The Deputy will be aware that Ireland has been to the fore. If one travels the Arab world there is huge respect for the stance Ireland has taken and the principled stand we have taken in respect of the Middle East over a long period of time. That was certainly the case in Egypt when I was there last week and with the Palestinian Authority when I met it in Ramallah last week, and when I met with it two months ago when I visited the region. This is in the context of our adherence to UN resolutions around the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the need for a two-state solution, and a recognition of UN resolutions.
On the question around trade, the principle of competitive tendering for government contracts is used by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces for the acquisition of goods and services. This is an EU law requirement and is in accordance with the defence and security directive. Central to those procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition between suppliers through the submission of tenders following advertising of the tender competition on the e-tenders site and on the Official Journal of the European Union, where appropriate. Such tender competitions are open to any company or country, subject to the terms of all UN, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, and European Union arms embargoes or restrictions. There are no such restrictions or embargoes in place on Israel or Israeli companies, by the EU or the OSCE.
The Department of Defence will continue to carry out its procurement functions in accordance with the legal rules in place and is obliged to follow the established procurement principles for the selection of economic operators with regard to the award of contracts. We do not have unilateral powers here.