The Government’s version of the Occupied Territories Bill – which bans trade in goods, but not services, with illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land – has been signed into law by President Catherine Connolly.
The legislation passed all stages of the Houses of the Oireachtas last week after failed last-ditch attempts by the Opposition to include services in the Bill before the summer recess.
On Thursday a statement from Áras an Uachtaráin said: “Having considered the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026, the President has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law.”
The original Occupied Territories Bill, put forward by Independent Senator Frances Black in 2018, was aimed at banning trade in both goods and services.
READ MORE
It was stalled by successive governments over concerns it could fall foul of EU trade rules.
However, the last coalition sought fresh legal advice after the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding advisory opinion stating that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were in breach of international law.
After the 2024 general election, the new Government committed to progressing legislation prohibiting trade in goods from occupied Palestinian territories.
While the legislation was being debated in June, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said the legal advice she received from the Attorney General “does not say that it is impossible” to include services in the Bill.
However, the advice suggested the legal basis for a ban on services was not as strong as a ban on goods alone. It was also unclear how the Government would implement a ban on the trade of services, she said.
Two Opposition amendments tabled last week in the Seanad that attempted to add services to the Bill but were defeated when Senators voted on them. A similar proposal had also previously failed at committee stage in the Dáil.
During last week’s Seanad debate Black accused the Government of “consciously letting large companies providing tech, IT, and other services-based trade off the hook” and said: “to me, that is a tragedy.”
Connolly was a supporter of Black’s proposed legislation during her previous role as an Independent TD representing Galway West.
During last year’s presidential election campaign she was asked by the joe.ie website about the possibility that, as president, she would have to sign a watered-down version of the legislation that did not include services.
Connolly responded saying she was “fully aware of the restrictions on a President”.
“I have very strong opinions on the Occupied Territories Bill and I’ll never shy away from expressing those opinions as a TD,” she said.
“The Occupied Territories Bill should have been enacted a long time ago on goods and services and Senator Black has done tremendous work.”
However, Connolly also said articles in the Constitution that “set out the possibilities for a president and also the restrictions”. She said an important role of the President is to sign legislation into law but also that “legislation is for the Government and for the Dáil”.
