Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-08
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

At the outset, I welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for her leadership in this area and commitment in her opening remarks to go on pushing at European level to get a consensus on real action on the trade agreement and individual sanctions.
As someone who has had a consistent and special interest in this question over years, I applaud Senator Frances Black for her role and pioneering work in this area. That goes without saying. I come at this myself as a special rapporteur for Palestinian women and children for the Council of Europe, so I have more than a passing interest.
An important point that should be made is that we will differ about the content and elements of the Bill, but we should maintain a collective pride as a country in our strong stance as a nation on the Palestinian question. We recognise the State of Palestine. We have been consistent in our public criticism of the genocide in Gaza, we took a strong position at the UN, we were a co-sponsor of the ICJ, and latterly, we have given leadership at EU level. In the midst of our reasonable democratic discussion on, and disagreements about, this legislation, let us maintain that unity and pride in that leadership position as a country.
Today is about the occupied territories, but let me make a passing reference to the horror that is Gaza. It is a Second Stage speech. In excess of 73,000 people have been killed, while there have also been horrific injuries, malnutrition, starvation, displacement from homes and, effectively, no or very threatened schooling of children.
To turn to the issue of today, the illegal settlements, in international law they are clearly illegal and are expanding. They cause access to land resources for Palestinians to be restricted, there is settler violence, and Palestinian families continue to face displacement and growing insecurity. The nature of the settlements and their topography, or whatever the word is - their dispersed nature - is threatening the potential for a two-state solution. This Bill matters at its most basic level in that it sends a clear message that goods produced in the illegal settlements will not benefit from trade with Ireland, similar to apartheid South Africa in the past. More importantly, it shows leadership in Europe. As the Minister said, the Commission is coming up with proposals, and this exercise by us, and please God we will finish it before the summer, will make a difference in leading the European effort. We are winning support for suspension of trade. The number of countries which have come on side over recent months is, of course, because of the atrocities but also because of the Irish position. The difficulty presented here with services is their transnational nature, the intangible nature of the digital element, the cross-border element, and the Attorney General's advice that we cannot, as an individual State, take a unique position. That is the Government’s position on this. That is what presents the difficulty with the services.
The passing of the Bill in itself will be a leadership position for the Oireachtas to take. It will enhance our moral authority in Europe and give leadership to other European countries. It is, at its most fundamental level, coupled with our previous action on recognising Palestine, joining the ICJ case and strong public statements, another act of solidarity with the victims of these illegal settlements.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:10+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-08