will not on its own end the unimaginable suffering people have experienced and are experiencing in Gaza. However, it sends out a clear message to Israel and the wider international community that there economic, political and reputational consequences for the continued expansion of illegal settlements, the occupation of Palestinian territories, genocidal action and grave violations of international law. As a country with a long tradition of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and multilateral diplomacy, the Bill helps build international pressure and encourages other states and entities to make meaningful action. Ireland's response has been consistent and sustained and is based on a deeply felt commitment to human rights and the right to self-determination. By the end of 2026, Ireland will have provided approximately €144 million in humanitarian support to the Palestinian people. We have engaged in international legal processes, including the ICJ and work through the United Nations and with our European partners to strengthen the international response. We have called for this suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in response to the humanitarian situation and continue to press for necessary and stronger collective European action, including European-wide measures on trade with Israeli settlements. Alongside this diplomatic work, we have taken practical humanitarian action. We have facilitated the medical evacuation of seriously ill children from Gaza, accompanied by family members, for treatment in Ireland and supported over 300 people to leave Gaza since the conflict began. Ireland has recognised the State of Palestine and consistently advocated for a two-state solution and the only viable long-term solution. Our objective remains collective action at European level, which would have a greater reach and impact than the national measures alone. However, where there is the absence of consensus, we have also taken necessary action. No state should be immune from scrutiny when it comes to compliance with international law, and that is why this legislation matters. Peaceful societies are built on foundations of justice and accountability. History shows that injustice endures, retraumatises and perpetuates cycles of tension and conflict until it is confronted, something Ireland knows only too well. We criticise all violence, including the 7 October attacks. I acknowledge there is a legitimate debate about how far this Bill goes. It is a practical and principled step that ensures compliance with international legal obligations as identified in the ICJ advisory opinion of 2024, including the obligation on states to take steps to prevent trade of investment relations that assist in maintaining the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory. It will not resolve the conflict today or tomorrow. However, it has contributed and will continue to build on a growing momentum for collective, concrete and meaningful action. It reflects Ireland's commitment to ensuring that human rights and international law are respected, upheld and protected. Several member states are moving on this and we are seeing that momentum. Ireland must do everything it can to support the Palestinian people, to support peace, tackle injustice and work on a humanitarian level. I thank the Minister for bringing forward the Bill.

The Bill the Government has published is a hollowed-out version of what people want and expect. The Minister has not advanced a legal argument because there is not one. She should be honest with people and say that this is purely and simply a cowardly political decision. For eight years we and the Government have talked about and around the occupied territories Bill. The Minister knows that including services gives this legislation teeth but she has chosen to propose a hollowed-out version. She clearly does not want this Bill to have real teeth or any real impact and that is the only conclusion I can draw. It is worthwhile reading back over the coverage of the great and the good discussing what we should not do back in the 1980s when there was a weight of public opinion in favour of Ireland leading by example and challenging apartheid South Africa. It took a shop steward from Dunnes Stores and her colleagues, with the eventual backing of her trade union, to really show that leadership. If the Minister looks back at the coverage, she will see the same types of people who are now telling us that we should settle for second best. They are saying we are too small to make a difference. They said that back in the 1980s and they were wrong. They said we would be isolated and that there would be consequences. They said that in the 1980s as well and the Government is saying it now. The Government was wrong in the 1980s and it is wrong now. The Government knows the difference between action for the sake of it and real action. It knows what the right thing to do is. The Bill should include services.

Everyone understands the definition of genocide, the definition of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and the definition of enforced apartheid. Everyone also understands the definition of goods and services and what that exactly entails. Most countries in the world, as a rule of thumb, trade on the basis of 70% services and 30% of goods, which roughly equates to our trading position with Israel. If the Government is committed to upholding international law and international human rights, surely, as a small nation whose foundations are based on the very principles of liberty, equality and justice, we have a duty to stop individuals and companies profiteering from goods and services from the occupied Israeli settlements. We know that without the inclusion of services, this Bill will have a minimal effect. We have to make a stand and one that matters. Services are where the money is. The only thing that will have any effect at all is to sanction services such as shipping, finances and tourism. Let us imagine a family who lived in the West Bank for over 80 years and who were forced out of their homes by Israeli settlers. Now, that same home is being rented out through Airbnb as a sun destination for tourists, yet that family are exiled and can never return to their ancestral home. We, of all people, know that history. We have suffered centuries of foreign military and colonial occupation, yet managed to protect our national integrity and self-determination. We all believe in freedom and justice as the fundamental principles of international law. This is not a time to lower the bar. In fact, it is rather the opposite. This is time to say "No" to genocide, "No" to oppression and "No" to apartheid. This is time to stand with the downtrodden and the oppressed. Sanctions of goods and services do matter because they force the perpetrators of this abhorrent regime to justify themselves in the eyes of the world. The Government has the chance to shine that beacon of truth and to stand with the likes of Spain and include services in the Bill. We all will be asked by history where we were when all this was happening.

The Government is engaged in the most cynical exercise to try to convey to the public the idea that it wants to sanction Israel for its obscene crimes against the Palestinian people while actually making sure that no serious sanction whatsoever is imposed. The Government wants to dance to the tune of corporations that profit from their involvement with Israel and from states that continue to arm and support the State of Israel while it is committing its genocidal crimes. That is why the Government does not want to do anything. Against a background where we have €4 billion worth of goods coming from the Israeli regime into this country, we end up with a Bill that may impact on €200,000 worth of vegetables and a few goods from a few settlements in the West Bank, which will have no impact whatsoever, but that is the point. The Government does not want to have any impact. That is why it has excluded services on the completely dishonest basis that they are too complicated. I can give a solution to dealing with the complexities of services that does not involve gutting the Bill but in fact could make it have a real impact. We should impose sanctions not just in the occupied territories but all across the board against the Israeli regime. That would solve the complexity. We just would not do business in goods or services or any business whatsoever with the Israeli regime because the state is underwriting, orchestrating and enforcing the occupation of the Palestinian territories. When I asked the question about the purpose of sanctions against Russia, the Government said: "It was with the aim of weakening Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war." In other words, the Government did not just sanction the occupied territories of Ukraine; it sanctioned the Russian regime's ability to sustain its war effort and that occupation. That is what we should be doing if we are serious about dealing with the illegal occupation of the occupied territories. We should sanction the regime that is underwriting that in total but the Government will not do that because it does not have a problem with the Israeli regime and it is just gaslighting the Irish public about its real intentions.

