Neale Richmond
Dublin Rathdown · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I am grateful to Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this once again. I welcome the comments by his party leader this week when she declared that this is a great State and a great place to live in. It makes a welcome change from most other days of the week.”
“Another thing that must be looked at when discussing a united Ireland is that a lot of work has to be done to show example from political representatives on the base level of sectarianism that at least two other colleagues on these benches and I put up with every day.”
“They could not decide among themselves in the "Yes" campaign whether they would have a new form of sterling or a currency pegged to sterling or adopt the euro. That is not an issue for us. We join the European Union and we join the euro. It is simple as.”
“I will make a few concluding remarks to follow on from some of the points made by the Taoiseach in his opening iteration because in his 20 minutes he did not cover them all.”
“Over the coming months, we will act impartially serving as an honest broker among our fellow member states to progress many files in areas that were raised here today. Our work will respond to the overall interests and needs of the union, its member states and citizens across Europe.”
“More pertinently to the Deputy's questions, very real charges have been placed in The Irish Times and by other investigative journalists stating that the amounts of alumina being produced from Aughinish are going indirectly to the Russian war machine. If that is the case, it is completely unacceptable.”
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“Another thing that must be looked at when discussing a united Ireland is that a lot of work has to be done to show example from political representatives on the base level of sectarianism that at least two other colleagues on these benches and I put up with every day. If the Deputy looks at the profiles of those who are putting that out there, who bedevilled Heather Humphreys when she ran for President, the emblems and the people they support, it would be welcome if all parties and all representatives in this Chamber made it clear that any sort of united or new Ireland cannot be delivered, but we will continue that work.”
“I am grateful to Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this once again. I welcome the comments by his party leader this week when she declared that this is a great State and a great place to live in. It makes a welcome change from most other days of the week. There is a considerable amount of preparatory work going on from political parties across the spectrum. The Deputy referenced our own work in Fine Gael, but also the work of the Labour Party and the Social Democrats, who appeared at the SDLP conference last week. Crucially, that work is combined with the ongoing work of the shared island unit, which has delivered over €1 billion worth of investment through real reconciliation.”
“We can all voice our very real frustration, anger and complete bafflement by the decisions taken by the leaders of other EU member states on this issue. That unfortunately is the situation of being part of the European Union. We have to work within the confines of EU law and be aware of arrangements at European Council level. It should not, at some stage, deflect from the real work going on by repeated Irish Ministers to make progress, particularly in concert with our friends in Spain and, increasingly, countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The appalling and worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza demands a very real and serious response, as does the situation in the West Bank where there is a massive expansion of Israeli settlements, alongside rampant and escalating settler violence.”
“It is crucially important that Oireachtas Members from all parties and none, and from both Houses, engage fully, not just in the Presidency today but in using it to make sure our focus on Europe and European Union affairs is a bedrock of our democratic discussion.”
“Over the coming months, we will act impartially serving as an honest broker among our fellow member states to progress many files in areas that were raised here today. Our work will respond to the overall interests and needs of the union, its member states and citizens across Europe. The Government will continue to keep the House informed about progress with our Presidency programme and I really look forward to future discussions with Deputies. The Taoiseach laid out that he will be addressing COSAC next week. This is a great opportunity and as someone, like Deputy Ó Murchú, who travelled to many COSAC meetings during membership of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, I know this is where parliamentarians are given the best ability to contribute to the European Union's legislative agenda.”
“Other items addressed in the June European Council conclusions included the western Balkans and Armenia, as well as efforts to help stop the spread of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, as raised by Deputy Ó Laoghaire last week. The conclusions adopted at the June European Council also reaffirmed the EU's support for the institutions upholding international law. They also took note of recent EU strategies for islands and coastal communities and referred to discussions on the integrated country-specific recommendations, enabling the 2026 European semester to be concluded. We are one week into our Presidency of the Council of the European Union.”
