The Minister of State and I have spoken on a number of occasions in relation to the terrible situation in Sudan, which has seen tens if not hundreds of thousands of people killed, or certainly hundreds of thousands of people killed, in the past number of years. There has been the slaughter in El-Fasher. The conflict carries on unabated and there has been inadequate attention from the international community and inadequate pressure. There are steps Ireland as well as the international community can take. First, could the Minister give me an outline of the current position and actions? Actions must be taken by the Government on raising this issue and in continuing pressure in regard to this appalling conflict.

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for consistently raising this issue. He is dead right; there is a distinct lack of attention on this around the world. I would like to think it is an exception here in Ireland. The Deputy is a part of that and I am very grateful for it.

Last month, the conflict in Sudan reached its 1,000th day. It is continuing to have a devastating impact on the Sudanese people, particularly women and children. The escalating violence in the Kordofan states is deeply worrying and underlines the need to ensure Sudan remains firmly on the international agenda. Ireland has been a consistent advocate since the beginning of the conflict, including in the EU and UN, and as a principled and active donor. We remain resolute in our commitment to the Sudanese people.

It is vital to address the urgent humanitarian crisis, ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers and explore all avenues towards a credible and inclusive Sudanese-led political transition. The critical issue of humanitarian access and the need to remove bureaucratic impediments to aid are at the heart of our diplomatic engagement. Ireland's response also recognises the impact of the crisis on neighbouring countries, particularly in welcoming refugees. As the Deputy is aware, last year, we provided €14.3 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people most in need in Sudan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. We are committed to further increasing our funding and our focus on Sudan this year.

Last week, officials from my Department visited Adré on the Chadian-Sudanese border to visit refugee camps there and to gain a better understanding of the complexity of the situation; indeed, I hope to do a similar trip this calendar year. This will help to shape our ongoing humanitarian response. The Government will also continue to advocate for increased engagement on Sudan when Ireland assumes the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of this year.

It is essential that external engagement in the conflict ends. Specific allegations of violations of the UN embargo and EU sanctions are pursued, as the Deputy is aware, through UN and EU channels.

All parties must comply fully with their obligations and refrain from any actions that prolong the conflict and fuel further violence.

I welcome the Minister of State's intention to visit. I am glad the Department officials have visited those refugees. The humanitarian situation on the ground could potentially escalate even further. Even if the UN reaches its appeal for €2.9 billion, that will only reach 20 million of the 33 million people needing humanitarian assistance. That is the scale of the humanitarian crisis, of hunger and of need, that is there. This is all escalating alongside a very significant conflict and slaughter, in many instances that is being encouraged by external actors, unfortunately. I have two points on that and I have raised this with the Minister of State before. The major actor external actor, although not the only one, on the RSF side is the United Arab Emirates and I asked the Minister of State to raise his concerns directly on behalf of the Irish Government. Has he done that? The other element is the UN arms embargo. I understand it only applies to Darfur and not to the Kordofan and neighbouring regions where the conflict has very much spilled into.

On the humanitarian aspect, in terms of our partners, it is really important to stress the role of UNOCHA and the UN population fund. Ireland will continue to provide a commitment to all UN appeals because the humanitarian situation is grave. There is famine in Sudan, one of two man-made famines in the world at the moment, and it can be reversed through a co-ordinated humanitarian response and action.

On raising this matter, we do so on a UN and an EU basis. I have met four Ministers from the UAE in the past six months and have raised it on two occasions with the relevant Minister. With the other two, it was not specifically relevant to their brief. I am due to meet the UAE ambassador in my constituency next Thursday and this will be a subject matter. We maintain regular discussion and contact to make sure our opinion, views and concern get across.

On the embargo, I am more than happy to take that on to the next level and investigate that with the Deputy as appropriate.

That would certainly be one of the asks. There are two layers to it. Obviously, the arms embargo is not fully effective by any means as things stand. We must always have hope but it is difficult not to be pessimistic when both actors in the conflict feel they can win and, therefore, the prospects for peace in that context are constrained. Dialogue needs to be at the centre of what the Government and the international community are calling for. There will be opportunities.

We had a very interesting and harrowing hearing in the foreign affairs committee recently with experts and some aid organisations. The point was made that until this becomes a priority for either Europe or the United States this is unlikely to see the pressure that is required. In engagements at whatever level in the next couple of weeks with the US Administration, whether with the State Department or whatever, this should be on the agenda. On that technical point, as a principle, it is important that if the conflict is across the whole country, then particularly in places like Kordofan, the arms embargo needs to apply there too.