People up and down the country, and certainly people in County Laois, are infuriated by the war crimes carried out by Israel and what it has got away with: the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, the genocide and slaughter we witness on our television screens evening after evening, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian West Bank, the occupation of southern Lebanon, the massacre of Lebanese people and the deliberate efforts to prevent any hope of a two-state solution. Then there is the Israeli torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners on the orders of the war criminals - they are not a government - who pose as an Israeli government. As a supposedly sovereign Parliament we have the power here to take action. All trade in goods and services to Israel, I believe, should be stopped. However, this Bill is about the occupied territories and we should ban all goods and services from the occupied territories. There should be no dancing around that and no ifs or buts. We must also continue to demand and work with other EU states to cancel the EU preferential trade agreement. Anything less is a cop out. Of the trade between Ireland and the occupied territories, 70% is in services. The EU and Ireland were quick to ban trade and to put sanctions on Russia, and rightly so. Yet, when it comes to Israel all we hear are excuses. What is worse, a lot of EU states are actually helping to sustain Israel's war in terms of supplying it with arms and the materiel for arms. The International Court of Justice has decreed not just that we can do it, but that we are obliged to do it due to the war crimes being carried out. Over 400 prominent lawyers have stated that we can ban trade in goods and services with the occupied territories but the Government said there are legal issues, that it is complicated and referred to the Attorney General's advice. They say the banning of services would be impossible to implement and so on. The Government should publish the Attorney General's advice. Spain has been able to impose a ban on goods and services and the advertisement of services. Other EU states are taking similar steps. There are clear parallels here with the boycott against South Africa and it may have been a small step at the time over in Dunnes Stores on Henry Street but that snowballed and was huge in terms of isolating the apartheid regime. Trade with the occupied territories in Ireland will not amount to billions of euro but that is no excuse not to stop it. People are angry and people want action. There is massive support for penalties against Israel. It is time for action. We have had eight years of dithering. We cannot have it any longer. Ban trade in goods and services, use the forthcoming EU Presidency to push for similar measures at EU level and work towards the full suspension of the Israel-EU trade agreement.

I am actually embarrassed for the Minister of State, to be frank. I remember in 2019 Fianna Fáil jumping up and down on this. It was Fianna Fáil that introduced the concept of this Bill and now here they are with a bit of an occupied territories Bill in a bit of the occupied territories. There is no moral backbone to this Government whatsoever, be it about trade, football or anything at all. Of our trade with the illegal settlements, 70% is in services according to Trócaire. Yet, due to pressure from US big business and capitalism, the Government has decided to leave that out of the Bill. The Bill is also focused on the West Bank goods specifically. We know it can be done because Spain and Slovenia have done it. They are two countries the Government says it is working with in Europe. So, there is no reason Ireland cannot do it except for the form of capitalism the Government has developed in this country for the last 50 to 60 years whereby foreign direct investment and multinationals rule the roost and we do not have our own independent policy. I commend Francis Black. Apart from relentlessly pursuing this and having the patience of an absolute saint, I commend her for dealing with all the ins and outs of this. There is no legal impediment despite the nonsense the Taoiseach keeps saying. Hundreds of lawyers have said that. Now the Attorney General has said it was a political decision, not a legal decision. Academics Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie have pointed out that this has been done primarily for Airbnb and insurance brokers who advertise in those areas, and that seems to be why we now have this situation. Of course, we are the second biggest trader with Israel primarily because of one company, Intel, which is a company that invested $25 billion in Israel last December. We are complicit up to our oxters in this genocide because of the economic model that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have slavishly developed. Even David McWilliams is saying how enmeshed the multinationals are with trade and that we are shamefully complicit, refusing to even ban sales to the IDF throughout 2024. The Government can take unilateral action. It was laughable listening to Deputy Currie reciting the mantra. She must be looking for a future ministership or something because Austria, Canada, France, New Zealand, Norway and the UK have taken action on these issues.

I appeal to the Government to listen to the sentiment of the House this evening and to accept Opposition amendments to include services in this Bill or, even better, to bring forward its own amendments in later Stages. The vote on the occupied territories Bill does not need to be divisive but the Government has chosen division by deciding to exclude services from the content of the Bill before us today. This is despite the original draft presented by Senator Francis Black. This is despite the very detailed recommendations of the joint Oireachtas committee. This is despite the legal view of many legal experts and it is despite the very clear legal opinion from the International Court of Justice from July 2024. Let us recall that decision. Let us recall what the International Court of Justice held was a state's obligations. It said all states are under an obligation "to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings" and to "prevent trade or investment relations" with the settlements. That is a very clear statement. The Court was very clear that trade included goods and services. Indeed, even the Irish Government and the Department of foreign affairs legal experts who gave testimony at the joint Oireachtas committee accepted that point. So, why is the Government presenting us with a Bill that excludes services? The Government used to tell us that it was for legal reasons. The argument continuously trotted out was the Attorney General's advice. That was despite the fact the Attorney General's advice from 2024, which I was lucky enough to see and have presented to me, made it very clear there was no distinction made between goods and services. Indeed, when we look at the sanctions regime Ireland has signed up to in respect of Russia, it sanctions both trade in goods and services with Russia without any difficulty. Indeed, if we look at the whole body of European Union law, there is a detailed body of case law and legislation specifically on the question of services. The issue is not a legal one. It is a political one. In fairness, that has become even clearer from remarks made by Government spokespeople and the Taoiseach in recent days. It is clear that it is fear of the Trump administration that is driving this decision and illogical arguments that the Trump administration might tolerate a Bill that bans goods but if we bring forward a Bill that covers trade in services that will somehow be a step too far for the Trump administration. Now is not the time to allow our values as a country to be shaped by fear of the Trump administration. I appeal to the Minister of State to bring forward amendments that include services in this Bill.

I share the disappointment of my colleagues with what has been produced before us today. This Bill falls far short of what was promised and what is required, despite delays repeatedly over the years and despite Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promising in the last election that this would be a priority. As far as I am concerned, the Government parties' election promises were nothing more than a box-ticking exercise. For years, campaigners in this House have tried to push forward this occupied territories Bill and today I think about the Opposition TDs who have been pushing for this for years, Senator Francis Black and the person who used to sit in the chair beside me, Catherine Connolly. I cannot help but feel disappointment when I look at this and the original occupied territories Bill has been diluted to the point now where it is ineffective. The Government's decision to exclude services from the Bill is devastating and it means that the Bill loses any sort of meaningful impact and accountability. There is no legal justification for this. The decision appears to be purely political rather than actual legal necessity. The Government is trying to pass this Bill as meaningful action, and is just living up to its pre-election promise and ticking the box to say it produced a document. Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 70,000 people and 20,000 of them are children in Gaza. One out of every 33 people in Gaza has been killed. Let us think about those numbers. The equivalent of five TDs in this House, when it is filled up, have been taken out and killed. One child has been killed every hour 24 hours a day for two years. That is a shocking statistic, which is down to a regime that is out of control and Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a war criminal. Every time this happens, it is normalised because we do not say anything about it. This was an opportunity the Government had to have the courage that Spain and Slovenia had but it is a missed opportunity. History will dictate on this. History will say we had the opportunity to stand up and do the right thing but we failed. We did not fail; the Government failed.

