The Government should consider putting in place resources to address international "smear" campaigns against the Occupied Territories Bill - including taking "proactive" EU, UN and US steps to address "misinformation" over the legislation.
Members of the cross-party Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee called for the move after publishing their pre-legislative report on the bill.
Among the document's 17 recommendations - which are based on meetings with relevant organisations and individuals over recent weeks - are that:
- The bill should include a ban on both services and goods from the occupied territories.
- "Potential legal challenges" should "not be used as grounds for diluting the legislation".
- A "clear timeline" should be published for when the bill will become law.
- The Government should encourage "like-minded" EU member states to draw up similar legislation.
- The Government should "undertake efforts to establish and publish a range of likely scenarios" to help businesses to cope with any possible financial difficulties.
However, the report also states that politicians should work "closely with businesses in combating misinformation about the proposed bill".
"The committee recommends that the Government continues to engage in proactive diplomacy at EU, UN and US levels, with a public communications campaign to inform the public and international observers of the relevant facts of the legislation and to address any misinformation or misconceptions."
Committee chair John Lahart referred to recent "outdated tropes" made against Ireland due to the Occupied Territories Bill, including the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee's claim that Ireland should "sober up" in relation to the legislation.
The Fianna Fáil TD said those comments were designed to "bully" and "press buttons", and that they need to be "faced down" by Ireland, saying that ambassadors, diplomats and other officials globally are watching what happens with the bill.
Mr Lahart said that Ireland showed a "maturity" in not responding to criticism of the bill from senior US political figures, including it being labelled as "anti-Semitic hate" by Chairwoman of the US House Republicans Lisa McClain.
"There were worse statements using traditional tropes about Ireland and stereotypes about Ireland. And I think it's an indication of the maturity of Ireland that we don't respond to those buttons," he said.
Social Democrats senator Patricia Stephenson said there has been "escalation" of "misinformation" in relation to the bill in recent weeks, a view shared by a number of other committee members.
Committee members confirmed that there was no disagreement over the final recommendations of the report, and that this was in part due to what they described as the changing atmosphere around the scenes in Gaza across all sides of the political spectrum.
John Lahart confirmed that all decisions taken on the bill were unanimous.
"There were something like 76 amendments before us. We made 17 recommendations, and we did not divide," he said on RTÉ's Drivetime.
"The report, as published today, with its 17 recommendations and 70-odd amendments was agreed to by the entire committee, made up of cross-party membership from the Dáil and the Seanad."
Mr Lahart said that there was still work for the Government to do on the Occupied Territories Bill.
"Among our recommendations is that the Government needs to try and quantify what services are, and one of the things that we did without was obviously the advice of the Attorney General.
"In tandem with that, there's a good bit of work for the Government to do. But we believe that we've provided sufficient ground to assist them progressing the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas."
Any version excluding services would need stronger evidence - committee members
Independent senator Alice Mary Higgins said the report's recommendations are "very clear" on the need to include services as well as goods in any bill, while Labour TD Duncan Smith said the report sends "a very strong message" to Government.
Committee members said at a press conference that any future Government version of the bill that does not include services would need to provide evidence that is stronger than what was provided to them in hearings.
Independent senator Frances Black - who published the original version of the bill in 2018 - said the report publication is "a hugely important step" and that "the services issue is crucial".
Senator Black said, "The committee is saying we want this, we want to do it right", and that any attempts at "scaremongering" should not take away from the fact Ireland would be "the first country to lead on this".
She added that Ireland has led on similar international issues in the past, including against the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1980s, and needed to do so again now.
The committee's report has now been sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for further examination.
While Government has promised to fast-track the bill, the Dáil's summer recess means no decision will be made until the Oireachtas returns in September, at the earliest.
