Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages Dail Éireann — 2026-05-20 ============================================================ Mark Ward (SF), Dublin Mid-West I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act 2. Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following new definitions: “ ‘crime against humanity’ means any of the acts specified in Article 7 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court; ‘genocide’ means any of the acts specified in Article 6 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court; ‘war crime’ means any of the acts specified in Article 8.2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court.”.”. This amendment is necessary as a foundation for later amendments defining the circumstances in which it would be an offence to join, train or recruit for an armed force when that armed force is engaged in a crime against humanity and war crimes. This group of amendments and existing legislation in this area ignores the pressing terrorism crisis of our time, namely the actions of the IDF in Palestine. Current laws do not prevent people from joining a military organisation engaged in genocide and gross human rights violations. While this now arises in regard to the actions of the IDF, it may in future arise in regard to the armed forces of other states engaged in war crimes which recruit what are in fact mercenaries. The IDF recruits foreign fighters, just as others who are targets of this legislation do. The EU directive dates from a period when ISIS was at its peak and there was a significant problem with the people travelling from Europe to join ISIS. Sinn Féin's amendments are designed to address citizens of the State travelling or training to participate in genocide and war crimes. They also outlaw recruitment by the armed forces of such a state. Our amendments would also have the effect of preventing the IDF or other armed forces engaged in genocide or war crimes from training with the Irish Defence Forces. It was revealed that IDF military personnel have trained in the Military College for a period of six years. This is something that would not be permitted under Sinn Féin's amendments. Is this something that the Minister would stand over? Would the Government allow this to happen now? I suspect the Minister would not allow this to happen at this moment in time but the Bill is not just about today. It is about the future and future-proofing legislation so that future Governments and whoever sits in the Minister's seat will not be allowed to permit the IDF or any other organisations involved in genocide to train with our military on Irish soil. Even today, there is footage of the IDF mocking peaceful activists kidnapped in international waters. Today, the IDF is breaking international law. It is being led by Israel's National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, who happily had a birthday last week where his birthday cake had a noose to symbolise that he hopes to be able to hang Palestinian people. This is absolutely inhumane. He can be seen walking around in the footage waving a flag and mocking detained citizens. Some of them are our citizens who are being put into a corner with their heads bowed to the ground and not allowed to look up. It is absolutely horrific. Last year, my colleague Chris Andrews was in a similar situation and he has testified how he and other detainees were treated by the IDF. What is the crime these people are accused of? All they are looking to do is break Israel's horrific blockade and deliver vital aid to Gazans, who desperately need help. I call on the Irish Government to demand the immediate release of all the citizens who are detained and to seek urgent clarification of their whereabouts. We do not know where they are. There are 15 Irish participants, as well as hundreds of other civilians, who have been taken off these boats. What we saw on that footage today is what is happening right now. This adds to what we know the IDF has already engaged in. It has engaged in the arbitrary killing of civilians. Members of the IDF are on record admitting to this. They have shot unarmed and starving civilians who were queueing for food. They were queueing for food because of a man-made famine created by Israel. Members of the IDF have killed many innocent children. Last year, UNICEF estimated that at least 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza. In total, 75,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered by Israel since the bombardment of Gaza began. Why does Israel continue to break international law? Why does it continue to commit genocide? It is because there are no sanctions and Israel is allowed to get away with it. I do not see the amendments we are tabling today as being any less important than enacting the occupied territories Bill. It is time for the Irish to take decisive action. It is time for the Irish to hold Israel to account because of the daily horror inflicted on the Palestinian people. I ask the Government to support the amendments we have tabled, which basically seek to stop the IDF from being allowed to train on Irish soil and to stop Irish civilians from going abroad and training with the IDF. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-20/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-20