Ireland's long and dark history of British imperial domination and our imperially imposed genocidal famine gives Irish people a deep understanding and appreciation of the genocide being perpetrated by Israel on the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. Ireland has both a moral authority and a moral responsibility to lead a campaign to exclude Israel from all economic, social, cultural and sporting activities. Israel is creating mayhem and devastation in the occupied territories. It is pursuing ethnic cleansing, driving Palestinians from their homes, farms and businesses and illegally occupying their lands. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice concluded that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is unlawful, that Israel should end that occupation, that it should desist from creating new settlements and evacuate existing settlements, and that it should pay reparations for land and property seized. Israel, of course, has refused to comply with that ruling. The court went further and confirmed that under international law, member states, including Ireland, are under an obligation to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territories or parts thereof, which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory, and to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by the State of Israel in the occupied territories. This includes both goods and services. In 2025, the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee unanimously recommended that services be included in a ban on trade with the illegal occupied territories in Palestine. There is no legal basis for the Government's decision to exclude services from this Bill. We know that from the opinion of the Attorney General. We know it from the opinion of the Department's own legal adviser, who told the Oireachtas committee that "trade is trade in goods and services". This Bill, produced under public pressure, is a tokenistic measure designed to be ineffective. It is a political choice taken by this Government. Slovenia and Spain can include services; why can Ireland not? I ask the Minister to take back this legislation and bring in an amendment including services.

What this debate is about is the shameful decision of the Government to gut Senator Frances Black's occupied territories Bill by excluding services. It only took up a tiny fraction of the Minister's opening statement but everybody knows that is what this debate is about. It is about the Government's decision to ignore the unanimous position of the foreign affairs committee and this Dáil. It is about its decision to ignore the fact that Spain has implemented measures on services with no comeback and no legal action from the European Commission. It is about its decision to ignore the position and the decision of the International Court of Justice, which made no distinction between goods and services when it said that states must abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territory. The Government has been scratching around for some sort of legal justification to hang this upon. What it has come up with is the idea that the public policy exemption only applies to goods. I do not think the Minister believes it. I do not think she has any legal authority to base it upon because I presume she heard the evidence of expert after expert and eminent lawyer after eminent lawyer in the foreign affairs committee who said, one after the other, that public policy also provides a derogation not only for the free movement of goods but also the freedom to provide services. However, everybody knows it is not about law. The Minister knows it is not about law. In 2018, in response to the original occupied territories Bill, the Minister said, "The first and essential reason [we cannot support it] is that the essential purpose of the Bill is contrary to EU law and requires the State to do something which is not in its power." The Minister said then that legally, we could not do goods or services - neither - but European law has not changed an iota since then. The European law in relation to trade is the same. What has changed is politics. What has changed is that the Minister is under pressure on this issue. It is all about politics. The Attorney General said it was about politics. In the leaked advice, the Attorney General said that the decision to replace the occupied territories Bill is "a political choice". What is the political choice? It is not to annoy Donald Trump and the US Administration too much. That is the bottom line. We know that 90 minutes after the US ambassador wrote to Micheál Martin saying the US had concerns about this Bill, Micheál Martin said the Bill was going to be reviewed rather than progressed. I think it is disgraceful. It is utterly disgraceful to prioritise relations with Donald Trump and US imperialism over standing up against genocide and apartheid. Public pressure is going to come to bear over the coming weeks to insist that we, at the very least, have a Bill that includes goods and services.

I have observed, over the past year or so and before then, that the biggest critics of the Irish Government are the Netanyahu government and Members of our own Opposition, regardless of what the Irish Government does and the esteem in which it and the Irish people are held internationally in relation to their stance on Palestine and their defence of Palestinians. I have met many of these representatives in this House and abroad who hold Ireland up as an exemplar. It is never enough for the Opposition but I will focus, in my own brief contribution here, on the following points. This is a good day for the people of Palestine. In the programme for Government, we committed to progressing legislation prohibiting importation of goods, albeit a small amount, from occupied Palestinian territories following the July 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion. This Bill is designed to provide for compliance by the State with that international legal obligation as identified by the ICJ in that advisory opinion, to take steps to prevent trade relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory and, for that purpose, to prohibit the importation of goods originating in certain Israeli settlements. I chair the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee and chaired the meetings that carried out scrutiny of the Government's proposals in this Bill. Yes, the committee recommended unanimously that services be included in the Bill. The committee never divided on any of the amendments proposed for the Bill. In other words, we were never forced to a vote, such was the unanimity of the members of the committee who undertook the scrutiny. The committee also unanimously recommended that the Government continue to pursue its optimal policy scenario of action, which is being taken in relation to Gaza at EU level. It also recommended that the Government undertakes efforts to publish and establish a range of scenarios on the potential repercussions of the measure in respect of both international relations and economic effects, and to comprehensively engage with business. That recommendation arose out of how reluctant business was to engage with the committee in its deliberations on the Bill. We were and are grateful that IBEC did engage in detail with the committee. This is what IBEC said: it warned that any deterioration in US trade with and investment in Ireland would have material impacts for households and businesses. It advised it is important that consideration of the merits of the Bill includes a recognition that these reputational costs may impact on Irish workers, households and businesses. IBEC advised that it was clear from IBEC members and their feedback that the costs for US businesses and for Ireland's reputation will be substantially greater should services be included in the scope of the Bill. My comments in the preface to the report on scrutiny of the Bill included: As Chair, I am also conscious of the different roles and responsibilities of parliamentary committees and government. Government has access to more information and carries heavier burdens in areas of governance, than a parliamentary committee. Like the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I have represented my country on many international forums, where Ireland's commitment to enacting an occupied territories Bill is widely admired and where I expect it to be mirrored. Ireland has taken so many steps at EU level. Everywhere I go, Palestinian representatives acknowledge and recognise the leading role that Ireland played, continues to play and will always play when it comes to defending the rights of and advocating for the people of the occupied territories and of Gaza. At every meeting I attend, and as chair, I meet many representatives. I continuously advocate for Palestine, as do my colleagues, robustly and without fear. I abhor the manner in which the Israeli Government has smeared and attempted to undermine the Irish Government at every turn. I would argue that the sanctioning of two Israeli ministers by the Minister for justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, last week, is far more impactful than any potential impact of an occupied territories Bill, including goods and services or not. I mentioned the critics here. I say to them that today is a good day. Is it a perfect day? No, it is not. There is always more to be done. In 2024, though, when we went before the people, we said we would enact an occupied territories Bill. We stand resolutely with the Palestinian people. Ireland stands always with Palestine. We are its strongest advocate at EU and international level. To answer the question asked by the Opposition today, history will show that today we fulfilled one commitment to enact an occupied territories Bill and that that process began in this parliamentary Chamber in Ireland today.

