Micheál Martin has said no decision has been made on whether to include services in the Occupied Territories Bill, which aims to ban trade with companies operating in illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
The Taoiseach told Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns in the Dáil that, “being honest”, goods could be traced “fairly easily through documentation, certificates of origin and physical supply chains. Services are a much different kettle of fish”.
His comments echo remarks he made on Tuesday about services, that “the feedback I’m getting, it’s not just implementable”.
The proposed legislation includes a ban on trade in goods, but Opposition parties and pro-Palestinian campaign groups have made the inclusion of services a key demand.
READ MORE
Ms Cairns said the Bill was first published in 2017 and the Government had years to deal with the issues in the legislation.
She hit out at the “slow walking” of the legislation and the Government’s “talking down the clock”.
Criticising his comments that the feedback was that the legislation was not “implementable”, she said that meant “a huge component of trade between Ireland and the illegal settlements will continue if this Bill is ever enacted. We need to see action and we need to see accountability”.
[ US lawmakers intensify warnings to Taoiseach over Occupied Territories Bill ]
She also highlighted the situation in Gaza and the comparison between the treatment of Palestinian detainees who were released and that of the Israeli hostages.
“Palestinians continue to be dehumanised,” she said.
“Many of us have learned the names and personal stories of the Israeli hostages who were rightly released.
“However, there was no similar coverage for Palestinian hostages, many of whom were never charged or convicted of any crime. Despite this, they’ve been referred to by international media as prisoners.”
Mr Martin said the release of the hostages “is a big moment and should be acknowledged. They should never have been taken as hostages in the first instance”.
“Likewise, illegally detaining Palestinians without any trial or evidence base is also wrong. It is 100 per cent wrong and should not be condoned,” he said.
On the legislation, he rejected Ms Cairns’ claim that the services trade was “huge” stressing that “nobody knows”. He quoted the report of the Oireachtas committee that “no data was available to ... ascertain the quantities of services imported from” Palestinian territories.
He said the committee also noted the “potential repercussions from the international community, in terms of both international relations and economically, are unknowable and recommends that the Minister undertakes efforts to establish and publish a range of likely scenarios”.
Mr Martin asked what the repercussions would be for Irish-based multinational companies in the United States “because of boycotts. There is an issue there”.