“More famously, and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle was part of the Government at the time, in 2004 we hosted the day of welcomes when the European Union expanded to ten member states. For many of us that symbolised the real end - in many ways the belated end - of the Cold War when most of those countries who were former Soviet satellite states were able to embrace the European Union and liberal western democracies. Like Ukraine, Moldavia's future is in Europe. The opening of the first cluster in Moldova's accession negotiations on 15 June was warmly welcomed by leaders, as was the first EU-Moldova summit that took place on 22 June. While holding the Presidency, we will work to open all remaining clusters by the end of the Irish Presidency.”
“The June European Council meeting committed to jointly operationalising the EU drugs strategy 2026-2030 and addressed the harms caused by illicit drugs. This EU drugs strategy implementation framework provides an opportunity to address gaps identified in the evaluation of the previous strategy while also optimising the use of existing measures and tools. As chair of the horizontal working group on drugs for the next six months, Ireland is committed to progressing the implementation framework for the EU drugs strategy. The Taoiseach spoke at length about Ukraine and Deputy Lawless raised what I would classify, quite frankly, as misplaced concerns about enlargement of the European Union, bearing in mind the last time Ireland had the Presidency in 2013 it was the eve of Croatia joining the European Union.”
“Leaders discussed the ongoing challenges presented by irregular and unplanned migration and looked at the progress on the legislative agenda calling for intensification of this work. They will have a strategic discussion on migration at their next meeting in October. Ireland is fully committed to the implementation of the pact, which will provide a consistent, fair, sustainable, humane and efficient asylum procedure and upgrade the common European asylum system. It will create an asylum service that is transparent, fair and aligned with other member states. The trade in illicit drugs orchestrated by organised crime groups poses a serious challenge to European security and the well-being, crucially, of our citizens.”
“Even though we will retain a central policy of military neutrality, we can work with European partners to make sure security and defence are there, particularly with the Council's urgent call for efforts to strengthen resilience, enhance preparedness, protect critical infrastructure and prevent, deter and respond to hybrid attacks, bearing in mind this jurisdiction was subject to a hybrid attack on our health system not that long ago. In respect of migration and following on from the entry into force of the EU migration and asylum pact on 12 June, despite Deputy O'Flynn's charges this is something that was voted on by the democratically elected representatives of the people in Dáil Éireann.”
“I will make a few concluding remarks to follow on from some of the points made by the Taoiseach in his opening iteration because in his 20 minutes he did not cover them all. In regard to the items discussed at the June European Council meeting, as we just finished off on the crucial issue of European defence, it was revisited at the meeting and leaders took stock of progress on the implementation of the defence readiness roadmap. Of course, security is one of Ireland's overarching priorities and that is why we will continue to take forward the European defence readiness agenda. Deputies have rightly said, and perhaps criticised, that countries across the union are investing more in their national security and defence capabilities. Deputy O'Donoghue rightly charged that Ireland needs to do more in this regard, and we are.”
“However, supporting the people of Ukraine to build and purchase defensive systems and to clear landmines is compatible with that policy of military neutrality. Making sure we have real spending on security is just common sense, particularly when we are seeking to protect peace. We are not in an era where Europe is spending more on defence than ever before. Per capita , it is actually much lower than it was in the seventies and eighties.”
“On Deputy Gibney's point on values from her opening iteration and how that reflects her subsequent question, peace is the top value. Peace is a value. Peace defines European values. It is why we repeatedly refer to values in the European Union. It can be everything to do with AI regulation and making sure that it is a human generating aspect. This is a peace project. I am delighted we agree on that. One would argue that if you believe in peace, you have to prepare to pay to defend that peace. The Deputy is right that I do not agree with the Government's position on military neutrality. I would much rather that we were doing other things, but we are not. That is not only because it is the collective Government agreement, but it is the position of my political party, this Dáil and the Irish people.”