I have been a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade through the scrutiny of this Bill. I think it is the right thing to do, not because it will in itself change the situation on the ground but because Ireland has obligations under international law and we should meet those obligations. Ireland was among the first countries in the world to call for Palestinian statehood. When Ireland formally recognised the State of Palestine in May 2024, it was the product of decades of consistent engagement that has given Ireland credibility on this issue that very few European countries can claim. The Palestinian Authority has acknowledged that and said to us clearly and on many occasions that what it needs from Ireland is not only action at home, but leadership in Brussels. It wants us to use that credibility to bring about a collective European response, because it understands, as we should, that collective European action is where the real impact lies. This Bill responds to the ICJ's advisory opinion of July 2024, which found Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory to be unlawful under international law and placed an obligation on third states to take steps to prevent trade that sustains that situation. Ireland is taking that step and I welcome it. The committee on which I serve recommended extending this Bill to cover trade in services as well as goods. I supported that recommendation. The ICJ's advisory opinion draws no distinction between goods and services, and there is no moral distinction either, but the legal advice is clear. The 2015 EU basic import regulation provides a public policy exception for goods. There is no equivalent for services under EU law. A Bill that includes services would face a real risk of infringement proceedings without solid legal ground to stand on. I have come to the view that a Bill which takes effect from day one and does what it sets out to do is preferable to a broader Bill that faces the real risk of getting tied up at length in a legal challenge. A measure that never comes into force serves nobody. On scale, settlement goods imported into Ireland amounted to around €200,000 in 2024, mostly fruit and vegetables. The direct economic impact of this measure on Israel is modest. The agreement that would actually economically impact Israel in a way it cannot ignore is the EU-Israel association agreement, which underpins trade worth €42 billion annually. The Commission proposed a partial suspension of that agreement's trade provisions in September 2025, but was blocked by a small number of member states. Were that suspension to be achieved, the economic consequences for Israel would be of a different order entirely to what our Bill delivers. We should pass our Bill nonetheless, because our legal obligations do not depend on the size of the economic impact and because Ireland acting here adds to the pressure on other member states to also act. I raised one matter at the committee that I want to put on the record. The regulatory impact analysis acknowledges that this Bill could prompt a response from third countries, notably the United States, with what it calls a potentially significant adverse impact on Irish economic interests. US companies employ around 250,000 people in this country and anti-boycott laws at federal and state level can result in companies being excluded from procurement contracts where they are seen to be participating in a boycott of Israel. At the committee, I tabled a recommendation which was adopted unanimously, that the Minister develop and publish a range of likely economic scenarios so that the Oireachtas could assess the potential diplomatic and economic consequences for Ireland. The committee's assessment were that those repercussions were, in its word, unknowable. We should pass this Bill and we should do so knowing what might follow.

We have an international obligation to stand up for international law and progressing this Bill is part of fulfilling these obligations. The Bill is an important contribution to upholding international law and supporting Palestinian self-determination. It also fulfils a specific commitment contained in the programme for Government to progress legislation banning imports from Israeli settlements. Those goes along with a line of decisions that we have already taken, recognising the State of Palestine, intervening in the ICJ case, sending over €150 million in aid, and evacuating about 300 people, including sick and injured children. We have also co-sponsored a UN resolution and most recently sanctioned two Israeli ministers. Today, we are taking an important step based on the advisory opinion the ICJ gave on 19 July 2024, which stated that states should take steps to prevent trade that assists with maintaining the illegal situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. I understand that many are disappointed that this Bill does not include services, but I believe the Department and Minister have done the best they could with the advice that they received. This Bill will not bring an end to the dire situation on the ground in Palestine, but it is a symbol, similar to when we recognised the State of Palestine alongside Spain and Norway, and we are hopeful that other countries will follow suit just like that, and we will move closer to the overall objective of a peaceful two-state solution. Our reputation in Ireland is one of peace-building. This has to continue to be our focus. While we see escalating violence and expanding settlements in the West Bank, we must continue to try to build consensus at an EU level to seek collective action, such as suspending the EU-Israel agreement. I know that, just yesterday, the Taoiseach and Minister met the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, to discuss this. We know that a vote is imminent and a collective majority most likely still has not been achieved. We must also try to seek a proposal to ban trade in the occupied Palestinian territories at an EU level. We know that trade in goods with Ireland is only about €200,000, but we know that at an EU level, it could be in the billions and it would have a real impact. This Bill should be seen as an important signal. Ireland progressing legislation must be a signal for our EU counterparts to act decisively and collectively. I welcome the recent sanctions that were approved on violent settlers and also on Hamas leaders of the 7 October massacre. I continue to condemn, along with our Government, the multiple breaches of international law, and the recent regressive move to bring back the death penalty for Palestinians, which is absolutely abhorrent and repulsive. From our own history, the Irish people deeply understand and respect the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and we must continue until we see a full and absolute peace.

This is not the Bill that Senator Frances Black intended that the Dáil would pass. Others have outlined the differences already and I will not repeat them. Given Israel's actions since the Senator first published her occupied territories Bill, a watering down of the intent is not what is or was required. Given the slaughter in recent years by Israel, I reiterate my full support for calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions. The Israeli state's barbarity against Palestinians and neighbouring countries in comparable to very few regimes in modern history. It is genocide through and through. Seventy-five thousand are dead in Gaza, 175,000 are wounded, and 1 million have been displaced in the space of two and a half years. This is being funded by large companies, which have to be boycotted, divested from and sanctioned. The company that the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, has endorsed to demolish the historic Moore Street site, Hammerson, is now in partnership with a company that has been named by the UN as having sustained Israel's settler colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory and is profiting from Israel's economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide. The Allianz asset management subsidiary, PIMCO, purchased nearly €1 billion of Israeli war bonds. We need to boycott Allianz, boycott Israel and impose sanctions. Along with others in this House, I have seen with my own eyes, the confiscated land, the clearances, the apartheid road, the contaminated farm lands, the demolished homes and businesses, the destruction of olive trees which take decades to grow, the harassment and interference with the day-to-day lives of Palestinians and the detention of hundreds. Last month alone, there were 1,695 attacks by Israelis - by military and settlers - against Palestinians in the West Bank. That needs to end.

