Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Bill is fully compliant with EU trade rules, according to new expert legal opinion given to Senator Frances Black.
The Bill, which is due to be voted on by the Seanad next Wednesday, aims to prohibit Ireland from trading in goods and services from Israeli-occupied territories by prohibiting “the import and sales of goods, services and natural resources originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories”.
Despite government opposition, the Bill has cross-party support from Labour, Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil as well as independent senators.
Members within government such as Transport Shane Ross, Minister of State for Disabilities Finian McGrath and Junior Minister for Jobs and Skills John Halligan have all voiced their support for the Bill, causing a bit of a headache due to government stating it opposes the proposed legislation.
Voicing his concern about the Bill earlier this year, Tánaiste Simon Coveney recognised that to prohibit the import and sales of goods from the territories would “send an important signal to the Palestinian people”.
Government opposition
However, he argued that the memory of such a signal may fade over time and Ireland’s reputation would be of a country willing to go it alone, rather than a country determined to influence, persuade and bring others with Ireland.
Questions were also raised about whether Ireland could act solo by banning the trade on goods from the region, with the government said to be relying on advice from the Attorney General that finds because trade is an EU competence, individual EU member states cannot impose trade bans unilaterally.
A number of legal experts, including Senator Michael McDowell, who is also a former Attorney General, disagree with that advice.
The new advice, written by Professor Takis Tridimas, an expert in EU law at King’s College London and a practicing barrister with an extensive record before the European Courts, concludes that the Bill is fully compatible with EU law.
The professor, who is regularly cited by the Irish Supreme Court, as recently as July 2018 by Mr Justice Peter Charleton, states in his opinion that the law is very clear.
He states that while trade is an exclusive competence of the EU, EU law also provides that individual Member States can introduce restrictions on trade when they can be justified as a matter of “public policy” (under Article 36, TFEU).
Violation of international law
He adds that the restrictions on trade in the Occupied Territories Bill are justified on this basis because the settlements violate international law.
“There is […] no doubt that the prohibitions included in the Bill seek
to promote the objectives of, and give effect to, fundamental rules of international law which also bind the EU,” Professor Tridimas writes in his 19-page opinion.
He adds the “prohibitions contained in the Bill are intended to provide effective protection to the right to self-determination and by no means exceed what is necessary for this purpose…”.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Senator Black said the government has strongly condemned the settlements, saying they are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace, and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible. This is also the longstanding position of the EU and the UN.
However, in opposing the Bill, the Tánaiste has relied on the unpublished advice from the Attorney General.
Black called on Coveney to publish the advice from AG, so that all parties could see the reasoning behind the government’s stance.
Professor Tridimas’ opinion shows that Ireland has the legal capacity to pursue this, she said, adding this can only be done “if the political will is there”.
“I would love to see it [the AG's advice to government]‘, Black told TheJournal.ie.
Two-State solution
Like the government, she said she too supports a two-State solution between Israel and Palestine, but she said peaceful negotiations are needed for that to become a reality.
“The settlements are illegal and that is just wrong. It is nearly an apartheid regime at this stage in Palestine,” she said, stating that people are being prevented from walking down their own road, with new settlements being built daily.
This week Airbnb said it would withdraw listings for rentals in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, ahead of the release of a Human Rights Watch report criticising the inclusion of settlements.
Israel strongly denounced Airbnb’s decision and threatened legal action against the company, while Palestinian officials welcomed it.
Senator Black said Airbnb is not a charity but a very big company which has chosen to take such action. “Even they are recognising the issue with the settlements,” she said, and questioned why the Irish government would not take its own action and support her Bill.
Speaking last weekend, Coveney said Ireland could be forced in to recognising the State of Palestine if there is no further progress on the Middle East peace talks.
“If we see no prospect of a movement in the direction of a real peace negotiation in an effort to ensure that we recognise that the only solution can be based on two-state solution we may have to reassess government’s approach in relation to recognition,” he said.
Dublin is to host a Middle East summit in the new year, dealing specifically with the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Staff in NH and hospitals are no longer doing traditional nursing. They are meeting all of HiQA requirements alright , ticking boxes , filling forms. Meantime they don’t have time to care for the patient. Give me a nurse who will care any day of the week ..but they have been strangled by bureaucracy and paperwork. I’d rather see a rusty wheelchair with a happy patient in it than a shiny one with a patient left alone while a nurse fills out forms about them. HiQA has become like the Spanish Inquisition. W have lost something while endeavouring to be correct about everything.
Well said Helen. You hit the nail on the head.In HIQUAs eyes its paperwork and box ticking over real nursing care.
