I propose to take Questions Nos. 218 and 219 together.
In June 2025, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill.
The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, in line with the Programme for Government commitment.
Legally, the regulation of external trade in services is considerably more complex than is the case with goods at EU level. There would also be greater complexity when it comes to implementation than is the case with regard to trade in goods.
The Government has received the Attorney General’s advice on the question of whether the inclusion of services in the Bill is permissible under EU law. Advice provided by the Attorney General to the Government is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege, so you will appreciate that I cannot be drawn to discuss or speculate on the contents of the advice. However, I can say that the advice, which is detailed and extensive, identifies a number of significant legal and practical issues with the regulation by a Member State of trade in services with a country or territory outside the EU.
Following detailed consideration by officials in my Department, clarification was sought from the Attorney General on a number of legal issues. My Department has now received this clarification and officials are closely examining it.
Any legislation must be legally robust, able to withstand challenge and progress the Government's broader policy agenda.
In regards to the identification of settlement goods, the General Scheme of the Bill proposes to use the system currently employed by the European Union for the purposes of ensuring that importers are aware of which locations are not eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Under this system, the postal codes of those areas in the occupied Palestinian territory are listed under a technical arrangement concluded between the EU and the Government of Israel concerning implementation of Protocol 4 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The CSO does not currently collect data on the value or categories of goods specifically from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory entering Ireland. There are also no reliable data at EU or national level on the volume of trade in services with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, as the current method of data collection (based on Eurostat requirements) simply records the value against an overall country code, i.e. Israel.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment is currently being finalised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Work is advancing across a number of strands at official level as well as engagement at EU level.
It remains the Government’s preference that collective action would be taken at EU level and we continue to pursue this.
