Pictured: Campaigners backing the Occupied Territories Bill in September.

The government has long frustrated the progress of the Occupied Territories Bill, first tabled in 2018 by Independent Senator Frances Black and sponsored by Senators Alice-Mary Higgins and Lynn Ruane, claiming that it would breach EU law.

However, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said yesterday that the “context” had changed as a result of the landmark advisory opinion on the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July.

Mr Martin said: “The advisory opinion found that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory is unlawful and should be brought to an end as rapidly as possible.

“It further addressed the duty on all states not to render any aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. In particular, the court stated that all states have a duty to distinguish in dealings with Israel between its own territory and the OPT.

“This duty includes an obligation to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the OPT.”

He added that amendments to the bill would be necessary in order to make it compliant with the Constitution and EU law, with a “range of complex policy and legal issues to be resolved”.

“The government is committed to taking forward this work, commencing with a review of the bill, to be progressed in consultation with the Attorney General, relevant ministers, and the sponsor of the bill, Senator Frances Black,” he added.

Taoiseach Simon Harris yesterday told the Dáil that he did not “want to get into a ruaille buaille on the timescale” and taking forward the bill would be “complex”.

He also claimed that the government had not “changed its mind or position” on the bill. The new approach, six years after the bill was introduced, was because “the reality has changed with the ICJ advisory opinion”, he said.