Helen McEntee waiting for Attorney General’s advice on Occupied Territories Bill

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

There is no timeline for the passage of a Bill limiting trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as the Foreign Affairs Minister says she is waiting for advice from the Attorney General.

The Government’s version of the Bill would limit trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but activists and opposition figures have raised concerns that it would include only trade of goods and not services.

The coalition has committed to passing a ban on goods from illegal settlements but it has been accused of slow progress on enacting legislation.

The Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill is listed under “priority publication” in the Government’s spring legislative programme.

Pre-legislative scrutiny was completed last July.

Senior Government figures have said extending the legislation to cover trade of services is more legally complex, and advice has been sought from Attorney General Rossa Fanning.

Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee received advice from him before Christmas but said she had further questions.

Asked about a timeline on the Bill on Tuesday, Ms McEntee said: “I have to wait for the Attorney General to come back with the advice to me and we’ll work through it.

“But obviously it has passed through a number of different stages and we will work on it as we would any other piece of legislation.”

Pressed on whether it could be done by summer, Ms McEntee reiterated that she was waiting on the advice in relation to services.