Absolutely right Helen. Hiqa focuses on it’s paper standards not the quality of actual care. Nursing staff have to spend their time filling out forms and covering ass from hiqa. Gone are the days of real care when buses could chat to patients check how they were feeling mentally and physically and care for the whole person. The hiqa standards are so extensive no unit will be fully compliant. I have yet to read a report where all standards had been reach there is always some nit picking. That way they create a job for themselves. In a time of public service employment and cut backs this quango has grown greatly. Money that could have been spent in service provision. It
All we hear about are the bad nursing homes
There are some wonderful nursing homes and my mother is in one of these
The Tara in bray
It is home form home and the staff are caring ,loving and go the full mile
All presided over by the wonderful owner anne Costello
Let’s hear a bit more positive reports
Otherwise people get scared
^^^There is a plug form an nursing home owner if I ever saw one……
But the message in the post is correct. There are allot of really good Nursing Homes out there. Unfortunately we only hear the horror stories.
Also instead of putting all the blame on the Director of Nursing/Matron(as HIQUA seem to do) the nursing home owners must be held accountable also.
@Phyllis
Care staff are not allowed to ‘care’ as they would
like to as they have targets,paperwork,no beds and middle
managers to deal with.Nobody goes into nursing wanting to
take patients around a hospital on commodes.
My grandad has been in a nursing home for almost 2 years due to Alzheimers it would be impossible to care for him at home. The work the nurses and carers do is truly commendable, due to budget cuts and pencil pushers demanding paperwork etc. it is impossible for the staff to care for each individual patient that the way they would want to and should be cared for!
I visit my grandad twice a week both times when he’s getting one of his meals, the staff are running back and forth trying to make sure each patient has a meal, there are 12 patients in my grandfathers ward that can’t feed themselves my grandad included there will be max 2 nurses on duty and 3-4 carers, they are doing their best in stretched situations.
Reports like this annoy me, they cost money and don’t help anyone, often make it appear that residential staff don’t care and fail to help anyone!
Those pen pushers and whoever makes the decisions to cut back would want to realise if they are lucky to reach old age that’s what’s ahead for them.
@Row-Sheen: So what are we to do? Are you suggesting we should ignore reports of elder abuse? Really? What if it were you being wheeled around with your underwear down? Just because you have had a good experience does not mean that others have had and it is critical to highlight incidences of this nature so as to acknowledge that they are unacceptable.
What has happened to ‘care staff’ that allows them to treat their patients in this awful manner :(
Places don’t have enough staff too manage?
Few years in a nursing home costs hundreds of thousands of Euro and the state pays for it. The more old people the greater the strain on the system.
What do you suggest then, euthanasia? No matter what the cost to the state for their accommodation, the cost of preserving their dignity is zero. These are the people who gave us the state to begin with.
@David Burke the HSE nursing homes are understaffed, too much emphasis on forms and bureaucratic nonsense which results in time taken from the nurses in providing care to the residents.
With regard to payment I am afraid that you are incorrect in assuming that the state picks up the tab. The HSE will recoup as much as they can from the patient. After assessment the HSE will take 80℅ of the weekly pension plus 7.5℅ per annum of any assets held. You are allowed to keep the first €36,000. The HSE will then provide a loan to cover the balance which is recouped upon your death.
Eg: savings €36,000 (not counted)
Value of assets €100,000
Pension €248 pw
248 x 80% = 198.40
100,000 x 7.5℅ = 7500/12 = 625
625 + 198.40 = a weekly contribution of €823.40
I know this as I was in the unenviable position of contemplating this type of care for my terminally ill mother. I have since decided to care for her at home under the palliative care system.
http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/olderpeople/nhss/nhss.html#fin
Yet another appalling indictment of the treatment of the most vulnerable. Will anybody be held to account for this? I very much doubt it.
I think the nurse in question will…
These problems and issues are a direct result of cuts and staff shortages. Before the recession, on a 31 patient ward, there were 4 staff nurses and 2 care assistants. Now there are 2 staff nurses and 1 care assistant. How are they expected to feed the dependant patients at meal times AND do the drug round at the same time when there is no staff. Nurses are doing their best and all they receive from from HIQA is criticism instead of a ‘we know you’re stretched to the limits but we know you’re doing the best you can’.
The drive to the bottom for costs is behind this. Owners have to absorb increasing costs to maintain their profit levels and think they can do so by cutting staff costs. A real acandal is the homecare system where staff t&c’s are being hacked to boost profits while taking in donations of food from multi national shops that are wholly unsuitable for their clients. Anything to save another euro by those on already bloated, unjustified salaries
have your say