“In relation to the situation in Gaza, the genocide and Ireland's approach at a European level, we were the first member state, along with Spain, to ask for the EU-Israel Association Agreement to be reopened. It is our position that the trade element should be suspended in its entirety. I recall the first time it was brought up only three member states backed us. In May, I attended a European Council meeting where we got that to 19 member states. A sanctions package was produced last September. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has this on the agenda for the Foreign Affairs Council meeting next week and will continue to push this vigorously as we engage, which was discussed in our debate more broadly yesterday evening.”
“It is the same with every medicine, treatment or equipment used in medical advice. It gets approved on a European basis and then has to be approved. It is just like when we pass legislation at a European level, it has to be transposed into domestic legislation. I take the Deputy's point, however, that it is not quick enough. When other member states are doing it quicker than us, that is something we need to reflect on. It goes to the point more broadly of competitiveness and the interests of the competitiveness agenda in delivering for citizens. I wish to close on two points in my very brief time. I apologise; I do not perhaps have as much time as I would like to go into them.”
“Part of the subsidiarity mechanism is making sure that it is fit for purpose, such as a medicine or treatment that may be in available in other EU members states that is not yet perhaps available here in Ireland. We have all heard about and had constituents who had to travel to the Netherlands or Germany to receive treatments, for example, with new cancer drugs or whatever may be the case. However, as that is of little comfort to the Coady family, what I can commit to is that I will engage directly with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and see through her offices what the status is with the domestic regulation and implementation of this drug, bearing in mind the need to do this as quickly as possible given the situation facing the Coady family.”
“We see months of investigative journalists' work leading to, perhaps, areas of the supply chain. When the investigation is produced, the Government is open to all suggestions and working with the European Commission to a future, bearing in mind the very real economic impact and the importance of jobs in the region, but also our very clear obligations to ensure that we have no complicity in the Russian war machine and its campaign of terror on the Ukrainian people. To go back to Deputy Gould's points in relation to the Coady family and access to medicines, it is a harrowing case. My heart goes out to the entire family. Of course, we know that when medicines go to the European Medicines Agency, they then have to be verified on a domestic level as well.”
“More pertinently to the Deputy's questions, very real charges have been placed in The Irish Times and by other investigative journalists stating that the amounts of alumina being produced from Aughinish are going indirectly to the Russian war machine. If that is the case, it is completely unacceptable. There is currently a Government investigation being led by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Deputy Ó Laoghaire asked about what sort of conversations are happening with the Commission. Any sort of investigation requires a member state government to maintain regular contact with the Commission in terms of the status of the investigation. This is not a straightforward investigation. We have already seen the reporting that the CSO figures have been withdrawn and there are complications there.”
“Regarding the status quo from a Government point of view, we have a twentieth sanctions package. We have supported every single one of the sanction packages where alumina is not listed. We are moving towards a twenty-first package. It must be noted that the independent accreditation audit, for want of a better word, by former Secretary-General of the European Commission, David O'Sullivan, has consistently stated that Ireland is one of the top countries for implementing the sanctions. Alumina is not a sanctioned material. That is simply a statement of fact. It may be in a twenty-first package of negotiations.”
“They could not decide among themselves in the "Yes" campaign whether they would have a new form of sterling or a currency pegged to sterling or adopt the euro. That is not an issue for us. We join the European Union and we join the euro. It is simple as. The Deputy said that is not an issue for us to decide, but they are the rules and those are the rules that are in our interests as well as our responsibility. Moving more broadly into the areas raised by Deputes Ó Laoghaire and Gibney into Aughinish Alumina relating to the status quo and where we are, I recognise the vote in the European Parliament. It was not just Fine Gael's political grouping. It was all four of our MEPs who voted in that direction. Again, I cannot speak for my coalition partners but I will invite them to, perhaps, take the Deputy up on her kind offer.”
“That is why it is about the importance of retaining programmes, such as PEACEPLUS, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in Iveagh House ten days ago, receiving over €1 billion in European funding to drive projects North and South that deliver real levels of community building, reconciliation and some sort of move away from the societal and economic harm that years of conflict led to on this island. I take the point made more widely. Regarding the Scottish referendum, the two issues that really focused that was what Scotland's status would be. We saw the former President of the European Commission, José Barroso, pour cold water in that there was no guarantee that Scotland would automatically be part of the European Union.”