Can the Minister imagine being an Irish person who had been farming their land for hundreds of years when violent, entitled, deluded thieves from Brooklyn, New York, Ukraine or Russia crossed the world, having decided they wanted to come to her community to terrorise her off her land, set dogs on her sheep, raze her ancestors’ olive groves to the ground, rob her farm at gunpoint and then want to trade its fruit with us here in Ireland? Ireland knows about dispossession better than anyone. Trading with the occupied territories represents blood money. I think of the beautiful song “Strange Fruit” popularised by Nina Simone: “Blood on the leaves and blood at the root”. We do not need Israeli blood money, nor their strange fruit nor their services. Services must be included in any Bill or otherwise it is meaningless. It was a great privilege for me to stay among these lovely hospitable people in several places across the West Bank and Gaza. Unfortunately, I could not get into Lebanon at the time. The world can plainly see what an evil, violent, warped, deranged and depraved society Israel has become. I do not want to be graphic but it is one that rapes children in mass concentration camps, trains dogs to perform unspeakable acts on detainees - this is all coming out now – bulldozes children into large pits, deliberately starves children, forcing them to run the gauntlet and then shoots them for sport in a sick kind of a “Squid Game”. They proudly post that on their social media. This is celebrated in Israeli society. It is mainstream. People who shoot babies through the head for target practice. Incinerating half-starved children with white phosphorous, which they are doing in Gaza, the occupied territories and now Lebanon. In Lebanon, Israel is now searching for Muslims being hidden and sheltered in the attics of their Christian neighbours. This is not like Europe 1944. They have taken the Nazi doctrine, they have refined it and they have made it for themselves.

Thank you, Deputy.

Ireland does not need their blood money nor their services. We are better than that.

Deputy Gogarty’s colleague is not here. If he does not turn up, the Deputy has ten minutes.

I understand he may not be able to turn up. I will speak as long as I am able. Like everyone here, we are appalled at the Israeli state’s absolute dismantling of the West Bank over the years, whether it is allowing settlers to de facto annex parts of it in their own right or whether it is the state policy of dividing it up so as to make the West Bank no longer viable. This has been going on for decades and it is absolutely abysmal and reprehensible. It is on the same level as they have been treating the people of Gaza, although the more recent behaviour and genocide there goes to a totally new level. The West Bank has been subject to a systemic policy over many years. I had conversations with Senator Black when she was trying to get her Bill agreed to by the Government. She was quite optimistic some years ago. She can speak for herself - I am not speaking for her – but the feeling I got from her was that she knew there would have to be some level of compromise or discussion on what legally could be and could not be done, but I do not think we have brought the ban as far as we can. Yes, arguably Ireland has done more than any country in the world to call out the Israeli atrocities as a neutral, non-aligned state with a history of brutal colonialism. We have done a fantastic job but at the same time we cannot slap ourselves on the back because it seems, within a European context, we are one of only a handful of countries with any moral compass. Whether it is the guilt of the Germans, the Danish rescue of Jewish citizens during the Second World War, the very close geographic relationship that Cyprus has with Israel, or the Austrian guilt, there are a lot of reasons, including association with the Holocaust, why other countries would not want to be seen to call out Israel for doing exactly the same thing in more recent years. However, countries like Spain and Norway have called out the Israeli state. We have been accused of antisemitism by the Israeli state, we have been put under pressure by the US Administration but we have persisted. This is where I want to praise the Government because we still persisted with our ICJ support and in finally getting to this Bill. I welcome that this Bill has finally come to the House. If it comes to a vote on whether to support the Bill, I will certainly vote for it. However, as my colleagues have said, in banning goods alone, the Bill is not even going a fraction of the way because Ireland’s trade with Israel is mostly in services. According to the CSO, between 68% and 72% of Ireland’s exports to Israel in recent years have been in services and not goods. However we look at it, that means the Bill leaves the majority of relevant economic activity untouched. While a lot of the arguments here may be symbolic, they must have some meaning. We are arguing among ourselves as to which is the best body to decide on whether to play the Israeli football team, but this is something that has many times more legal issues. This is not a theoretical debate. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in its 2023 update on companies operating in settlements, stated that digital, financial and logistical services are structural enablers of settlement expansion. That is from its database of business enterprise 2023. Therefore, when we exclude services we are basically excluding the sectors that sustain settlement economies: the cloud hosting, the payment processing, the tourism platforms, the Airbnbs, which have been mentioned before, and property management systems. All the people who know about this, the international legal experts, have been clear on this point. Professor Marco Sassòli, one of the world’s leading scholars on occupation law, wrote in the International Review of the Red Cross that state responsibility extends to any economic activity, goods or services, that contributes to maintaining unlawful situations. Dr. Valentina Azarova, in a 2020 legal briefing for the European Parliament, stated service provision is a core component of modern supply chains and cannot be excluded from due diligence obligations. If we want a Bill that actually stops Irish economic activity from supporting the illegal settlements, then we have to include services or at least we have to try to do so. That is what I mean when I say we should push the boat out. Maybe there are barriers, such as those the Government has spoken of before, but let us push it out and see the legal action taken against us. If we take the business argument about how it might impact on businesses in Ireland, we could phase in the services aspect of it. The ICJ 2024 ruling, which others have referred to in relation to our legal obligations, says that governments cannot be prevented by the European Union from acting alone. The advisory opinion states that all states are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the illegal presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory. That is basically the highest court in the world interpreting international law, which supersedes European law. Even the European Journal of International Law, in its 2024 commentary on the ruling, said that the ICJ opinion removes ambiguity regarding member state competence to restrict trade linked to illegal settlements. The former UN special rapporteur told a Chatham House briefing that states are required to take unilateral measures to avoid contributing to internationally wrongful acts. I also want to reference the former Attorney General and now Senator Michael McDowell, who knows not just a little about the law. He said that nothing in EU law prevents Ireland from acting where international law imposes obligations. We have a legal and moral obligation. To make the Bill robust we have to reference the ICJ ruling in the preamble and we have to try to target the corporations in the occupied territories and not ordinary people. It is a fair point that we have not gone into the nuances of the legislation and how this law might impact on ordinary people in the occupied territories. That needs to be looked at in more detail as we get to Committee and Report Stages. I focus specifically on the argument about how we might annoy the USA and put ourselves in great peril. Some Members on the other benches have argued that strengthening the Bill will irreparably damage our relationship with the US. We know how tied up the current US Administration is with the Israeli regime. We have seen it with the war on the admittedly despotic and murderous Iranian regime. However, it is an unjust and illegal war and Netanyahu's atrocities in Lebanon have basically been sanctioned by the Trump administration. If it stopped supplying weapons, they would dry up soon enough. The argument is put that this will have a chilling effect on the relationship between Ireland and the US. I did some research, and I found out that the US already restricts imports from illegal settlements. A 2016 directive from US Customs and Border Protection stated that products from Western Sahara must be marked to indicate their origin. That is similar to what we are looking at. The US, when it suits it, will create its own types of laws. We have seen that in international law. The Trump administration basically says that what it says goes, rather than trying to take a multipolar approach where everyone has input and basic international law is respected. We have taken independent positions before and been criticised. One was the recognition of Palestine. You could argue even that could have angered the Americans to the point where we would not be their best buddies any more and they would impose some sort of sanction on us. That did not happen. We did not support the illegal invasion of Iraq which led to a lot more people being killed than there were lives saved. If you look at the Realpolitik, the current President of the US is a bit of a lame duck. The mid-term elections will provide a massive kick in the face for his administration's policies. While there is a strong Israeli lobby in the US, the bottom line for the companies operating here is profit. What the collective Opposition is requesting in terms of services is not impacting in any major way on US companies' operations globally. That argument does not hold up to scrutiny. The political threat is that it will impact us economically, but the threat being made does not have any economic impact on the US companies. They are making a political argument rather than one that is intrinsically talking about how their bottom line will be impacted by our unilateral move. If, as the Minister says, it is not legally possible to do what the Opposition is arguing for by expanding the Bill to cover services, then I go back to the point I made a few minutes ago that we will be found out through some form of legal action that I do not believe it is possible to take. There is the argument about moral and sinister threats not to annoy our big cousins in the United States. I think we are bigger than that. We have stood up for ourselves before without major clawback. The Israelis will kick and scream. We will be called antisemites even more. However, we will basically be living up to our principles as an independent state. I ask the Minister, on Committee Stage, to maybe explore and support Opposition proposals to include some level of services in the legislation. As it stands, this legislation is one third effective because two thirds of the on-the-ground impact relates to services. We can hold our hands up and say Kumbaya, we have done our little bit and we are all great. We have to remember that it has taken years to get to this point. It has taken years to get to a watered down Bill. That is shocking in its own right. While I welcome the legislation and will vote for whatever finally comes through the Houses because it sends a message, until that point we have a moral obligation to put the international legal argument, as well as the moral argument, that this should be the strongest legislation possible. If others can prove there are holes in it, let them come back after and refer it to the President to see if it is constitutional or not. That is something we should do. We should make the legislation as strong as we believe it can be. If we have a 70:30 or 30:70 uncertainty on the services aspect, let us put that to the test. Otherwise, it will be a watered down Bill. I urge the Minister, even at this stage, to try to strengthen it.

