SINN FÉIN IS set to table a motion calling on the Government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill when the Dáil returns tomorrow, with Mary Lou McDonald saying the legislation must be “speedily” brought onto the statute books. 

It comes after Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed last month that the Government will replace the Bill with new legislation. 

The Fianna Fáil leader said that “virtually every section” of the existing piece of legislation will need to be amended, but denied it would be “watered down”. 

Speaking to reporters outside Leinster House this afternoon, Mary Lou McDonald said the Government have “stalled” and “prevaricated”, adding: “Now is the time for action.”

“Collectively, Sinn Féin and others on the opposition benches will urge the government to move very, very speedily on this matter, and I hope that members in government who in the past also have supported recognition of the Palestinian state and indeed the Occupied Territories Bill will do the right thing,” McDonald said. 

The Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories Bill) was first introduced by Independent Senator Francis Black in 2018.

It would, according to the text of the proposed legislation, make it an offence “for a person to import or sell goods or services originating in an occupied territory or to extract resources from an occupied territory in certain circumstances”.

The incoming government has been urged not to dilute the Occupied Territories Bill as senior figures in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael raise concerns about the impact the draft law will have on Ireland’s international standing.

Senior government and diplomatic figures have warned of possible trade retaliation from Israel and from the Trump administration in the US.

One senior government minister told The Journal last month that they believe the finalised law will be a “very vastly different Bill” than what was first tabled by Black in 2018.

Mary Lou McDonald speaking to reporters outside Leinster House this afternoon. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

As it is drafted, Black’s Occupied Territories Bill would prevent the import of both goods and services from occupied territories. 

However, the commitment in the draft programme for government only refers to goods.

It states: “Progress legislation prohibiting goods from Occupied Palestinian Territories following the July 2024 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion.”

Bill ‘must cover goods and services’

Speaking today, McDonald said that any amendments to the Bill can be completed at committee stage, and that it must cover both goods and services. 

“We are not talking about all goods and services from Israel. We are talking specifically about illegally occupied territories, in accordance with international law.

We shouldn’t prevaricate on this. We need action, and we need the Government to act decisively, and we’ll certainly be putting pressure on them in that regard from tomorrow.

When asked if she had concerns about potential economic fallout from implementing the Bill, McDonald said the matter needed to be approached “with very cool heads”.

“We have to do two things. On the one hand, we have to do what is right in respect of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people and peace in the Middle East. That has to be done. I think the desire of Irish people to be on the right side of history in the face of a genocidal Netanyahu regime is beyond question. The Government has to respond to that and accurately reflect and carry out the wishes of the Irish people.”

The Sinn Féin leader said Ireland’s “deep economic relationship” with the United States also has to be managed carefully. 

“I think that both of those things can be managed in a calm way,” she continued.

“It comes as news to nobody in the United States of America the position of successive Irish governments, the Irish State and the Irish people on the question of justice for Palestine. So I think we need to honour that. We need to be true to that.

“Of course, we need to have an open, a frank, a strong dialogue with all of our international partners, including in the United States of America, about that and also about our ongoing economic relationship.”

McDonald said it was important to ensure that foreign direct investment and Irish jobs are protected.

“We also have to ensure that we insist upon compliance with and respect for international law, and where a genocide is televised, that Ireland does not flinch, that we stand up and that we are counted. That is the job of Government.”

Reiterating views she expressed before the election campaign, McDonald said she “never thought it was a good idea to engage in too much hyperbole about the new American administration and to heat up a sense of crisis before there is a crisis”.

“We have long-standing relationships internationally, including with the United States, and we need to build on that, to have very honest and frank dialogue, and we have to stand on the right side of human rights and of the Palestinian right to be free.”