“We spent so long - decades - receiving huge amounts of structural and cohesion funding because when we joined the European Economic Community we were, in many arguments, what was then known as a Third World country. We are not like that, certainly not in this jurisdiction. When we take any European mapping pre-Brexit and post Brexit, the part of this island that is, perhaps, in need of the biggest focus of co-ordinated support would be the Border region. Deputy Ó Murchú has raised this very eloquently.”
“Thankfully, most of them have Irish passports and they are able to retain their European citizenship, but they are no longer in the EU jurisdiction. That is the first and last discussion when it comes to Europe. There were a couple of subsequent things raised by Deputy Gould that are worth reflecting on. We talk about European funding. Europe is not going to pay for unity. We have to be quite clear about the status of the economy at this point, for example, of the Republic. At this stage, we are a net contributor to the European Union. Even based on the current economic forecasts and the status of the North in terms of employment, we would still be a net contributor as a united Ireland. That is a mark of something we should be proud of.”
“The fact is it was former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, who secured the absolute acceptance from the European Council that when or if - I hope it is when - our nation is reunited, it will automatically be a united state within the European Union. There is no question there. That is quite simple. If we go on the journey, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland calls a border poll and we have ratification of a united Ireland North and South, that will be an Ireland part of the European Union. That is it. That is the first and most important thing. That is a case that is raised repeatedly with me by people from the North who say, "We did not vote for Brexit. We certainly did not vote to lose our European citizenship".”
“I thank all the Deputies for their contributions to this important regular debate, particularly those who have placed very pertinent questions that I will try to answer as thoroughly possible in the time available to me. I will start with the issue of Irish unity and how Europe relates to that as raised in questions by Deputies Ó Laoghaire, Ó Murchú and Gould and, indeed, in their party leader's opening intervention. One thing that is important when we talk about the constitutional future of our nation is how Europe fits into that. Referred to by their party leader, but without much detail, was the agreement by the European Council, which was the first European Council subsequent to the fateful Brexit referendum that Deputy O'Donoghue spoke about in some detail.”
“I completely accept the bona fides of Deputies Ó Laoghaire and Heneghan. They want to make sure of the immediate commencement of this legislation. They can take this absolute guarantee. I have no doubt it will be in place long before the Oireachtas goes into recess.”
“The first time the Government brought forward the proposal to open up the EU-Israel trade association agreement, only three member states agreed with it. Last May in Brussels while I was in attendance, we moved that coalition from three to 19. We saw an impactful proposal from the Commission last September. Unfortunately, other EU member states did not go along with the position clearly laid out by the Irish Government, the Spanish Government, the previous Slovenian Government and, at times, the Governments of Belgium and Luxembourg. Thankfully, since an election, the Dutch Government is very much part of that. We will continue to push forward. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, will continue at the Foreign Affairs Council on 13 July. We will make sure Ireland's voice is heard clearly on that.”
“Deputy Gibney said aid was important and I know she has a strong record in development. One of the areas she and I agree on is the importance of humanitarian aid and development co-operation in a global context and, crucially, in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. It is not just about the amounts Ireland has contributed. Bear in mind that the EU suspended funding for UNRWA - the EU blacklisted UNRWA. The Irish Government fought tooth and nail to get that overturned rapidly and get EU funding increased. We stood up and made it quite clear. We were the first EU member state to officially recognise Palestine as a state, with our friends in Spain and, outside the EU, in Norway. That may be nothing to those opposite but it is false to say the Irish Government has done nothing.”
