CC
Dara Calleary
Deputy Paul Murphy is taking this question in place of Deputy Gino Kenny.
Dail Éireann · 2022-03-10
Party shown is the one held on 2022-03-10, frozen at parse time — not the speaker's party today.
It goes from Ireland to Israel in the form of dual-use goods and it goes from Israel to Ireland in the form of weapons that have been battle-tested on Palestinian civilians. There are no such restrictions or embargoes in place on Israel or Israeli companies at the moment. However, in 2021, engineering, or non-lethal, equipment was purchased from Israeli Military Industries, which is understood to be wholly owned by the State of Israel.
In that case, let us have an arms embargo on Israel and let us say clearly we are on the side of the Palestinian people who are being oppressed by the Israeli state. Is the Minister in favour of an arms embargo on Israel? Ireland has not made any proposal to place an arms embargo on Israel.
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Deputy Paul Murphy is taking this question in place of Deputy Gino Kenny.
I ask the Minister for the up-to-date figures on the arms trade between Ireland and Israel, which is shameful. It goes from Ireland to Israel in the form of dual-use goods and it goes from Israel to Ireland in the form of weapons that have been battle-tested on Palestinian civilians.
The principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by the Department of Defence for the acquisition of defensive equipment for the Defence Forces. This is an EU law requirement in accordance with the defence and security directive. Central to those procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition between suppliers through the submission of tenders following advertising of the tender competition on the eTenders site and on the Official Journal of the European Union, where appropriate. Such tender competitions are open to any company or country, subject to the terms of all UN, OSCE and EU arms embargoes or restrictions. There are no such restrictions or embargoes in place on Israel or Israeli companies at the moment.
I am advised the Department of Defence has purchased defensive equipment from Israeli companies as set out in value terms in the following table. The expenditure primarily relates to ground surveillance radars, engineering equipment, fire control systems and the upgrade of the unmanned aerial vehicles operated by the Defence Forces. During this period no equipment has been purchased directly from the State of Israel. However, in 2021, engineering, or non-lethal, equipment was purchased from Israeli Military Industries, which is understood to be wholly owned by the State of Israel.
The expenditure on equipment that came from Israeli companies is as follows:
In expenditure terms, these are relatively small amounts of money for non-lethal equipment, mainly in the protective and information space from an engineering perspective, such as fire control systems, surveillance radar systems and so on.
That is €1.7 million or so in the past three years to Israeli armaments companies.
They are not armaments companies.
They are Israeli companies that are providing military equipment to the Irish State.
It is not arms though, to be clear.
I have a couple of questions. The Minister says there is no arms embargo. Does he agree there should be an arms embargo on a state that has been defined as an apartheid one by Amnesty International? It has been defined by it as operating a racist and cruel system of apartheid within the State of Israel, within the occupied Palestinian territories in Gaza, and against the millions of Palestinians exiled in the Palestinian diaspora. Just a minute ago, the Minister made the point that Ireland is a neutral state, which means we get to choose whose side we are on and are not bound by any alliances and so on. In that case, let us have an arms embargo on Israel and let us say clearly we are on the side of the Palestinian people who are being oppressed by the Israeli state.
As the Deputy knows, Ireland does not decide on arms embargoes. The trade policy of the European Union is decided collectively. It is proposed by the Commission and debated by member states. We had a very good debate on the Amnesty International report in this House last week. There was also a debate on it in the Seanad. It highlights many very important issues that Ireland continues to bring to light and focus on. Ireland is the most vocal country in the European Union with regard to the treatment of Palestinians by Israel, focusing on the expansion of settlements, settler violence, forced evictions, illegal activity and so on. We are constant and consistent in our criticism of such illegal activity. We do not decide unilaterally on arms embargoes. The Deputy knows that, or at least he should.
It is a clear question. Is the Minister in favour of an arms embargo on Israel? That is what Amnesty International recommends. Is the Minister in favour of it or not? He made a clear statement earlier that the Government is on the side of Ukraine against Russia. That is okay. I am also for the defeat of the Russian invasion in Ukraine and for its repulsion by the Ukrainian people. Will the Minister make a similar statement about Palestine and say the Irish Government is on the side of the Palestinian people against the Israeli state?
I ask the Minister to make a similar statement. He is saying there is nothing stopping us and that is not what neutrality is about and so on. Let us make such a statement and as part of that let us say that it is horrendous to have an arms trade with a racist and apartheid state that is guilty of killing 9,000 Palestinian civilians in the past two decades, including 1,000 children. Let us speak out against that and take the side of the oppressed as opposed to the oppressor. Is the Minister in favour of an arms embargo? Will he clearly say that the Irish State is on the side of the Palestinians against Israeli oppression?
Ireland has not made any proposal to place an arms embargo on Israel. What we are doing and will continue to do is speak to both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to try to advance a peace process that is desperately needed. We have continued to do that and we have called out illegality when it has taken place. I have been clear, and at times, quite forceful, in my criticism of the Israeli Government’s policy towards Palestinians and I have invested a lot of time, on behalf of this House and the Irish people, into ensuring that Ireland is a relevant contributor to that debate. This is about trying to find a way forward for a peace process that can allow for a two-state solution that can ensure the Palestinians can realise their right to a state of their own. That is our focus and it will continue to be our focus.