Trade Agreements
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Sinéad Gibney (SD), Dublin Rathdown

I thank the Minister of State. I would like the Irish Government to champion a pathway for a referendum on self-determination, something which was promised after independence from France decades ago and never actioned. Instead, it seems like the world is keen to move on and ignore it if it means cheaper Moroccan imports and co-operation on migration policy. The Commission's proposals for delivering on tangible benefit as part of this deal include investment in Moroccan companies in Western Sahara, essentially financially incentivising continued occupation which features well-documented human rights abuses and surveillance of Sahrawis. Another aspect of their proposal is to deliver tangible benefit, as I mentioned, via humanitarian aid to Sahrawi refugee camps. I know the Minister of State agrees with me that humanitarian aid should not be used as a bargaining chip to trade away the rights of a struggling people. I am asking that this conviction be expressed by the Department on this specific trade deal. It is clear that this trade deal has serious flaws and has not complied with the ruling of the Courts of Justice. What are the Department and the Government going to do about it? I appreciate the Minister of State's stance on the delicacy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05