Ireland is set to become the first EU country to limit trade with Israel as the reworked Occupied Territories Bill is brought to Cabinet by Tánaiste Simon Harris.
Mr Harris will today ask Cabinet to approve the drafting of the general scheme of a bill to ban the importation of goods from illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Mr Harris said last week he has a “legal view” that including services in the bill is not possible.
Palestinians examining the damage at a school hit by Israeli military strike which killed at least 36 people in Gaza City on Monday, May 26, 2025. Picture: Jehad Alshrafi/AP
The Tánaiste is expected to tell ministers that while Ireland does “minimal trade” with the occupied Palestinian territory, the Government has “been resolute in its determination to use every lever available to end the war in the Middle East”.
Trade in goods which originated in occupied Palestinian land accounted for around €700,000 between 2020 and 2024.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, May 5, 2025. Picture: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
It is understood the bill will go to the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee for scrutiny next month, with Mr Harris last week saying he was “not sure” if the bill could be passed before the summer recess.
Meanwhile, the Government chief whip and minister of state with responsibility for mental health, Mary Butler, through health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, will seek approval of amendments to the Mental Health Bill 2024, which will make changes to the treatment of those involuntarily admitted to an acute mental health setting, and introduce a revised approach to consent to treatment.
The bill will grant new powers to the Mental Health Commission to regulate all community mental health services, including community Camhs.
Ms Carroll MacNeill will update Cabinet on actions taken to strengthen governance and oversight at Children’s Health Ireland and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh after last week’s clinic audit report on hip surgeries.
Ms Carroll MacNeill will say that HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster has agreed to respond to the report and its implications within the next week.
She will also update on the appointment of two HSE board members to the CHI board, as well as a strengthening of the service-level agreement between the HSE and CHI.
Many of the 241 Government committee-stage amendments relate to technical amendments, while others seek to address the concerns of stakeholder groups.
Meanwhile, ATMs, ticket machines, and other facilities will have to be accessible to all under an EU law being implemented in Ireland
Children’s Minister Norma Foley will tell Cabinet that the European Accessibility Act is designed to ensure that designated products and services are accessible for people with disabilities.
This includes computers and operating systems, ATMs, e-ticketing and check-in machines, digital television services, banking services, and telephony services including smartphones.
Also at Cabinet, Minister for Higher Education, James Lawless will bring an update to Government on the rollout of Springboard+ 2025.