Donegal County Council calls for Occupied Territories Bill to include services

Donegal County Council will write to the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee TD, to pass the Occupied Territories Bill immediately, and to include the prohibition on goods and services. 

The motion was brought to the November Plenary Meeting by Independent Councillor Declan Meehan, seconded by Councillor Jimmy Brogan and subsequently passed unanimously.

“The government's current proposed occupied territories bill is an important step, but its exclusion of services is a critical omission, one that undermines the very purpose of the legislation,” Cllr Meehan said. “If we are to take a stand against illegal settlements in Palestine, then we must ensure the bill is comprehensive and consistent.” 

The Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories Bill) was first introduced in 2018. The legislation makes 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.

Effectively, the bill would prevent Ireland from trading with Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank, making the import of goods or services a criminal offence.

However, the 2018 bill was suspended in June 2025 and replaced with the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025. 

This bill excludes trade in services with the occupied Israeli territories, which has been referred to as a “watered down version”. Ireland is Israel’s second largest trading partner - after the US - and 70% of that trade is services.

“Goods and services are two sides of the same coin,” Cllr Meehan continues. “Both contribute materially to the growth, entrenchment and expansion of illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. Leaving services outside the scope of the bill creates a loophole large enough to render the prohibition weaker and less effective.

“This motion reflects not just the conscience of this council, but also the considered recommendations of key bodies. Again, noting the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade Report with cross-party backing recommends expanding the prohibition to include services, aligning the bill fully with International Law and the advisory opinion of the ICJ.

“By passing this motion, Donegal County Council sends a clear principled message that our county supports International Law and we believe human rights must be defended.”

Three European countries have already passed legislation: Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands have all imposed sanctions on the Occupied Territories since the ICJ directed all states to take action to end Israel’s illegal occupation. 

“The government has been making all the right noises about Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the Occupied Territories, but has singularly failed to take any meaningful action that would compel Israel to stop its war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Donegal Palestine Solidarity Campaign said. “Israel continues to bomb and shoot Palestinians, while the UN says they are preventing 6,000 trucks of aid from entering Gaza. It is abundantly clear that Israel has no intention of honouring the supposed “ceasefire” and every intention of continuing its plan to slaughter or expel all Palestinians. 

“The government has been blocking and stalling the Occupied Territories Bill since 2018. The inaction is looking more and more like complicity every day and we call on them to do the minimum and listen to Donegal County Council by passing the OTB before Christmas.”

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Independent Councillor Jimmy Brogan, who seconded, had brought a similar motion last year, which was unanimously backed.

“At the time we were in the middle of a General Election campaign and FF and FG, who are again the government parties, said they were going to pass the bill if they were re-elected,” Cllr Brogan said. “A year later, we can see that they have not followed through on their election promises, which isn’t a big surprise.

“The government's current version of the bill has not committed to including a ban on services. Despite the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence recommendations, the majority of the public and Oireachtas members, including members of the government parties, the government has not yet committed to including services in the bill, citing ongoing "legal uncertainty" regarding EU law compatibility.

“It’s clear that the majority of people in Ireland are in favour of passing this legislation. The new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee, must do what her predecessors haven’t had the courage to do and pass the bill in full.”

Donegal County Council will now write to Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Helen McEntee, TD. 

Funded by Local Democracy Reporting Scheme