Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

This will be my last time to come in on this, but it is important to specify it is particularly in relation to Gaza, which is an occupied Palestinian territory, but in terms of what postcodes are going to look like in relation to that and the question of illegal settlements. That is why I am asking the Minister to review. I understand her rationale for saying she wants to use this mechanism that is in place. Just for context I will make this sole point, which will relate very heavily to the debate we are going to have shortly on services. The very fact of these being labelled and there being a marking when things are coming from illegal settlements and settlements was not something the European Union or the Commission just did. They did it because they were forced to do it by individual countries taking action. That was really important. It was the UK then which was part of it. It was Denmark and, I believe, Belgium. In a row, each country started labelling the postcodes in terms of illegal settlements. The fact that they acted then created a situation where a case was taken about their actions, and that case being taken set the precedent that forced the EU as a whole to act. It is a really important example, in terms of the discussion we are going to have later, that this postcode system, which we will rely very heavily on here, was only brought in by the pressure of individual states giving leadership and acting beyond what the European Union was doing or claimed it had to do. That is what created these codes as a starting point. That is why it is appropriate that we not simply be complacent on how these postcodes and so forth will operate but that we have a strong monitoring role in relation to them and we bear in mind that they are something the European Commission was forced to introduce. In that context, it is very appropriate that there would be a review as to the operation. I know the Minister mentioned a review. Explicitly, whether or not the Minister wished to take in Syria, Lebanon and so forth, the key point on Gaza is that we monitor how that system within the European Union is going to accurately reflect the illegal settlements that are certainly planned and, indeed, extractive colonies that are explicitly planned for Gaza, including by some of those who have been participating in EU discussions about the future of Gaza. It is in that context that I am asking the Minister to keep track of it. This is not an infallible mechanism and it is not one which was done as part of due diligence. It was done when forced to be done by individual states giving leadership, as Ireland should be giving leadership in relation to this question of trade at all.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:16+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15