I welcome the progression of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill. I am pleased the Government is now bringing forward legislation that reflects Ireland's long-held position on this issue. Ireland has consistently stood on the side of international law, human rights and the pursuit of peace. We have been among the strongest voices internationally in condemning the horrific loss of civilian life on Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire, demanding the release of hostages, supporting humanitarian access and advocating for a lasting solution. The scenes we have witnessed over the past number of years, particularly in recent months, have shocked people across Ireland and the globe. Thousands of innocent civilians have suffered enormously. Families have been displaced, communities devastated and countless lives lost. It is right that Ireland continues to speak clearly and consistently against actions that undermine peace and deepen human suffering. This legislation is an absolutely critical step. The position of Ireland is clear and the European Union's position needs to be clearer. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law and undermine the prospects of a viable two-state solution. The Bill sends a clear message that Ireland will not facilitate trade in goods originating from settlements considered illegal under international law. I welcome that. It demonstrates that our commitment to international law is not merely rhetorical but can be reflected in practical action. I also welcome our Government’s effort to continue pursuing broader action at European level. I believe we must use our EU Presidency to do so. While Ireland has taken a national step today, lasting impact will come through collective, international action and renewed diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving a sustainable peace settlement. Ireland has a proud history of supporting the Palestinian people and advocating for their right to self-determination. Last year, Ireland formally recognised the State of Palestine, reaffirming our belief that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace, security, dignity and freedom. Ultimately, this legislation is about standing up for international law, supporting the prospect of a genuine two-state solution and ensuring that Ireland remains consistent in its commitment to justice, human rights and peace. I welcome the introduction of the Bill and look forward to its passage through the Houses of the Oireachtas.

I very much welcome the publication of this Bill and the fact that it is proceeding through the House. In dealing with this issue, it is important that we bring other countries with us. I have experience of dealing with this issue. I was in Gaza in 2009 after the changeover of the American President. During the period of that changeover, on 27 December 2008, Israeli forces went into Gaza, bombing the area and killing 1,400 people, 400 of whom were children. They kept working until 18 January. The new President was sworn in on 20 January. Israel used that opportunity. No action was taken against Israel at that time. Its forces used cluster munitions, which are the same as the IRA nail bombs, and they used white phosphorous, in violation of all international law. No action was taken. If action was taken at that stage, 72,000 people would not have been killed in the last three years. It is therefore extremely important that we are careful in our approach to bringing the international community with us and that we manage it very well. The Minister and previous Ministers for Foreign Affairs have worked very well in this area. It is about bringing all of Europe with us. I was in Washington in 2009. I was part of a joint committee of the European Parliament and the US Congress. There was no support for the Palestinians on that committee. I was probably the only person on that committee who was in any way supportive of Palestine and critical of Israel as a result of what happened on that occasion. We are now 17 years on and we have still not brought all of Europe with us on this issue. It is therefore extremely important that we work on that front. That is why it is important that the legislation we bring forward is moderate while still challenging what Israel has done. The human cost of this conflict extends far beyond those killed and injured. Displacement has become a defining feature of the crisis. Families are uprooted from their homes and communities and deprived of security, stability and dignity. Amnesty International released a report today documenting that, between January 2023 and April 2026, 3,407 Palestinian homes in the occupied territories were demolished, resulting in the displacement of thousands of people. These figures serve as a stark reminder that behind every statistic is a family forced to leave behind their home, their livelihood and their future. We must recognise that displacement is not simply a humanitarian challenge; it is a profound human tragedy. Children lose access to education, communities are fragmented and generations face uncertainty as to whether they will ever be able to return to the places they call home. The protection of civilians from forced displacement must remain a core principle of international humanitarian law and a priority for the international community. Equally concerning are efforts to obstruct or undermine humanitarian initiatives intended to assist civilians in Gaza. The international community has a responsibility to uphold international humanitarian law and to ensure that all parties to conflicts are held accountable for their actions. In September 2025, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel published its conclusions that Israeli authorities and security forced had committed four of the five acts defined as genocide in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The human cost of this conflict remains devastating but it is important that, no matter what we do, we bring other countries within Europe with us. We must also work at an international level to bring countries with us to ensure decisive action is taken against Israel over this conflict, which has been allowed to continue. In the last 17 years, over 75,000 people have been killed.

If I may delay Deputy Neville, I am looking up and I think I may be able to see Daniel Wiffen. My eyesight is not as good as it was and the light is shining. I am not sure who is with him, but he is most welcome to the Parliament.

It is Brendan Griffin.

It is the former Deputy, Brendan Griffin.

It is the former Deputy, Brendan Griffin. Excuse me, my eyesight is bad.

He is a former Minister of State.

It is a Wiffen and a Griffin.

It is a most interesting debate to be involved in. Mr. Wiffen is most welcome as an Irish champion.

