Shay Brennan demands timetable from Attorney General on services

Thank you to our witnesses for attending today and being forward to writing your answers. A lot of the discussion has been around the inclusion of services and the potential for including services in the final bill. From a personal point of view I sincerely do hope that we can find a way to include services. But we are on a tight timeline and the answer you gave in relation to the AG providing an opinion doesn't seem in any way to tie in to a tight timeline. I sense that the answer you were giving was he will be back to us when he is back to us, but if we are to try and do this in this parliamentary session that is not going to work. So there must be some communication between the Department and the Attorney General, at least in relation to timing around outcomes. Yes, well, the Attorney is working to produce his opinion as soon as possible. OK, and there is no way to get any further information as well? I can't pre-empt what the Attorney will advise and we awaited the advice. No, I'm not talking about the actual advice or the outcome, I'm just talking about when that will be delivered. It is clear that the Attorney is well aware of the time pressures in relation to this. So it could come any day? OK. And in relation to preparing for that, so in preparing the bill, are you preparing a situation that would include services also? Again, in light of the tight timeframe we have? Well, we will be in a position to respond to the advice when we see it. As I said, I can't pre-empt, we can't pre-empt the advice of the Attorney. OK, well, maybe more broadly on timing then around the final implementation of this. It seems like there's a lot of contingencies coming from elsewhere and that they would be out of the hands of the Department. Is there any sense of pressure within the Department to try and get this done in this session? I can assure you that the Attorney has been clear that this is a priority for Government and, you know, this meeting is taking place a week after the Government approved the General Scheme. And, you know, we're here to clarify the points raised by members of the Committee and we're happy to do so. And the Donister is on record as saying that the Government wishes to pursue this as expeditiously as possible. So, obviously, the timeline for this Committee's work is for the Committee to determine and then it will come back into the oeropolis and the Government will take that forward then. And I can't give you a timeline around that because that's partly dependent on your own work. But the Donister has said that the Government will move as expeditiously as possible with this legislation. Okay. You mentioned earlier on that you had been in contact with some other states or they had reached out to you. Can you give any light as to what states are closest or most likely to follow us should we get this bill enacted? So, a number of countries have approached us or we have chosen to share with those who we consider to be like-minded members on this issue within the European Union and also some countries outside the European Union who have shared similar policy positions to us going forward. I don't have any information at this time I can share as to whether those countries are going to take action similar to what we have undertaken. We have encouraged them to do so to look and see whether the approach that the Government is pursuing here would be an approach that could be taken forward within those jurisdictions and their individual legal frameworks. And we have said that we are available to provide any further information or clarification for them. And as I mentioned, the Donister himself has said that he hopes that, you know, he has said that Ireland is the first country in the European Union to take action at an actual level in this way and that that's important for the reasons that he has made clear and the Taoiseach has made clear and I referenced some of them in the opening remarks. But he has also said that he hopes that this will be another example of leadership, that by Ireland going first, it might encourage other governments to consider doing so as well. So, we have to wait and see if that's the case. We will stay in close contact with those countries and be available to answer any questions that they may have. And I think, as I mentioned in parallel, there is this group of 10 members of the EU who have called on the Commission now to prepare proposals on bringing the EU as a whole into compliance with the advisory opinion, including with references to trade with these illegal settlements. And we remain in contact with that group of nine other Member States on that issue as well. And that will be one of the issues that will be discussed at the next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council this month in the the middle of the month, on the 15th. Thank you. Of course, and we all also hope that we will be at the vanguard of encouraging other States to follow. And key to that is delivering a timely piece of legislation, but also an all-encompassing one that does include services. Just a corollary to my previous question. Have you detected any pressure? Have you received any pressure from any countries within the EU or outside in terms of, I suppose, pushing back against Ireland and enacting this bill? So, there has been contact at official level from the United States around this under the previous administration to inquire about the intentions around this legislation at the time that those contacts took place. The Torsha has said in a recent PQ reply that he has not had any recent engagements with political counterparts in the US on this issue. And that, as I've mentioned, a number of countries have expressed interest in it from different perspectives. Okay, thanks. And just very broadly, in the time I've left, could you give an assessment of maybe the diplomatic, I think you've probably done that, but also the economic consequences of enacting this bill? In the time available. So, the volume of trade with the occupied territories is relatively small, and I think the importance of this measure, as has been explained, about compliance with our obligations under international law. But as both the Taoiseach and the Taoiseach have said, it's also about showing leadership, and it's therefore of political importance, as well as the measures that is designed to advance. An analysis will be required as to whether there are potential economic implications more broadly for the state. I mentioned in the beginning of my opening remarks that we are aware that not all countries may view the legislation in the same way that the Government does, and that may therefore lead to consequences in a number of areas, and we have to wait and see what those may be in terms of whether there is an impact for the posture of companies from other countries who are located here. Thank you. I know over time you mentioned an analysis. Is that something you could share with us ultimately? It's something that we are reviewing legislation in the United States in particular and see the impact that that may have for companies who operate, but it's not something that is yet done.