National Treasury Management Agency

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 November 2023

Thursday, 23 November 2023

Questions (79)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

79. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the total value and number of investments made by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund in companies or enterprises that operate in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, respectively, companies or enterprises that have been included on the UN database of companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, which was published by the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 31/36; and for an update on engagements the Minister or his Department have had with ISIF with respect to divesting from said companies. [51791/23]

Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Over the past month and more we have been witness to the cruel and vicious bombardment of the Palestinian people in Gaza together with increased attacks, intimidation and brutality in the West Bank. These events have underlined the need for the State to do everything in its means and use everything at its disposal to hold the Israeli regime to account on behalf of the Palestinian people. We have legislation calling for divestment in the illegal settlements by Israel. Will the Minister update the Dáil his engagement with the NTMA and Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, regarding divestment from companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories?

Minister for Finance (Deputy Michael McGrath)

The NTMA has advised that its annual report for 2022 discloses ISIF’s shareholdings and contains, as at year end 2022, 11 companies which appear on the UN Human Rights Council database of business enterprises involved in certain activities related to the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as published by the UN Human Rights Council in February 2020 and updated in June 2023. The NTMA has advised me that ISIF constructs its portfolio within the legislative framework set for it by the Oireachtas.

When the Private Members' Illegal Israeli Settlement Divestment Bill 2023 was initiated in the Dáil, the Minister of State outlined the State’s position with regard to the policy of differentiation that the State adopts vis-à-vis Israel and the territories occupied by Israel since 1967. Ireland’s general position with regard to the occupied territories is very clear. In the debate on the Bill in May this year, the Minister of State also raised a number of specific concerns about the content and approach proposed in the Bill.

In that context, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights issued an update to the UN database of businesses operating in illegal Israeli settlements on 30 June this year. In publishing the update, the UN said that it did not purport to provide a complete list of business enterprises engaged in certain activities in relation to Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory. The update, which was also resource constrained and limited only to a review of those companies already listed, resulted in 15 companies being removed from the database.

As the Deputy is aware the Dáil agreed a nine-month timed amendment on 15 May to consider the issues raised by the Private Members' Bill brought forward by his party. This was to allow for consideration of the issues raised by that Bill. That timed amendment will expire in mid-February 2024 and I understand it is then a matter for the Oireachtas as to how the Bill will proceed. I will add furhter remarks shortly on the work we are doing with the NTMA and ISIF on the issues raised.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

In the past number of weeks, we have seen this play out in front of our eyes on our television screens and on social media. We have witnessed actions by an Israeli regime that break all moral and, indeed, legal codes. We have a moral obligation to act, and there are steps that can be taken. In March, before the humanitarian crisis unfolded, Sinn Féin brought legislation before the House, which would require the NTMA to divest the assets in the ISIF of companies that operate within the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Minister said there were 11 on the list. That is in line with a UN database of companies operating within these illegal settlements. While it is not the intention of the staff of the NTMA or ISIF to support companies there, it is simply not acceptable that taxpayers' money is being invested in companies that are propping up the economic activities of illegal settlements that breach international law and the dignity and rights of the Palestinian people, and it needs to end. The Minister is in the driving seat and he needs to bring it to a conclusion. What is the total value of taxpayer money invested in the 11 companies that are operating in the illegal settlements in the occupied territories?

Deputy Michael McGrath

The reply the Deputy will receive sets out a table drawn from the NTMA annual report. It gives a total over just under €4.2 million. My Department has been working with ISIF on the most appropriate way to address issues raised by the Deputy and the Private Members' Bill, including in the context of the forthcoming future Ireland fund and the infrastructure, climate and nature fund.

I have also written to the CEO of the NTMA and to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence to seek their views. My officials had an engagement with the committee to discuss the issue. This process will allow the Government to determine the most appropriate approach to adopt on this matter. I am aware that this is a difficult situation to resolve and that it does requires time and careful consideration to get right. The timed amendment approach has provided some space to consider the intent of the Bill. I am working through the issues which arise with the legal advisers, the NTMA and ISIF and I intend to discuss this matter with the Government very shortly.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

The lack of urgency on this by the Government is startling. We brought forward the legislation and it decided to stall it for nine months. That nine months is up in January and there is still no plan from the Government. In the meantime, bombs have rained down on the people of Gaza.

We have seen the destruction of hospitals and civilian infrastructure, and the destruction and targeting of schools. We have seen the deaths of thousands of women and children. We have seen the victims of war crimes right before our eyes. In the West Bank, Israeli settlers have stepped up their campaign of intimidation, dispossession and violence, aided and abetted by Israeli security forces. Our proposed legislation underlines that Ireland is saying it will not invest millions of euro of taxpayers' money to prop up that type of activity as regards illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

This should not take nine or 12 months or whatever. We need action on this. I ask that the Government works with Sinn Féin's aim to divest any assets the State has invested in companies operating in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Will the Minister commit to bringing that about? Will he say that we will find a way to make sure that no taxpayers' money is being invested in companies that are operating in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories?

Deputy Michael McGrath

It is important we take a comprehensive approach to examining this issue. The UN acknowledged that the list it published was not complete or exhaustive. ISIF's policies in respect of environmental, social, and corporate governance, ESG, have demonstrated an ability to invest ethically. For example, under the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018, at the end of last year, the fund had developed a list of 243 fossil fuel companies in which it will not invest. In addition, the fund also maintains an exclusionary strategy around cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines, which are prohibited under the Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Mines Act, coal production and processing, tobacco manufacturing and direct investment in companies involved in the manufacturing and testing of nuclear weapons or their critical component parts.

I am actively working on this issue. I am engaging with the NTMA and ISIF. We have engaged with Oireachtas committees through my officials. I will bring this matter to the Government shortly.