I have met the former Minister of State many times but to have an Olympic gold medallist looking down on us is indeed an honour for us all. I congratulate Mr. Wiffen on all his work, what he has done for the country and how he raised the country's spirits during his time. His talent has inspired many people in this country. I thank him for being present and for taking the time to come to watch us in the Chamber. To move to more pressing matters and the matter we came here today to discuss, I believe that Ireland has been and continues to be on the right side of history in relation to the oppression in Palestine. On 28 May 2024, Ireland recognised the State of Palestine, which was a huge step. Ireland committed new funding of €42 million for the people of Palestine for 2026 and many millions of this funding has already been provided. Ireland has provided a total of over €112 million in support of the people of Palestine since January 2023. Over €100 million of Irish support has been provided since October 2023. By the end of 2026, Ireland will have provided €144 million since January 2023. Indeed, Ireland's 2026 support continues a commitment of €20 million in core funding to UNRWA this year, bringing our total support to €78 million. The people of Palestine know that we are on their side. We have shown that support through our words but also through our funding. We are now taking the next step. The countries of Europe also know that we are on the side of the Palestinians. Indeed, the Americans know it too. As I have outlined, we have led internationally and we continue to show solidarity with the people of Palestine through this Bill. We also need to ensure that the message goes out clearly from this Chamber that the Irish Government is against the occupation of these territories and the ongoing oppression taking place there. However, I am also conscious that some of the words used here may be wilfully misconstrued and echo differently in the political halls of Washington and the corporate rooms of America, where they might impact jobs in this country. I want to highlight businesses like Intel in my hometown of Leixlip, which the Taoiseach has previously referenced in this Chamber in relation to this matter. The Leixlip Intel campus employs 5,000 workers directly and many more indirectly. We need to ensure that people there are not impacted by loose language used by Opposition Members and that we make clear the goal of this Bill so that it cannot be used against us as a country. While Ireland is showing leadership, real change will only happen if the rest of the EU and other countries take the same brave stance the Irish Government is taking. Surely, the Chamber should recognise that.

It is now eight years since the occupied territories Bill was first proposed. Fianna Fáil said that it would support that Bill and that it wanted to see it move through the Oireachtas. For those eight years, there has been foot dragging every time the Bill has come up. The reality is that the people who live in the occupied territories continue to suffer under a cruel and harsh regime that continues to take their land and their houses from them and that allows them to be attacked by settlers with the protection of the military. It is a deplorable situation. International law says that it has to stop and that it is wrong and yet we are presented with an occupied territories Bill this evening that is only a half-measure. It leaves out trade in services, which is absolutely vital. The Government can make all kinds of excuses but, at the end of the day, we have to make a stand sometime. Many people live long and weary lives and go to their graves without ever having taken a stand for anything but that is what we are about in this place. We are about making a stand. We have to be leaders on this on the international stage. Ireland of all countries, which was the victim of centuries of colonisation and imperialism, knows what it means to have somebody to lead. When the rest of the world was under the yoke of imperialism, Ireland stood and said that there can be a different way. We struck a blow in 1916 for freedom. It lit a torch that inspired oppressed people in every corner of the world and we still have an obligation to inspire oppressed people in every corner of the world. That is why what we do here is important. At the end of the day, we have an opportunity to make this so much better. That is why we appeal to the Minister to include services, to make the full stand that we need make and stand up for what is right and to ensure that the people of Palestine and the world know that Ireland of all places stands firmly with them.

I acknowledge the work that Senator Black has done on this Bill over the past number of years. I commend her on getting it this far because she ran into so many obstacles on the way. In 2022, I was lucky enough to visit Palestine. I spent a fair bit of time there as part of a sports and cultural exchange. There were boxers from Belfast and Dublin taking part in the Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project with the shamrock being from Ireland and the olive tree being from Palestine. I saw the settlements at first hand. I could talk about how I was treated over there, but it is not about me. There is this idea of settlements and we think of the wagons across the prairie. They are not like that. They are fortified. They are on high ground. They have military members of the IDF armed looking down like imperialists on the Palestinian population below them. They have separate roads. There is not even a bump in the roads they are that well put together that only Israelis are allowed to drive on. Palestinian civilians are not allowed to drive on these roads. The Palestinians have restricted movements going from A to B because they are in these occupied territories. The thought of doing any business with these occupied territories, fortified institutions and these robbed and stolen lands sickens me to the core of my stomach. I do not just mean goods; I mean goods and services. We have spent eight years on this Bill. The Government dillyed, delayed and blocked. Now, in my opinion and most people's opinions, the Government has completely gutted this Bill. This is a cynical act by the Government. A total of 70% of trade between Ireland and the occupied territories is in services. What we are asking for is something very simple. We are asking for no trade in goods and services that originate in the occupied Palestinian territories, lands that have been stolen by military force by Israel.

Tá a fhios ag madraí na sráide cén chaoi a sheasaim ar an ábhar seo. Tá a fhios ag an domhan cá bhfuil na daoine in Éirinn ar an ábhar seo. Bhí mé ag caint ar maidin agus inné faoin gcluiche agus faoi Alaa Al-Dali, an t-aon fhear a bhí ag rothaíocht ar son na Palaistíne. Bhí sé chun a bheith ina Oilimpeach ach rinne an IOF urchar a scaoileadh lena ghlúin agus bhris siad a ghlúin. I would have loved to have seen services included in this. I would have loved to have seen the Attorney General's advice. When I sat over there in the House and I voted for the amendment of this Bill, I was told that there was legal advice. The Attorney General came out later saying that it was a political decision. I would have preferred if we saw now why services cannot be included. I will support the Bill because I want something rather than nothing. I ask if we could add services at a later stage if implemented correctly like Spain has done for the advertising of services in the occupied territories. I would love for more of the occupied territories across the country to fall under the remit of the Bill. Correct me if I am wrong and they do. However, from my understanding of the legislation, they would not directly apply to other occupied territories. I commend Senator Black on her patience, hard work, determination and an obair ar fad atá déanta aici. Níor stop sí. Bhí sí ag fáil go leor rudaí ar líne ó na bots agus na daoine atá ag cur brú leis an mBille a scriosadh ach níor stop sí. I understand from the meetings that a lot of people would have preferred the inclusion of services, but I prefer something rather than nothing. That is always my political view on anything as an Independent TD. I would rather get something rather nothing. This is the same view that I am taking on this. I would love if the Bill inflicted that change. I would have loved to have seen what the Attorney General said. At an EU level, if it would have not passed is what we were told, can that be published? Has it already been published? I could not find it over the past few months. From listening to the Minister, I understand that there will be an EU trade complication. I commend the work that our diplomats and the Minister have done getting like-minded EU countries together. Other Deputies have acknowledged that Ireland's power would be best united on an EU front. Ireland's power has never been our strong military. It always been our worldwide respect as a peacekeeping country. That is why it is good that we are passing this now ahead of our EU Presidency, but it would be a lot better with services. I listened to all the Deputies in my office. There is no other government that would have as much of a mandate apart from the Palestinian Government to enact this legislation. Look and listen to the people of Ireland. Look at the surveys. They want the legislation to include goods and services. At a later stage if it can be amended to include services, that should be done.