I see no issue with that technical point. There are avenues to pursue that. The embargo in place is far from perfect on I think we can both agree but Ireland does believe in it.

On keeping it on the agenda, at every Foreign Affairs Council and at every UN meeting I have attended, I have raised this. It is one of the key pillars of Irish interest - Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan – that is raised consistently in all international arenas and is met with real funding and belief among the people in regard to humanitarian support. The Presidency of the Council of the European Union does give us a clear opportunity in chairing those meetings, co-chairing Foreign Affairs Council meetings with the High Representative and in chairing development formations of the Foreign Affairs Council to ensure this is on the agenda. We will consistently put this at the top of the agenda, namely the need for a real humanitarian surge into the region and a real plan to abolish famine in Sudan and make sure the embargo sticks.

The entire world is aghast at the actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, ICE, in the United States. I am asking a question about Irish citizens, not documented or undocumented. It is not to make an exceptional case because all immigrant groups are being targeted. However, given that we are in the Irish Parliament, I am asking about Irish citizens. How many are being detained by ICE? Are their locations known in all cases? Will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter?

I wish to thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The provision of consular assistance to Irish citizens who get into difficulty abroad is a cornerstone of the work of the Department of foreign affairs. The provision of consular assistance is at the request of the citizen or, where the citizen cannot request such assistance, by a family member or friend. As such, there are many instances where a citizen gets into difficulty abroad and does not request consular assistance. In these cases, my Department may not necessarily be aware of their detention or impending deportation.

For data relating to the activities of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the US Department of Homeland Security maintains a publicly available website. I can confirm that the number of citizens who have requested assistance in relation to deportation from the United States of America in 2025 was 65. To date in 2026, the number of people who have requested assistance is one. The number of 65 may seem small but it is a 330% increase on the previous year. This includes both those who have already been deported and those who are still going through the deportation process, which may include being held in detention by ICE. It is important to note that this figure only relates to cases where a citizen or their family has requested assistance and does not necessarily reflect all deportations to Ireland or where a citizen is currently being detained by ICE.

I assure the Deputy that my officials stand ready to provide all possible consular assistance to Irish citizens who get into difficulty abroad wherever that may be. We have nine diplomatic missions in the United States. However, as the Deputy will be aware, the Department does not comment on individual cases in order to protect the identity of the citizen receiving consular assistance. As such, the Department cannot provide detail on locations, in case doing so could compromise the citizen's right to privacy.

Our figure is 65 plus one so that is 66. ICE's figures for January to September last year are 99. That means 33 people, based on those figures, have not sought consular assistance. I believe that is a low figure. We should be doing more to seek out where those Irish citizens are being held, what there status is and how they can be assisted. I do not think it is good enough in this circumstance to sit back and wait to give consular assistance.

Look at the case of Donna Hughes-Brown who had been living legally in the United States since the age of 11 and is now 59 years of age. As she had two cheques for low amounts of money bounce, because she was away in Ireland on a break, and which she then cleared, she was detained, taken out of state from Chicago to Kentucky and held in conditions that were absolutely deplorable. This is what is happening to Irish citizens, both documented and undocumented. For us to just wait for an Irish citizen to contact for consular assistance is not good enough.

I have great empathy and I do not necessarily disagree with the Deputy on that point but there are very real challenges. People may have dual or triple citizenship and there are a lot of things at play. They may not want Irish Government assistance. One thing the Irish Government does in all jurisdictions is work through our network, not just of diplomatic missions but also through our coalition and alliances with Irish pastoral centres, community centres and the Irish Penal Trust which visits people who are incarcerated for whatever reason, to make sure that even where people are not seeking our assistance, they are aware we have a full obligation to Irish citizens wherever they may find themselves in the world and whatever difficulty they may find themselves in. We provide that consular assistance, or more importantly, our diplomats provide that level of assistance to the highest degree. It is not only a professional response but a humanitarian one in many difficult cases.

I have travelled to the United States five times since I was appointed to this brief and on each occasion met the Irish groups, whether in New York, Boston and Chicago, who are working with individuals who are frankly very worried. We are making sure our funding to those bodies has been increased. Indeed, our responsiveness has increased as well.

Given the size of the Irish diaspora and our cultural and historic links with the United States and the very real human rights concerns we have for anyone being held by ICE in detention facilities, should we not request formally - I believe we should - from the US Secretary of Homeland Security details of all Irish citizens, documented and undocumented, in detention and where they are being held?

