The Irish State has issued 14 individual licenses for the export of goods capable of being used for military applications to Israel since the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year, it has been revealed.
Responding to a parliamentary question asked by Independent TD Catherine Connolly, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Dara Calleary said the value of dual-use exports licensed by the department to Israel in the seven months since the October 7 attacks totalled €52m, with the majority of these exports being ICT hardware and software.
Dual-use items are products and components, including software and technology, which can be used for both civil and military purposes. While these items can move freely across the European Union, a license is needed to export them to a third country such as Israel.Â
The Government does not publish details of the specific goods exported under dual-use licences, or the companies involved in trading.
Mr Calleary said during parliamentary questions last week that the bulk of dual-use exports from Ireland are mainstream business ICT products including networking, data storage and cybersecurity, and were categorised as dual-use items due to their strong encryption for security products.Â
“All export licence applications, including those indicating an end destination in Israel, are considered by my officials in accordance with criteria set out within the relevant dual-use and military EU and National Regulations and with Ireland’s international obligations and responsibilities as members of non-proliferation regimes and export control arrangements,” said Mr Calleary.
“On receipt of an application for an export license, my officials carry out an assessment which includes a series of checks to ensure, as far as possible, that the item to be exported will be used by the stated end-user for the stated end-use and will not be used for illicit purposes.”
However, the last 12 months have seen significant increases in Irish dual-use exports to Israel, with a report published by Uplift this week finding dual-use exports from Ireland to Israel increased to €70.4m last year, up notably from just €10.4m in 2022.Â
The report also found that 13% of the goods exported to Israel from Ireland were designated as dual-use, which was more than six times the EU average.