I acknowledge the presence and work of Senator Frances Black. It requires some degree of fortitude to deliver a Bill from the Opposition or as Independents in the Seanad and to see it through to this point, eight years later, in the Dáil. I offer my heartfelt commendation to the Senator on getting the Bill this far, although it is clear that this is not the Bill she wrote. She is, however, the impetus and the source behind it. I also acknowledge to the Minister that two Thursdays ago in the Dáil, I accused her of mothballing the occupied territories Bill. I did not believe she was going to bring this Bill to the floor, and she has done, so I apologise for that and say to her "fair play" for bringing it forward. What I am not surprised about is that the Bill that has found its way to the floor is not the Bill we wanted to see. It is not the Bill we discussed and recommended through pre-legislative scrutiny last summer with unanimous agreement. It does not include both goods and services. The Minister, as Minister for justice previously, would have stated on a number of occasions how Fine Gael is the party of law and order. That is a tagline Fine Gael members have attached to their party over many years. However, Fine Gael is ignoring international law when it comes to this Bill because the ICJ and international law make no distinction between trade in goods and trade in services. In committee, the Minister's own Department of foreign affairs legal advisers accepted that a ban on goods alone would be only "partially compliant" and would move us "towards compliance" with international law. These are important points, and I know that they were made because I was at every committee hearing last summer. I worked with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers, along with everyone in opposition, to unanimously recommend that both goods and services be included in the final Bill. Now those same backbenchers are going to support a Bill that goes against the recommendations of that committee. It is absolutely ludicrous and it shows, if there was any doubt, where the real power lies in this country. It is not with the majority of people who, poll after poll, have demonstrated support for this Bill to include both goods and services. There is a disproportionate amount of power with American multinationals and the Trump Administration, whose finger has been very clearly put on the scale. The threats from ambassadors and members of Congress in written form have had an impact. We have seen a capitulation in terms of this Bill, with the removal of services and accusations that the Opposition are dealing in fantasy economics. The truth, however, is that the only one dealing in anything of the sort is the Government in terms of its cowardice in overly bending the knee to the United States and the Israeli lobby. No matter how this is spun, the simple truth remains: a euro flowing into the settlements from trade in physical products provides the same support and recognition as a euro flowing into trade in services. What does it say about our courage of convictions if the only thing we can do in response to war crimes is pass a watered down version of a Bill that has become totemic not just for Senator Black or for those of us in opposition but also for the Government, since the Government parties included it in their election manifestos and their programme for Government? Israel is committing and has committed huge atrocities, war crimes and genocide. There is no longer any debate about that. Every day that passes, every day the West turns its head away and pretends that what is happening is not happening, allows Israel to get away with it. There will be more families who will have lost loved ones today, more children who will die just because they were born in the wrong part of the world. We have an opportunity to do things, and this is one of them, but, unfortunately, what has been put before us in the Chamber today is not as strong as it should be. People want leadership from the Government. They are crying out for it and they deserve that leadership because it is how they feel in towns and villages all over this country. I am struck when the Taoiseach gets up at Leaders' Questions and tells the Chamber that he has met with the Palestinian ambassador or some other official and that they are thankful to the Irish Government, as if that is full support for everything we are doing. Of course they would be thankful, because they are seeking any form of support they can get in a world that has turned its back on them. However, the Government cannot argue seriously that it is the champion of this legislation. This legislation that has come through, unfortunately, is lacking, as I have laid out. The Government could not even lead from the front when it came to the football game, which has been debated yesterday and today. It is always found wanting when it comes down to the crunch. That is not to say the Government has not done things that are important. The recognition of the State of Palestine is important, and I acknowledge that there is work being done with other nations in Europe in terms of sanctions. However, in dealing with this Bill and its potential, we cannot help but feel the Government is leaving stuff behind and leaving out services due to pressure from the outside. We talk about Israel in this Chamber so often and we get accused by Israelis and supporters of Israel of all sorts. We have been confident and strident in our view that Israel is acting as a criminal, rogue and genocidal state, and we need to pull every single lever that we possibly can. Every piece of legislation that we bring in should be as strong as possible. I am keeping my temper as even as possible because we have delivered many emotional speeches in this Dáil, but we are now at the meat of the issue in terms of this Bill. I imagine this is going to go to Committee Stage and we are going to do everything we can to get services added to strengthen the Bill. I urge Government Members to return to the spirit of the summer of 2025 in the foreign affairs committee and to open their minds and hearts to the Palestinian people and look to change this Bill. We have the figures on the deaths, the genocide and the killings. We have put them on the floor of this Dáil so often, but they cannot lose meaning and impact. A total of 18,000 children have been killed in this conflict since 7 October. We spent the last two days talking about two football games. That is 18,000 children who will never get to see a football game or a sporting event of any sort. It is 18,000 children whose lives have been taken away by this criminal regime. We know that this Bill will do very little to save lives, but it will send a strong message. The stronger this Bill is, the stronger the message it will send, which is why services matter so much. That is where the real sanctions lie. As a modern open economy, 70% of Ireland's trade with the wider world is in services and just 30% is in goods. The same is true of Ireland's trade with Israel. While the CSO has not published the data specifically on trade in services with the illegal settlements, the direction of travel is clear and tallies with other research. Physical goods like dates and olives are only a fraction of the economic relationship. The Government's legal advice excuse just does not wash. Frankly, it is insulting that it continues the pantomime about it when we all know the Government has been spooked by potential economic scare impacts, ignoring the work of the foreign affairs committee and all the experts. Even when we had IBEC in, when we tried to pin down anyone who may have been pro diminishing or diluting this Bill, they could not give us any facts or numbers for potential job losses or economic impact. They just do not have it because all they can rely on is scare tactics and scare economics. We have the facts. We have the moral justification. I urge the Minister to please open herself to include services on Committee Stage, to strengthen this Bill and make it all that it can be.

Sentiment score: 0.06