We should request that from the United States on the grounds that we have real humanitarian concerns over how our citizens are being held along with other immigrant groups from around the world. This is a manifestation of the creeping fascism in the United States, pulling people off the streets and sending them out of state and holding them for terms of indefinite duration in absolutely deplorable conditions. We need to hold the United States to account on this. At the very least, our Minister should be asking their opposite number where our Irish citizens are.

The Irish Government maintains a very open and frank level of engagement with the US Administration at all levels, not only at federal level but also at local level, particularly at state and city level. As the Deputy knows, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is in the United States at the moment. Where appropriate, we always raise those concerns. I have to stress this point. On the rights of the individual, it is also their right not to notify the Irish Government and not to seek consular assistance. We have to respect that right of an Irish citizen in difficulty abroad. When they or their family or friends seek consular assistance, either directly through one of our diplomatic missions or through one of the very many agencies, organisations or partners we work with in any jurisdiction, our diplomats work day and night. Those diplomats deliver a level of compassion, care and service that all Irish citizens deserve regardless of the situation they find themselves in. We will continue to do that throughout our global network.

On that last question, I might just say that individual cases do not necessarily preclude the Irish Government from representing a category generally speaking and that should always be the case.

I cannot make up my mind as to what the Government intends to do with the occupied territories Bill. Does it intend to drop it entirely? Does it intend to water it down? Does it intend to put it on the long finger and maybe think about doing something later? I am not totally sure. However, I know it is vital. It represents the most obvious, practical and tangible way in which the Government can exert influence and can speak in the context of international law.

I have more time that I expected in this first intervention.

Keep going.

The key principle that underlines the occupied territories Bill is that the International Court of Justice case clearly states that trade with those occupied territories is illegal. The position of the Department of foreign affairs and the Government has always been that we should not trade with these territories. I see no reason that there should not be a criminal sanction for those who choose to do that. It is very much in that realm. This is not necessarily about catching every transaction; it is about ensuring that where people do that, they can potentially face prosecution. Not being able to capture every incident can be true of any criminal act. This is why it is so important to have this legislation on the Statute Book.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 59 together.

In June 2025, the Government approved the general scheme of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (prohibition of importation of goods) Bill. The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, in line with the programme for Government commitment. Legally, the regulation of external trade in services is considerably more complex than is the case with goods at EU level. There would also be greater complexity when it comes to implementation than is the case with regard to trade in goods.

The Government has received the Attorney General’s advice on the question of whether the inclusion of services in the Bill is permissible under EU law. The advice, which is detailed and extensive, identifies a number of significant legal and practical issues with the regulation by a member state of trade in services with a country or territory outside the European Union. Following detailed consideration by officials in the Department, clarification has been sought from the Attorney General on a number of legal issues. Any legislation must be legally robust, able to withstand challenge and progress the Government's broader policy agenda.

Work is advancing across a number of strands at official level as well as engagement at EU level. It remains the Government’s preference that collective action would be taken at EU level and we continue to pursue this.

That raises a few questions. On the implementation, I have never received a satisfactory answer to this. The practical effect of the implementation is very similar to the preparation that would have been required for the implementation of the similar ban on trade with the territories of Ukraine that are currently occupied by Russia. It is absolutely right that those sanctions were put in place, but the implementation would have been the same. Whether the vehicle is different is immaterial as to what preparations a company or the Government would have to make. That is completely immaterial and the same preparations for implementation would apply.

The Government has been talking about this for about eight years. The Spanish Government announced it would ban trade with the settlements in September 2025 and two weeks later that passed fully into law. By the end of the year, it was being implemented, including in relation to services. If the Spanish Government can do it, and given that it is similarly subject to EU law, why can the Irish Government not put in place a similar ban?

Why has the Attorney General's advice changed? What legally has changed? The ICJ decision that all states must abstain from entering into economic and trade dealings and prevent trade or investment relations with Israel stands. That was the basis on which the previous advice of the Attorney General was made. In the previous advice of the Attorney General, he made no distinction between goods and services because legally in international law there is no distinction between trade in goods and services. Instead, he made the point that it would be a political choice to exclude services. The Government is making a political choice to exclude services to bow down before what Trump is asking for. Micheál Martin is quite open about it when he says it in the Dáil. Simon Harris tries to hide it a little bit but Micheál Martin is completely open; I can quote it.

The Government is watering this down and reneging on an election promise made by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is trying to find some legal advice to hide behind. It does not work because Spain, an EU country, is implementing a ban on services traded with the occupied territories. How can Spain do it under European law and yet the Irish Government is not able to do it?