“The use of "shall" could imply it is a one-off power to be used on one designation order; however, we intend to regularly update the prohibited postal codes as the EU list is updated. When the EU list is updated, our list is automatically updated. We have already prepared the advance drafts of the ministerial order that is required to enact everything that has been stated. On amendments Nos. 30 and 32, the Minister has said she fully intends to commence the Bill as soon as possible. I am minded not to go into the charges that do not relate to the amendments. I do not want to give a false depiction of what other people say but I have met the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the United Nations. We have all met the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Ireland, I presume.”
“I cannot give a more firm commitment and the Minister gave the exact same commitment when she was in committee last week. I appreciate the Deputy does not like this Government; I would not like a government he thought was better. That is the politics we belong to and it is okay to disagree. On amendment No. 4 and its use of language indicating that the Minister "shall" designate, it is simply not a drafting that is regularly used by drafters in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in circumstances such as these. It would not be normal to make such a provision mandatory on the Minister because the use of "may" is more suitable where the Minister is being conferred with a recurring power to designate an unspecified number of times. The Minister made it clear the designation of postcodes is not a one-off event.”
“I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I will speak to the amendments, first and foremost, and then touch on some of the other interventions. On amendment No. 3, the designation of postal codes is not a one-off event. I have them in my hand. The Minister will be required to do this whenever the EU list of postcodes is periodically reviewed and updated. This is just something that is done. Placing a time limit on designation is neither operable nor necessary because we have them designated already. To Deputy Murphy's point, when will the Government collapse? Will it collapse tomorrow? Will the Deputy move a confidence motion next week? The Government will not collapse between the conclusion of this debate and the Seanad Stages next week after which the Bill will be enacted and commenced immediately by the Government.”
“Parallel to that twin track approach - whoever came up with it first - is a very clear policy choice to proceed with legislation on a domestic basis in relation to goods and to continue to raise this on an EU basis and build an alliance and coalition to get real EU action like we achieved when we managed to get 18 other member states to come along with us and open up the EU-Israel Association Agreement in the first place.”
“In the time remaining to me, I must refer to what I can only call a conspiracy theory argument put forward consistently that somehow this legislation is at the behest of the US administration or has been put in in such a manner because of the US administration. As Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora, I think I have travelled to the United States six times in the past calendar year. Not once has this legislation been brought up with me by lawmakers, members of the business community, multinationals or anyone else. Ultimately, the Government made a decision on foot of the ICJ opinion that there was an opportunity to take the good work done by Senator Black and introduce legislation that would get us to some degree there.”
“Respectfully, I did not interrupt the Deputy. I waited for my opportunity to intervene. This legislation is absolutely cast iron in line with international and EU law. It moves us towards our full obligations under the ICJ opinion. That is something we have to reflect on. However, there are issues with services, which have been well elucidated. When it comes to the example of Spain, Deputies cannot come into this Chamber and say that a royal degree amendment to a consumer Act, which has only resulted in some 60 or 70 advertisements being pulled down, equates to a blanket ban on services.”
“I appreciate the opportunity to come back in. This goes to the very clear place that in the case of goods, a public policy exception exists in EU regulation controlling the importation of goods. This gives the Government the opportunity, on foot of the ICJ opinion, to act in this manner on a domestic footing. I am taken by some of the language. Deputy Gibney used the terms "sinister" and "weaponising". We have had quite a cordial debate. I think such terms are out of place. What is sinister about seeking to bring in legislation that will ban the importation of goods from the occupied territories? It is a good thing. We are not looking to weaponise the EU. We are merely reflecting the very real-----”
“In parallel, clear advocacy has been going on for quite some time at an EU level to bring about an EU ban on all trade with settlements. For the first time, we saw that issue being discussed during the trade segment of the Foreign Affairs Council. It will be raised again at the Foreign Affairs Council next week. I am very aware my time is running out and there is much more I would say but I might have another chance later. I will state again that we fundamentally believe that these amendments would leave us with a Bill that is unworkable and wide open to legal challenge. Such a move would also act as a disincentive to other EU partners. For those reasons and many others, stated by both me and the Minister on Committee Stage, we are not in a position to accept this grouping of amendments.”
