Paul Murphy: Demands Sanctions on Israel over Ireland's Complicity
Paul Murphy introduced a bill calling for comprehensive sanctions on the State of Israel, arguing the government has failed to act on Gaza and Palestine. He said Ireland's deepening trade ties with Israel amount to complicity in genocide and urged immediate measures under the Genocide Convention.
Murphy cited figures showing Ireland's trade with Israel rose from €198 million in 2020 to €3.24 billion in 2024, making Ireland the world's second largest importer of Israeli goods. He noted that 92% of that trade is in electronic integrated circuits and micro-assemblies, not consumer goods.
Referencing an investigation by Uplift, Murphy argued much of the trade is likely funneled from Intel's facilities in Israel through Ireland via transfer pricing for tax benefits. He warned that Ireland's role as a tax haven and the political cost of foreign direct investment have produced "the wages of FDI" - economic benefit at the cost of complicity in human rights violations.
Murphy highlighted Uplift's claim that Israel's Unit 8200 used Microsoft's Azure cloud with data stored in the Netherlands and Ireland to operate a mass surveillance system collecting recordings of millions of Palestinian phone calls. He cited the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's words that US multinationals are "embedded in an economy of genocide," and warned that information held in Irish data centres was being used to prepare airstrikes.
Murphy said the bill would impose comprehensive sanctions on Israel and described that step as the minimum action required under the Genocide Convention. He accused the government of preferring US investment over human lives, referenced the central bank's facilitation in selling Israeli war bonds as shameful, and called the refusal to implement sanctions a decision that accepts a "price" paid in civilian deaths.
Trade growth and composition
Murphy cited figures showing Ireland's trade with Israel rose from €198 million in 2020 to €3.24 billion in 2024, making Ireland the world's second largest importer of Israeli goods. He noted that 92% of that trade is in electronic integrated circuits and micro-assemblies, not consumer goods.
Multinationals, transfer pricing and FDI
Referencing an investigation by Uplift, Murphy argued much of the trade is likely funneled from Intel's facilities in Israel through Ireland via transfer pricing for tax benefits. He warned that Ireland's role as a tax haven and the political cost of foreign direct investment have produced "the wages of FDI" - economic benefit at the cost of complicity in human rights violations.
Surveillance, data centres and allegations of complicity
Murphy highlighted Uplift's claim that Israel's Unit 8200 used Microsoft's Azure cloud with data stored in the Netherlands and Ireland to operate a mass surveillance system collecting recordings of millions of Palestinian phone calls. He cited the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's words that US multinationals are "embedded in an economy of genocide," and warned that information held in Irish data centres was being used to prepare airstrikes.
Legislative demand and moral indictment
Murphy said the bill would impose comprehensive sanctions on Israel and described that step as the minimum action required under the Genocide Convention. He accused the government of preferring US investment over human lives, referenced the central bank's facilitation in selling Israeli war bonds as shameful, and called the refusal to implement sanctions a decision that accepts a "price" paid in civilian deaths.
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Transcript
We are introducing this bill today because the government has failed to put its money where its mouth is. On Palestine, on Gaza, it is all talk and no action. Sanctions by Ireland on Israel would make a real difference because, shamefully, Ireland is now the world's second largest importer of Israeli goods. During the genocide of the past two years, trade between Ireland and Apartheid Israel has exploded from €198 million in 2020 to €3.24 billion in 2024. This is not consumer goods. If it was consumer goods, then the Irish people who have stood steadfast with Palestine, who have marched week after week, who have taken direct action, would have boycotted these goods. Over €3 billion, 92% of this trade is in so-called electronic integrated circuits and micro-assemblies. An excellent investigation into Ireland's trade with Israel by Uplift finds that it is most likely funneled from Intel's facilities in Israel through Ireland via transfer pricing for tax benefits. There you have it. Just like with the central bank's shameful facilitation in the selling of Israeli war bonds, Ireland's complicity in genocide is due to our role as a tax haven for international finance and US multinationals. The same report provides numerous other examples of this disgusting complicity. One is that Israel's Unit 8200 used Microsoft's Azure cloud platform with data stored in the Netherlands and Ireland for a mass surveillance system that collects recordings of millions of Palestinian phone calls, daily information used to prepare airstrikes. Information held in Ireland in our data centres. In the words of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, US multinationals are embedded in an economy of genocide, and so are we. The Uplift report says that the benefits of FDI revenue are achieved at the cost of direct complicity in genocide and human rights violations. This is the wages of FDI, the political and moral price Ireland is being asked to pay for its economic prosperity. The US Secretary of State once said that the deaths of half a million children in Iraq was a price worth paying for US objectives. Our government is making the same genocidal choice. By refusing to implement sanctions on Israel, it is deciding for all of us that the price is worth it. It is selling our souls for US investment. This bill would put an end to that by imposing comprehensive sanctions on the State of Israel. It is the minimum we should be doing under the Genocide Convention, and it should be done now. Thank you. You are a part of the one. Thank you.