'I will hold him to it' Senator promises commitment to Occupied Territories Bill

Vivienne Clarke

“I will hold him to it” Senator Frances Black has said of a commitment by the Tánaiste Simon Harris in relation to the Occupied Territories Bill which will go before the Cabinet on Tuesday.

Senator Black told Newstalk Breakfast that she welcomed the fact that the bill was going before Cabinet after years of “unnecessary delays”.

“We urgently need to see action now. I have to be clear on this, the legislation that is agreed by Cabinet it's still only a draft but the Tánaiste has committed both to me and publicly that the government are willing to include services in the final bill if we can get the legal details right.

“I am absolutely 100 per cent certain that we can and I'm going to hold him to that promise. I know the bill will be going for committee scrutiny and the foreign affairs committee will get this draft, read it and they will give feedback and recommend any changes before the session is finished or finalised.

“So it's essential that the committee makes clear that the final legislation must include services for the bill to be effective. So I'm very hopeful that we can get this right."

She said the services piece is absolutely crucial for the Bill.

"Last year the International Court of justice, which is the highest court in the world, said very clearly that the Israeli settlements are illegal and that all countries must end all trade with them and all trade must stop.

"That means both physical goods like dates and oranges but also services like tech and IT and that is the standard that the government I believe needs to meet," she said.