“In areas where EU member states have pooled their competence, such as external trade, obligations that would normally fall to states are on the EU, including international obligations. However, EU member states are also bound by EU law. When trying to ensure compliance with both EU law and international law, states must first identify the correct legal level at which to act. Certain measures can be taken at the national level while others may only be possible at the EU level. The objective should be to reconcile EU and international law obligations, and that is exactly what we are doing by bringing forward this Bill at a domestic level to ban trade on goods and bring us towards compliance with the ICJ advisory opinion.”
“On what we are doing on EU level, Deputy Smith rightly cited the issues in relation to Russia and Crimea and, of course, that was agreed at EU level. That was how we were able to do it so quickly and strongly and with widespread support from the House. No doubt, when the 21st sanction package of the EU is brought forward, we should get the vast majority of the House’s support as well. Deputies Gibney and O’Gorman referred to our constitutional obligations. I simply reject Deputy Gibney’s assertion that we are not in compliance with the full ICJ judgment. I will outline the reasons, if the Deputy bares with me. The EU is, of course, bound by international law. This is clearly stated in the treaty. EU member states are similarly bound by international law.”
“The 2024 advisory opinion we are all familiar with finds that Israel's occupation of occupied Palestinian territory is, of course, unlawful. That is why they are called occupied territories. However, the court does not, therefore, distinguish between goods and services. It leaves it to the states to determine what steps they should take. As Deputies stated, and as was discussed at length in committee, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has made clear that we are taking a very clear twin-track approach. First, we are doing what we can do on goods, which is what we promised to do in the programme for Government. We put that through pre-legislative and Committee Stage and we are debating it here and will debate it in the Seanad. We are clearly bringing in legislation that impacts on goods.”
“As has been said, the Spanish Government provided a very clear amendment to Spain's consumer protection legislation by royal decree. We do not have royal decrees in this jurisdiction. That amendment has only been in place for a number of months so it has not faced the full rigours of a challenge yet, but I am of the understanding that 60 or 70 advertisements have been taken down since it came in. It is important to provide that context. I understand the points the Deputies made and I do not necessarily disagree with them, but that is the context of what is happening in other jurisdictions. A point is repeatedly and understandably made about our compliance with the ICJ opinion. Of course, the Government has a key responsibility to make sure any legislation we produce is fully in order for our Statute Book.”
“I have no doubt the Deputy was. I was merely a second-year arts student following Deputy Murphy's lead. In this area, when we talk about what other member states are doing, Slovenia does not have legislation. That is crucial here. I remember sitting with the then Slovenian foreign minister at the Foreign Affairs Council last year. She came up to me and asked, "What are you doing in Ireland? How can we follow your lead?" Unfortunately, that Slovenian Government lost the most recent election, and I say "unfortunately" because its members were good working partners. The Deputy can call them our buddies or "chums" but they were really good working partners who wanted to work in this area. At the same time, the consistent Spanish minister said Spain was looking through options and opportunities where it could do this on a domestic basis.”
“By their nature, trade and services are broad and wide-ranging. I could go into the WTO's general agreement on trade and services. I could talk about the Single European Market, the services directive, the commerce directive and the posting of workers directive. I will make one point clear. I do not really disagree with much of what Deputy Coppinger said in the first minute or two of her contribution. I have no doubt that if President Trump does come, there will be large-scale protests. I remember attending protests when President George W. Bush was here. Deputy Paul Murphy led them, with Professor Aidan Regan and many others who were a bit younger then, but that was the time we were in.”
“Without wishing to reiterate what was said in the debate last week or, indeed, many times in this Chamber, in the case of goods, a public policy exception exists in the EU regulation that controls the importation of goods. Bear in mind, before this opinion was enacted, there was no pathway to any Bill of this kind until iar-Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, took the ICJ opinion, said there was an opportunity here and put it through the ringer. I know Deputy O'Gorman was part of the Government at that time. That opportunity is there to allow member states to prohibit the importation of goods from outside the EU for public policy reasons. It is our considered view that there would be huge challenges regarding the effective implementation and enforcement of restrictions on the many types of trade and services.”
