The Government is said to be increasingly unlikely to include trade in services in the scope of the Occupied Territories Bill, which is intended to ban trade in goods with companies operating from the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “the feedback I’m getting, it’s not just implementable”.
Speaking afterwards, senior sources confirmed this is the Taoiseach’s view – that including services would not be practically possible – though the official Dáil record contains a slightly different version of what Mr Martin told the House.
The official record of the Dáil, published last night on the Oireachtas website, quotes Mr Martin as follows: “The Attorney General is coming back to us on a number of fronts, including how it could be implemented. The feedback I am getting is not just on whether it could be implemented but also on whether we would be putting companies based here in a very difficult position through no fault of their own in respect of how it would be treated in the United States.”
RM Block
In fact, as confirmed by recordings of the Dáil exchanges, what the Taoiseach said was this: “The Attorney General is coming back to us, on a number of fronts. One, its implementability, by the way. And the feedback I’m getting it’s not just implementable. But secondly, are you putting companies based here in a very difficult position through no fault of their own in respect of how that would be treated in the United States.”
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The version in the official record suggests the Taoiseach is awaiting “feedback” on whether it would be possible to include services. What the Taoiseach actually said is the feedback he has already received suggests it would not be possible to include services in the legislation.
The proposed Bill already includes a ban on trade in goods, but including services in the Bill is a key demand of pro-Palestinian campaigners and Opposition parties. Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he wants to include a ban on services if it is legally possible. In the Dáil, Mr Martin said that he needed to discuss the matter with the Tánaiste.
On Tuesday, Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys said she was in favour of including services, which has also been recommended by the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee. The other presidential candidate, Catherine Connolly, is strongly in favour of including services.
Mr Harris has repeatedly said he agrees with people who want to include services under the provisions of the Bill – but has also said that the Government needs to get the advice of Attorney General Rossa Fanning on whether this is legally possible.
It is understood while the issue has been discussed at the highest level in Government, no formal advice has been issued and no firm decision has been made. But there is no expectation among some senior figures that the Bill will be amended to include services.
A spokesman for Mr Harris was non-committal.
“As the Tánaiste has said repeatedly, he is committed to passing the Occupied Territories Bill and work is advancing across a number of strands at official level as well as engagement at EU and international levels with like-minded partners,” he said.
“The Tánaiste has said that he has no policy difference with the Opposition in relation to the inclusion of services; however, any legislation must be legally robust and withstand challenge. He expects to engage further with Government colleagues and the Attorney General on these issues in the coming weeks.”
