The Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023, introduced by Sinn Féin TD John Brady, would compel the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to divest itself of all current assets and prohibit future investments in any companies included in a database published by the UN Human Rights Council.

Mr Brady said: “According to the Tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs, deputy Micheál Martin, settlements are illegal under international law and Israel must not make any provision to advance settlement authorisation and development.

“Given his statement and the government’s stance on illegal settlements, how can the government parties offer anything but full support for the bill?”

He added that the bill “reflects a sovereign decision for the government to make” and ministers “cannot attempt to go to ground and hide behind the fig leaf of EU trade rules, as it has attempted to do in the past on the Occupied Territories Bill”.

On behalf of the government, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, minister of state in the Department of Finance, moved an amendment which would delay the bill for nine months “to allow for further consideration”.

She said the government is concerned that the UN database at the centre of the bill “has not been updated since 2020 and we understand that the database does not currently have a clear basis for amending the information on it”.

She also said there was “a question as to whether it is legally possible to link an investment or divestment strategy to the database, given its status and the position in Irish law”.

“Pausing the bill for now allows for a more considered and comprehensive determination of whether a more calibrated, principle-based approach could be adopted which would have a greater practical impact,” the minister said.

The government amendment will be put to a vote this evening.