“Whatever discussions or debates there are about interpretations, that is what the commitment in the programme for Government is and that is what this Bill fully delivers on. The Government has a very clear responsibility to ensure that any legislation is legally robust and able to withstand challenge. Deputy Ó Laoghaire rightly stated that at the heart of this are very real concerns about flagrant breaches of international law taking place in the Middle East. To be a Government that can talk about those flagrant breaches, we have to make sure, soundly and completely, that legislation produced in this House is in line with international law.”
“I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of Senator Frances Black. I look forward to engaging with her on the legislation in the Seanad next week, all going well. I recall debating with her in the Seanad when she initially introduced her Bill. We sat beside each other. I will try to address as many points as possible in the time allowed to me, bearing in mind the extensive debate, over a number of hours last week, on Committee Stage when Deputies had the opportunity to contribute. It goes without saying that the clear commitment made in the programme for Government was to progress legislation to prohibit the import of goods from or originating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
“The debate on this issue went into quite a bit of technical and hypothetical detail on Committee Stage. It must be stated clearly that the postcodes are very specific. They do not apply to a broad area. It is not the case that the Netherlands and Belgium have decided to go in a different direction. They are in a public consultation phase, which means it is not a fair comparison. There is the 90% covered by the postcode list and then there is the less than 10% that would, quite clearly, be trading under a different Act. It is clear in the legislation that this is covered and provision is made for it. We have absolutely no doubts that the Bill is completely fit for purpose in what it is trying to achieve in this section.”
“On the comparison with other EU member states, Norway is not an EU member state and therefore is not covered by EU legislation and is not part of the Common Market. The Netherlands has not progressed its legislation further. It is currently at draft stage and has been put out to a sort of public consultation. Belgium has not drafted legislation and is further behind. The situation with Spain is that there is no difference. It relies on a postal code list. I will go into Spain a little bit in the next set of amendments. For all of those reasons, I am satisfied that the amendments are unnecessary, although we accept their intention and the intention is shared with the Government.”
“In the case of a part 2 postal code, operators are advised to contact the customs authorities of a member state to carry out a further check in order to verify the exact position and, thus, eligibility. Deputy Ó Laoghaire referred to the discussion on this on Committee Stage. He mentioned a hypothetical about a Palestinian who might be caught up in this based on their location. Again, that person would not be trading under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. It would be the EU-Palestinian Authority trade and co-operation agreement that would be the relevant agreement. That agreement does not require or even provide for the use of Israeli postal codes by importers but rather rests on arrangements involving the relevant customs authorities.”
“Third, the legislation makes use of an existing process, namely the EU-Israel technical agreement of 2013, based on the list of postal codes referenced in footnote 4 in the Bill. I have the list of postal codes here. It is extremely extensive. Postal codes for this area are not similar to Dublin 4 or N5, for the Arsenal fans in the House. They relate specifically to buildings. It is far more detailed than anything we would think about in terms of how comprehensive they are. To elaborate on that, 90% of the postal codes listed are part 1 postal codes. They directly correspond to Israeli settlements rather than an area. Fewer than 10% of the codes are part 2 postal codes. Part 2 postal codes are locations that fall on both sides of the Green Line, which is, of course, the pre-1967 Israel-Palestine border.”
“Yes. As Deputies Ó Laoghaire and Smith alluded to, we went through this in quite a bit of detail on Committee Stage and I recognise that as such. It is very much the firm opinion of the Government that such amendments are not required. For the benefit of the House, I will go through the reasons for this. First, I want to address the issue of intention, as raised by Deputy Ó Laoghaire. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Bill is specifically aimed at Israeli settlements. This is stated in both the Long Title and Short Title and there simply cannot be doubt. Second, on definitions, I do not believe that Ireland should or needs to create our own definition of an Israeli settlement. This poses its own challenges and risks.”