'Not an insignificant moment' as new Occupied Territories Bill goes to Cabinet
It is 'not an insignificant moment' that Ireland has become the 'first country in the European Union to publish legislation seeking to ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian territories', Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
Mr Harris, who is also the Foreign Affairs Minister, brought the Israeli Settlements Prohibition of Importation of Goods Bill 2025 to Cabinet on Tuesday.
However, unlike Senator Frances Black's original Occupied Territories Bill, it does not outlaw services.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that the Attorney General has been asked to bring forward further legal advice on services.
He admitted that it is 'genuinely more complex than goods transferring, but we will get further legal advice on that'.
Minister Harris, meanwhile, said it would be 'disingenuous' for people to say that the Government does not want to include a ban on services in the legislation, arguing that the 'Government wants to get this right'.
He said: 'This is not an insignificant moment. We are becoming the first country in the European Union to publish legislation seeking to ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian territories. We shouldn't just jump over that fact.
'People across the country, regardless of political persuasion, are sick to the pit of their stomach at the genocide that is taking place in Gaza.
'It is not as if we do a huge amount of trade of goods with the Occupied Territories, but it is the right thing to do.
'It is the right thing to do because we hope in doing it that it might encourage Europe to continue to move forward together on this.
'While our domestic legislation today is important, it's what the people of this country want, it's what we committed to do, actually, what is more important is having impact.
'If this is about having an impact and getting genocide to stop, it has to be about building coalition at a European level to maximise the leverage and pressure on Israel.'
The inclusion of services will be further debated when the Bill goes to the Foreign Affairs Committee as early as next week.
It is understood that Mr Harris and Senator Black could be the first witnesses at the committee if they are available.
On X, Senator Black stated that she will still seek for services to be included in the Bill when pre-legislative scrutiny is done.
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