The Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth on the question of sanctioning Israel. It is trying to convey to the public, who want to see sanctions imposed on this genocidal murderous regime, that it is imposing sanctions but in actuality it is doing everything to ensure that no serious sanctions are imposed on the regime. On the same day that 14 Irish people were being kidnapped on the high seas, tortured and abused last week and the Taoiseach was saying publicly that there should be no business as usual with the Israeli regime, he instructed Government TDs to go in and vote against our sanctions Bill, which would actually have imposed comprehensive sanctions on the State of Israel because of its crimes of genocide and apartheid and its systematic violation of international law, the very thing the flotilla activists had asked the Government to do.

We have headlines today saying that the Minister is going to bring forward the occupied territories Bill, something the Government has been promising for a very long time. At the same time, however, that Bill in actuality will gut the original Bill drafted by Frances Black by not including services. So, it will only prevent trade in goods, and maybe not even all goods. Reports in The Ditch in the last week suggest that exports from this country to the occupied territories may actually be 40 times more than are being officially acknowledged by Irish authorities because the Israeli authorities are giving much higher figures for the imports from this country.

In any event, the exclusion of services is 70% of the trade between Ireland and the occupied territories. Of course, the Bill the Government is bringing forward will not impose any sanctions whatsoever on the Israeli state itself. That is providing the support and the means for the Israeli settlers to grab Palestinian territory and annex territory. Israel was orchestrating the genocide in Gaza and is orchestrating the brutal regime of apartheid but the Government is not imposing any sanctions at all on the state that is doing it. Actually, our trade with Israel has dramatically increased over the last number of years, making Ireland the second biggest trading partner with Israel in the world. Will the Government stop the hypocrisy and actually bring forward a Bill that imposes serious sanctions on Israel for its criminal violation of international law, for genocide and for apartheid?

I again thank the Deputy for raising it and maybe to some degree with a bit more honesty than others. First of all, let us accept the distinction he has made compared with others. He is not really interested in the occupied territories Bill on its own because it just deals with the illegal settlements. He knows that. All along, he has been shouting about the occupied territories Bill but all along he wanted an Israeli boycott.

We all do.

It is not Deputy Coppinger’s question.

What is wrong with that?

Let us be honest about what has happened here. We recognise Palestine and the Deputy moves on quickly. We intervene in the legal case by South Africa and he moves on quickly. We double down on UNRWA and he moves on quickly.

We go to the ICJ and he moves on quickly.

Yes.

We do the occupied territories Bill and he moves on quickly and calls for us to boycott Israel.

Yes.

The Government has not done it yet.

Does the Taoiseach want a medal?

Follow my rules.

What is after that and after that? There has been no deep analysis,-----

The Taoiseach is a great lad.

-----and that is the problem. The Deputy has now moved on very quickly.

By the way, we do not have the power, even if we wanted to, to stop trade with Israel right now. That is a European competency and Deputy Boyd Barrett knows that, but he is not interested in that because, as far as he is concerned, the EU can go to pot as well. He is not particularly interested one way or the other. It is about campaigning. It is about attacking this Government. It is not really about trying to explain to people the impacts and implications of all of this. Does the Deputy want to ban trade with Israel?

Yes.

Does he want Intel to stop dealing with its sister company in Israel?

Yes.

Fine. Talk to the thousands of workers in Ireland working with Intel. What happens there?

It would not-----

Through the Chair, has Deputy Boyd Barrett worked through the implications of it? Has anyone in the Opposition done an assessment of what it would mean economically?

No.

The Yanks-----

Does Deputy Boyd Barrett give a continental if the US goes south because of what we might do there? It is great to be virtuous, Deputy,-----

People's lives-----

-----but for the workers’ representative, he lacks all virtuosity when it comes to protecting Irish workers. We have to take everything on board and be sensible about it.

At the same time, we have been principled.

Moral.

We are one of the few European member states that has stood out there. If you talk to the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt or anyone in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, the first thing they say is, “Thank you to the Irish Government for leading on this”.

Hear, hear.

But no, the Deputy cannot ever say anything like that because that does not suit the campaign. The campaign for him is an end in itself.

This is so virtuous.

The campaign is a means to cause further undermining of the Irish Government. He has never campaigned on the same basis against Russia or Iran. He never has despite all that has happened in Iran.

Please, one voice.

The campaign here is a deeper issue.

No, it is not.

For me, I am very clear. We have tried-----

It is moral.

We all have a moral framework by the way. The Deputies do not have a monopoly on that. We have taken a lead on this. The easiest thing for politicians to do is put the chin up and be great people in sloganeering and rhetoric, but we have a deeper responsibility.

Oh my God, give over.

We have to protect our national interests and people at the same time.

And do what Trump says. Is that the moral thing?

Give over.

Time is up, Taoiseach. Deputy Boyd Barrett to respond.

That is the problem. As far as I am concerned, and I said it the last time, it is about finding the most effective way to do this.

The Taoiseach is a great lad altogether.

Taoiseach, your time is up.

We either do it in unanimity with the European Union-----

I call Deputy Boyd Barrett.

-----or we get the United States to change tack in terms of its relationship with Israel. Those are the fundamental ways we can change tack.

Deputy Boyd Barrett will now respond. One voice, please.

As it was so obvious to the world that a genocidal slaughter was taking place in Gaza and that Israel was inflicting genocide, the Taoiseach was eventually forced to say that he thought a genocide was taking place. I ask the Taoiseach a simple question: do we continue to trade with regimes that are doing genocide and treat them as normal states? Do we just treat them like any other trading or business partner? Do we continue to increase the amount of trade we do with states that are doing genocide and apartheid? Do we, in 2024 in the middle of a genocide, approve €20 million of licences to the IDF, the military force that is committing the genocide in Gaza? That is what the Government did. I say that we do not treat states guilty of genocide as normal states and that we impose sanctions on them.

The Taoiseach is absolutely right; what I want is a complete boycott, divestment and sanctions. At the least, the Government should pass Frances Black’s occupied territories Bill as he promised he would do in the programme for Government. The Government even passed a motion in the Dáil in November last year to that effect.

The Deputy's time is up. The Taoiseach to respond.

We are implementing what we said in the programme for Government. Read the programme for Government. That is exactly what we are now doing. The way to deal with Israel effectively is through the European Union. There is no other way. We have not been able to get agreement across Europe because some countries historically have a position of supporting Israel come what may. The Deputy and I know that.

The Commission is the competent authority in terms of trade with Israel. We have sought to get a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Ireland and Spain have been the two countries for well over two years now-----

The Taoiseach is saying the Government is going to do it unilaterally. What is he talking about?

I am sorry, but the Deputy is interrupting again. For over two and a half years, we have been seeking to suspend that association agreement, but we have not been able to get any support. Only last week, because of Hungary’s change of government, we were able to get sanctions on violent Israeli settlers at a European level. We are now trying to get at least a common European position on the occupied territories, but it is still difficult because the Slovenian Government has now changed with a completely different approach and response.

Before I move on, I welcome Mary Fitzgerald from the Woodlands House Hotel in Adare and her cousin Shaunna Flynn Black who is back from Texas. They are here as guests of Deputy Richard O'Donoghue.