The Irish government has opposed the OTB based on advice of the Attorney General that only the EU can ban trade with illegal settlements. In a newly published legal opinion, two leading experts on EU law have stated that Ireland is fully entitled to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, criticising the Attorney General’s advice as "erroneous" and "at odds with settled EU case law"

The experts state that: "It is striking that the AG should have ignored the judgements in [two cases] where the European Court of Justice expressly held that Member States may deviate from EU law, including… on public policy grounds in order to protect fundamental rights... The analysis and conclusion in the AG Opinion that the Occupied Territories Bill is inconsistent with EU law [is] not only unconvincing but also at odds with settled ECJ case law.”