LAST UPDATE | 26 May

MEMBERS OF THE opposition have been expressing their dissatisfaction with the government today over its failure to include services in the Occupied Territories Bill, which was signed off by Cabinet this morning.

The text of the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026 was agreed by government ministers earlier today. 

Senator Frances Black, who proposed the Bill in 2018, has condemned the exclusion of services from it, saying that “Government still haven’t given any coherent, detailed justification for this beyond short soundbites.”

“When the Bill finally hits the floor of the Dáil in the coming weeks I will be working with all opposition parties to table amendments to include services,” she said. “That has been my clear position since 2018 and I will do everything in my power to make it happen.”

“The ban should be comprehensive and include all trade, both goods and services,” Black added. 

The Bill will be debated by the Dáil and published on Thursday, Government chief whip Mary Butler told the Dáil this afternoon.

Raising the issue during Leaders Question today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the government of “taking a wrecking ball” to the original Occupied Territories Bill. 

She told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that he has “hollowed out” the Bill and rendered it “ineffective”. 

“This is your response, your approach after 14 Irish citizens on a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza were kidnapped, detained, and brutalised by Israeli forces,” she said.

A similar argument was made by People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett, who accused the Government of speaking out of both sides of its mouth in relation to sanctions on Israel.

People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett accuses the government of speaking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to sanctions against Israel.

“Crass hypocrisy,” he says, in reference to the govt’s decision to vote against a PBP bill to sanction Israel last week. pic.twitter.com/FF7MLmrx1x

— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) May 26, 2026

In response to McDonald, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland has been at the “leading edge” in terms of the EU’s response to the genocide in Gaza “from the outset”. 

He said it was “impossible” to implement a ban on services and that “honesty” was needed in relation to this.

McDonald said the government had to be “dragged” into acting and said that the Israeli regime will “continue to slaughter Palestinians” in the absence of sanctions.

Timeline

Speaking earlier, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said she hopes the Bill will be enacted “by the summer recess”.

“It is clear from the actions of the Israeli government, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, that they have no intention of reaching a peaceful resolution to the conflict or ending the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory,” she said.

Asked if the legislation is as strong as she would like it to be, McEntee said: “I’ve been very consistent – and I think as a government we’ve been consistent – that we want to bring forward legislation that can be implementable, that we can bring into effect as soon as possible.”

She also said the Irish Government is pushing for change at a EU level, adding she believes “this would be the strongest way to respond to the Israeli actions”.

Last week, the EU agreed on sanctions on illegal settlements in the West Bank for the first time.

McEntee said she is also advocating for a collective EU-wide ban on the trade of goods with the illegally occupied territories.

“It remains the government’s preference that collective action would be taken at EU level”.

She said it was “clear” there is not a consensus on Israel among member states but that recent Israeli government action, including the detention of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, had “shifted” the mood within the EU and there is now a “desire to respond”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin speaking to reporters in Dublin ahead of a cabinet meeting Bairbre Holmes / PA Bairbre Holmes / PA / PA

Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, the Taoiseach defended the exclusion of services from the Bill and said it had been done on “strong legal advice”.

Martin told reporters on Monday it was “simply not implementable” and would also “potentially damage Ireland more than anybody else in terms of potential impacts on US multinationals here, back in America”.

He said it was a “further initiative in a long line of decisions that the Irish Government has taken” in support of Palestine.

Asked about criticism of the Bill being “too little too late”, Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “I think when you engage with the Palestinian government and the Palestinian Authority, they certainly don’t say anything that Ireland does is too little too late.

“They say that Ireland has been one of its best friends in terms of standing up for international law, standing up for human rights, financially providing support and assistance through humanitarian aid.”

With reporting from Jane Matthews