Rose Conway-Walsh: Occupied Territories Bill Fails to Include Services
Rose Conway-Walsh argues the Occupied Territories Bill is fatally flawed because it excludes services. She challenges the Minister to include services, saying the exemption undermines Ireland's stated opposition to occupation and points to the human toll in Gaza.
She pays tribute to Senator Francis Black for leadership on the Occupied Territories Bill and recalls that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised before the 2024 general election that the Bill would be enacted. Conway-Walsh says the version before the House is a watered-down compromise that breaks that promise.
Conway-Walsh highlights that 70% of trade between Ireland and the Occupied Territory is in services and argues there is no principled reason to ban goods but permit services. She says carving out services destroys the Bill's credibility and risks complicity in the occupation.
The speech describes what she calls a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, citing more than 70,000 Palestinians killed and widespread destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. Conway-Walsh uses this context to press for urgent and uncompromising legislation.
She demands the Minister scrap the diluted Bill and pass the original Occupied Territories Bill including both goods and services, so Ireland will not be directly or indirectly supporting Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.
Tribute and promise
She pays tribute to Senator Francis Black for leadership on the Occupied Territories Bill and recalls that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised before the 2024 general election that the Bill would be enacted. Conway-Walsh says the version before the House is a watered-down compromise that breaks that promise.
Why services matter
Conway-Walsh highlights that 70% of trade between Ireland and the Occupied Territory is in services and argues there is no principled reason to ban goods but permit services. She says carving out services destroys the Bill's credibility and risks complicity in the occupation.
Humanitarian emergency cited
The speech describes what she calls a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, citing more than 70,000 Palestinians killed and widespread destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. Conway-Walsh uses this context to press for urgent and uncompromising legislation.
Direct challenge to the government
She demands the Minister scrap the diluted Bill and pass the original Occupied Territories Bill including both goods and services, so Ireland will not be directly or indirectly supporting Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.
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Transcript
Minister, there's a fundamental flaw at the heart of this bill and that's the exclusion of services. It's no more complicated than that and I certainly want to pay tribute to Senator Francis Black who showed leadership when successive governments refused to act. Senator Black's Occupied Territories Bill set out a clear and principled position and before the 2024 general election Fianna Fáil and yourselves and Fine Gael promised the Irish people that the Occupied Territories Bill would be enacted. That was your promise. Instead what we have before us is a watered-down version that excludes services. Minister I don't know how you can stand over that when 70% of trade between Ireland and the Occupied Territory is in services. If trading in goods from illegal settlements is wrong, why is the provision of services to those same settlements acceptable? If trade helps to sustain illegal Israeli entities in the Occupied Territories, why does it matter whether that activity is a goods or a service? It makes zero sense and compromises all credibility. You cannot acknowledge the illegality of the settlements on one hand and then carve out exemptions that allow trade with those settlements on the other hand. The government says it wants to ensure that Ireland is not complicit in the occupation of Palestinian land. If that is true then the services must be included. We're witnessing one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our time, a genocide happening in real time before our very eyes, on our phones, on our televisions, in plain sight. With more than 70,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered. Entire families have been wiped out. Homes, hospitals, schools, communities have been reduced to rubble. Let me ask you Minister, how many more Palestinian lives must be lost before you're prepared to include the services in this legislation? You have to scrap this hollow Bill, pass the original Occupied Territories Bill including goods and services and ensure that Ireland plays no part directly or indirectly in supporting Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and their genocide.