I welcome the Government's plans to increase the amount of microgeneration of energy across the country. This is a good thing. Anything that diversifies and democratises our energy supply is something that should be incentivised and supported. Every Deputy in this Chamber is aware, however, that there has been a massive increase in energy costs, in particular electricity costs, over the past few months. However, there has not been a concurrent increase in the feed-in tariffs that energy companies are willing to pay…

I thank the Minister for her opening statement, which she delivered yesterday. I am delighted to be in the Chamber today to contribute to this important debate on the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill. I am very happy with this Bill and welcome it. I recognise it is probably long overdue. I am happy to support its passage through the Oireachtas. I do so for the following reasons. First, I have no problem in saying that I am a big fan of An Garda Síochána. I recognise how difficult and dangerous the work is. For in…

I wish the Minister a good morning. I very much welcome the realisation that an additional 3,000 personnel are needed to staff our armed forces. I certainly agree with it. There needs to be more of an emphasis on retention as well as recruitment. On "The Late Late Show" last Friday, a retired sergeant, Mr. Ray Goggins, was asked straight up by Ryan Tubridy whether he would have stayed in the Defence Forces if the pay was better and he said that yes, of course he would. That is the key solution here. There were four…

The Minister quite rightly urged the Commission on the Defence Forces to be ambitious in its recommendations, and I urge him now to be ambitious in the implementation. There is virtually unanimous cross-party support for this. I have not heard a single dissenting voice in the Chamber on the issues of improving pay for our troops, increasing the number of personnel and improving the infrastructure and premises throughout the Defence Forces. I urge the Minister to capitalise on that common ground and that consensus. …

I am delighted to be here to contribute to this historic debate. I recognise the significance it holds for the peoples of Europe as it marks Europe Day yesterday. I also recognise the special significance it holds for the people of this country, because 50 years ago today, exactly, on 10 May 1972, our parents' generation voted to join what was then the European Economic Community, EEC. The rest, as they say, is history. I do not think either the Minister of State or myself were around at the time of the referendum,…

I am not sure if the Taoiseach will recall exactly where he was on this day three years ago. He was actually on the Grand Parade in Cork when he quite kindly attended the military veteran's respect and loyalty parade on 4 May. That movement was established, as the Taoiseach is aware, to highlight the very poor terms, conditions and pay for members of the Defence Forces, a phenomenon that is, unfortunately, continuing to this day. To be fair, the Taoiseach was the Leader of the Opposition at the time. He listened to…

My big concern is the length of time this process is taking. The Commission on the Defence Forces was established at the end of 2020 and we still do not have an outcome or result. One of the international members of the commission gave some public commentary a couple of days ago in which he described our Defence Forces as not being fit for purpose. Those views were echoed by the Chief of Staff yesterday, which is a fairly scandalous indictment of what has happened over recent decades from an investment point of vie…

I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement. Having read the motion, I do not have any major difficulty with it and will be happy to support its passage through the Dáil later on this evening. I will do so for a number of reasons. First, Eurojust has established itself as quite a credible and competent agency over the past 20 years, since its inception in 2002, in relation to the exchange of criminal justice information between law enforcement agencies. All we are being asked to do here is to expand the…

Let us have Deputy Nash without interruption, please.

There will be an opportunity to reply in due course.

Order, please.

The Rural Independent Group will have an opportunity to respond in due course, as per the programme.

The Minister of State has approximately six minutes and then there is ten minutes of protected time for the Rural Independent Group.

I thank the Minister of State for his punctuality. The concluding remarks are from Deputy McGrath on behalf of the Regional Group. He has ten minutes.

Correct.

The Taoiseach is aware that the next round of national wage negotiations is likely to get under way shortly. He is also aware that the Commission on the Defence Forces recently recommended that both PDFORRA and RACO should be permitted to associate with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, should they wish to do so. I note PDFORRA has been calling for this for years. Last week, RACO balloted its members, 85% of whom indicated this is something they wish to pursue. Will the Government allow PDFORRA and RACO to …

I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and the motion before us, short as it is. I support the motion. All contributions have shown an awareness of the transnational nature of organised crime and terrorism, whether that is people trafficking, weapons smuggling or drug trafficking. People appreciate that. We can also appreciate our law enforcement personnel need the means to reach across borders and access the appropriate information in a timel…

I listened intently to the Minister's response to Deputy O'Rourke in respect of energy security. Perhaps my question is almost a follow-on from that. Specifically, will the Minister outline his plan to enhance Ireland's energy security over the next 12 months?

I thank the Minister for his detailed response. I agree with him that we will be okay in short term. It is reassuring to hear that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We are fortunate to be facing into the summer now, which should take a bit of pressure off the system. My concern is, post-Hallowe'en, in six months' time, when we will face into the next winter, whether we will be able to ride out that storm. I thank the Minister for confirming that an energy security review is ongoing. Perhaps he coul…

Excellent. It is very reassuring to hear that response. Following on from the Minister's response to Deputy O'Rourke, he mentioned the potential import ban on Russian fossil fuels. I very much agree with the Government’s position of that. I think that most Deputies in the Chamber would too. I thank the Minister for reassuring us that we should be okay from a coal and a natural gas point of view. He did mention that oil is our Achilles heel, for obvious geographical reasons. Perhaps the Minister could outline where …