There are a few things there and I will try to answer them in order. Regarding the situation in Ukraine, obviously it is much easier to implement and find a vehicle for sanctions that have been adopted by the Union as a whole when it comes to an area of trade competence.

It is important to be clear as to what is happening around Europe because people have made assertions about what is happening in other European jurisdictions. Four other EU states have expressed an interest, desire or commitment or have started the process following the Irish Government's commitment to do this in the programme for Government. I have discussed it with ministers at European Council level. Slovenia has a different legal system which does not require primary legislation in order to effect a ban on goods and goods alone. Let us be clear that Spain, using a different legal situation that did not need primary legislation as we do, was able to implement the ban on goods and also on the advertisement of services. That important distinction has not yet been made in this Chamber. There were commitments by the Belgians and the Dutch but they have not moved as far as the Irish Government has.

The ICJ judgment made it quite clear. The then Taoiseach, Simon Harris, asked the Attorney General on foot of that ICJ judgment whether there was a pathway to pass a version of the original occupied territories Bill brought into the Seanad by Senator Frances Black - indeed I was in the Seanad with her at the time. Since then, we have consistently looked for a way to do it for goods and then, following pre-legislative scrutiny at the foreign affairs committee, there was a request that we could guarantee services, bearing in mind that the Government commitment was only on goods initially. That is related to additional legal advice being provided. The legal advice has been digested by officials at the Department of foreign affairs and they have gone back to the Attorney General with additional questions. We await the clarifications on those. Some of them are technical and some are otherwise.

It is very clear that the Spanish legislation goes into the area of services, the extent of which we can perhaps consider further. For example, due to the Spanish legislation, some rental companies been forced to remove the advertisement of the letting of properties in these occupied territories. Therefore, it is clearly having an effect. If EU law prevented member states from intervening in the area of services, that would be struck down. Obviously, any potential legislation can be challenged; anyone can choose to challenge any legislation.

It is about whether it is currently robust enough. We need to get a sense of the advice of the Attorney General by whatever means the Minister of State can communicate this. It seems that the Minister of State is saying he is not necessarily prevented from doing so. He spoke about raising a number of questions. Perhaps he can clarify that. Questions can be raised, including about practical implementation. I am sure it is not going to be simple to do but it is doable, that is for sure.

Let us remind ourselves that last year saw not only the continuation of the genocide in Gaza, but a record number of home demolitions, settler attacks and orders for new illegal settlement construction in the West Bank. That is all continuing this year. The urgency of this Bill has never been greater. Since the so-called ceasefire, well over 500 Palestinians have been killed. Yesterday 18 Palestinians were killed. It is the position of the foreign affairs committee that the Government should include the question of services. It is the position of this Dáil, which the Minister of State did not vote against. The whole Dáil voted for a motion two months ago to say that it should include services and should be enacted before the end of the year. We are two months on and the Government is just kicking the can down the road trying to avoid taking action.

The Minister of State made the point about all these other countries having different legal frameworks. That is fine, in terms of their domestic legislation. However, the Government's argument has also been that the problem here is European law. European law applies equally to all European countries. If we cannot do services in Ireland because of European law, it cannot be done in Spain either.

The clear point I was making is not necessarily in relation to EU law but the ability of different jurisdictions to progress legislation in a different manner as per their domestic parliamentary structures for creating legislation. We have to recognise that.

Eight years is plenty of time.

Of course, the Deputy is right that any legislation can be challenged. We have made it quite clear that we will not produce legislation that we feel will actually fail the test of EU or international law. That is a very real commitment because we are talking about the rule of law and the importance of it. We have to act as such.

I must stress that this is not the only thing the Irish Government is doing in relation to the absolute horrors of the genocide that is going on at the moment in Gaza. On our response at EU level, twice we have called for a suspension of the association agreement. We have asked for investigations under article 2. We have led the way. I am not looking for a clap on the back; I am just providing the context. We have no material opposition. I absolutely respect and support the declaration of the foreign affairs committee last summer and of course I did not vote against the motion in the Dáil. I have no political obstacle to this. We have said consistently as a Government that we need to work in something that is fit for purpose in terms of international law. We have prepared legislation, as we committed to in the programme for Government, in relation to goods. There was the clear response, request and instruction from the foreign affairs committee on services. We sought advice from the Attorney General to provide that legal guarantee. That has been received and now we are looking for the technical details and responses. In fairness to the previous Minister, and I am sure it will be no different with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, briefings will be provided to the Opposition and there will be full engagement not only in this House but also in the Seanad, noting that the genesis of this was Senator Black's Bill back in 2018.