I thank colleagues who have contributed to the debate. We are witnessing in plain sight the persistent and ongoing human rights abuses that Palestinian people endure under occupation. We are witnessing an appalling and worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. We are witnessing the deteriorating situation in the West Bank with massive expansion of settlements alongside rampant and escalating settler violence, all of which leads us to conclude that the actions of the current Israeli Government contravene international law. On the question of how best to respond, while we have moved ahead on prohibiting settlement trade in goods at a national level, our preference, which we have said this time and time again, is to work at an EU level and that collective action be taken at an EU level. This will have a much greater impact. Those who are quick to criticise the Government's approach are slow to take account of the broader realities, including the debates happening at the EU level. Ireland has led from the front on this issue. We were the first EU country to announce our intention to prohibit the importation of settlement goods. Others have followed our lead, not the other way around. Other member states have come to agree with us. In the past week, Slovenia has had a change of government, and it has completely changed its policy on Israel. It has had a complete reset in relations. We have to deal with the realities of all of this around the European table. Ireland has repeatedly called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement or, at a minimum, to suspend the trade elements of the agreement, as previously proposed by President Ursula von der Leyen. In advance of the Foreign Affairs Council next week, the Minister has asked the Commission to bring forward a proposal to prohibit EU trade with Israeli settlements on the basis of the EU's Common Commercial Policy. A number of member states supported this call in the Commission and were equally clear that proposals sanction certain Israeli Ministers cannot be a substitute or an alternative for an EU ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements. The Taoiseach also wrote the President of the European Council, António Costa, on 20 May reiterating Ireland's position on the EU's trade with Israel and requested an urgent discussion of these issues among EU leaders at the meeting of the European Council next week. I will ask for this as well at the General Affairs Council that I will attend next week. Member states reached political agreement last month to sanction Israeli extremist settlers and entities and those who enable them. That was hard fought for around the table. Every member state has a veto on that issue. The political reality is that we have to deal with that around the table. We hold the veto dear every time we have a referendum. The previous Hungarian Government held up that particular provision for some time. I welcome that the position has changed and moved on. The politics changes in both directions. Actions taken at EU level in response to the appalling situation in Gaza have a much greater impact than those taken at national level. We will always stand up for human rights and international law within the EU and for accountability when it comes to breaches of international law. The question of services has been the main issue in this debate. This Government and any government has a responsibility to ensure that any legislation is legally robust, capable of being implemented and can withstand legal challenge. In the case of goods, a public policy exception exists in the EU regulation which controls the import of goods. This exception allows EU member states to adopt prohibitions on the import of goods for public policy reasons. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no equivalent or similar broad public policy exception relating to external trade in services.

There is in the treaty.

I acknowledge the point made by Deputies in respect of the absence of services from the Bill but no political view, however well meaning, whether expressed on this side of the House or the opposite side, can trump the rule of law. We cannot trump the law.

We can do it through the treaty.

At the European level, the Single Market is a lot less harmonised in respect of trade in services than it is for trade in goods. The regulation of services is split across a variety of EU legislation and there would be huge challenges regarding, as the Taoiseach has said, the effective implementation and enforcement of restrictions on trade in services. Again, on the issue of services and actions taken by the Spanish Government, there are some misunderstandings. Spain has not implemented a ban on trade in services, so it is incorrect to suggest that it has done so. It has introduced a targeted amendment to its consumer protection law to prohibit the advertisement in Spain of services provided in Israeli settlements.

That is the same thing, effectively.

This is the only aspect of the Spanish legislation that relates to services. The focus of the Spanish legislation is on the prohibition of the importation of goods. National legislation being taken forward by other EU member states is similarly focused on goods. Again, I remind the House that Ireland was the first EU country to announce its intention to prohibit the importation of settlement goods and other EU member states have followed that lead. On the potential economic implications, the Oireachtas committee asked the Government to look at this. The Government does not have the luxury of putting forward proposals without fully working through all of the potential consequences. That includes potential implications for the economy and for jobs. These have been outlined in debates between the Taoiseach and Deputy Boyd Barrett in here. The Government has taken the time to carefully consider all of the options as well as the proposals that have been made as part of the debate in this House and during the pre-legislative scrutiny process. For those who dismiss the potential economic implications or who feel we should gamble or take a risk with them, the question is whose jobs they are willing to sacrifice. What companies do they want to see leave Ireland? That is a question that some people are quite prepared to answer in this House. I am not accusing the Deputies opposite but there are Deputies who are more than happy to answer that question. We need to be honest with people. The Government's job is to protect the interests of Irish people and to use that interest to make our voice heard at international level. The Government has a track record of taking action in response to the actions taken by the Israeli Government which contravene international law. We are fulfilling our programme for Government commitment and this Bill is significant legislation. It is possible, because of the findings of the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, that it will also contribute positively to Irish and international efforts to prevent unilateral actions that impinge upon the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and upon the viability of the two-state solution. The two-state solution is the only answer here, to have Israel and Palestine, side by side, in peace and security. Who was the first Western politician to put forward that as a serious proposition? It was Brian Lenihan senior, in 1980, when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs. This Irish Government and Irish governments in general have led from the front on all of this. We have led from the front on the issue of trade with settlements and on the recognition of Palestine. We will continue to lead on the need for effective EU action. On Friday, at the invitation of the French Minister for foreign affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, I will represent the Irish Government at the second edition of the Paris call for the two-state solution. As a Government, our overarching approach encompasses our commitment to working with key partners to end the conflict in Gaza and to advance a sustainable peace plan ending the conflict and addressing the huge challenges facing Palestinians in Gaza. It encompasses our commitment to supporting a Palestinian state consisting of Gaza and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem. It also encompasses our commitment to achieving a just and lasting peace where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side, in two states, Israel and Palestine, in peace, security and dignity within agreed borders based on 1967 borders. We have always been clear that our goal is for both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. The cycle of violence must be brought to an end. The suffering of Palestinians and Israelis needs to end. We must always be careful to remember that and to leave space for the people to people contacts that have always been the most valuable part of the relationship between Ireland and Israel. As a Minister of State in this Government, I want to stress that we must distinguish between the policies of the Israeli Government and the Israeli people. From our own history on this island we know that the politics of division never advances a peaceful outcome. Ireland's position on the Middle East is firmly rooted in respect for human rights and international law in both word and deed. Collective action at the EU level would be most effective in this case. The Government is proceeding with this Bill in accordance with its commitments under the programme for Government and I thank Members for their contributions to the debate on this Bill.