I welcome the commitment to sport in the programme for Government. Accordingly, I would like to raise with the Tánaiste the matter of the disused and closed ice rink in Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT. This is a facility that was purchased in 2014, using public funds but, incredibly, has lain idle since then. It is the only ice rink in this jurisdiction and because it is not open it means that the Irish national ice hockey team must train in Belfast rather than in this jurisdiction. I am sure the Tánaiste can…

As a Donegal man himself, I am sure the Minister fully appreciates the importance of the sea to this island nation, but most importantly to coastal and fishing communities around the country. I am pretty sure he also appreciates how dangerous it can be on the high seas, especially in the north Atlantic, and how many tragedies, unfortunately, have befallen the fishing communities in recent years. Whether we are crewing a cruise ship, pleasure craft, a container ship, car ferry or fishing vessel, it is a very hazardo…

I would like to focus my question this afternoon on the national recovery and resilience plan published yesterday afternoon. This plan is being exclusively funded from Brussels. For the first time ever the European Union is centrally borrowing to the tune of €750 billion - a massive amount of money - and distributing that money among member states. I wish this facility had been available to us ten years ago when we needed it most. It would have offset much of the unnecessary suffering and hardship.

I have one concern with regard to Ireland's allocation, which is €915 million. Notwithstanding that Ireland's population is more than 1.1% of the European Union, its allocation is less than 0.75%. I ask the Taoiseach to outline what criteria was used at a European level to determine the allocations for individual member states and to confirm if he is happy and satisfied with Ireland's allocation. My second question is again in regard to the €915 million. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm if it is a grant that does not…

I thank the Taoiseach for clarifying that the funding is a grant rather than a loan. That is really important because what we are going through at the moment is not a stand-alone economic crisis; it is a natural disaster that has become an economic crisis. It is important to make a distinction in that perspective. I note from the plan that there is a potential opportunity for a second round of European Union funding in 2023, which obviously has to be negotiated. I would urge the Taoiseach to push for a second alloc…

I welcome this debate and the opportunity to speak on the worsening situation in Belarus. I note the comments of previous speakers and wish to add my voice to the chorus of condemnation that has already been heard in this Chamber. Accordingly, I am very happy to support this motion as it stands. The events of 23 May over Belarus were scandalous and completely unacceptable at so many different levels. First, the intercepting diverting and forced landing of a Ryanair civilian airliner in Minsk was an incredible and u…

I thank Deputy Brady for bringing this important motion before the House. It gives us another opportunity to discuss and debate this important matter, particularly in light of the significant events of the past number of days. I welcome last week’s ceasefire and the tentative cessation of hostilities that it has brought about. While I appreciate it is early days yet, the truce, thankfully, appears to be sticking. I urge all sides to respect, protect and support that truce because it is all we have. It is the only h…

I thank the Minister for outlining the Irish State's position on the appalling ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine, and in particular in the Gaza Strip. I acknowledge the Minister's efforts in New York and his attempt to try to seek consensus and a Security Council resolution, and his work at European Union level in trying to shame it into a more proactive stance. I welcome the additional humanitarian aid the Minister announced this afternoon and the extra €1 million for UNRWA and the additional €500,000 …

I am delighted to support the motion on investing in our public water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. As a proud member of the Regional Group, I am very much in favour of balanced regional development across regional, rural and even coastal Ireland. It is not that I am particularly biased towards living in the countryside; I am just biased towards progress. Living in regional Ireland and supporting the move towards regional Ireland has major benefits to pay for the entire country. It will reduce gridlock, …

I welcome the Minister and Minister of State. I will start with a brief statement and progress to questions and answers immediately afterwards. I utterly condemn this outrageous attack. It is an attack not only on the Irish health service but also on Irish sovereignty by criminal elements outside this jurisdiction. It is a heinous attack, a heinous crime. The blame for the incident lies principally with the criminal actors, for sure. I agree with the views of retired colonel Dorcha Lee in The Irish Times this morni…

My question is in respect of Orchard Park, which is the residential estate in the Curragh Camp which is currently being run and managed by the Department of Defence. There are a number of vacant homes in that estate. I would be grateful to hear the Minister's thoughts on what the plans are for those vacant homes and is he minded to hand over the estate to Kildare County Council?

I thank the Minister for that excellent and very useful update, which is most helpful. From a broader perspective, the Curragh Camp, as we both know, is an excellent place full of wonderful people but dereliction is a major issue in the camp on foot of decades of neglect. It is quite an old Victorian camp. To be fair to the Department of Defence, it has a finite budget. There is only so much that it can spend in the camp every single year. What are the Minister's thoughts on mobilising the broader Government to ass…

I am regularly asked on what I would spend the extra funding if the defence budget was increased. The budget negotiations will be coming up in the next few months and I ask the Minister to advocate as strongly as possible to his Cabinet colleagues - I know he does so - that if the defence budget was increased, there would be more money available for infrastructural projects and to invest in the Curragh Camp in particular, which is the home of the Defence Forces. Nearly every member of the Defence Forces passes thro…

My question relates to the national search and rescue service. The service is up for renewal in 2023 and I understand proposals will shortly be brought to Cabinet with regard to how best to configure the service from 2023 onwards. I was very grateful for the comments of the Minister a few months ago when he stated that, in his view, the Air Corps should be given the most significant role in providing that service as humanly and physically possible. Is that still his view? I ask him to update the House in that regar…

I thank the Minister for his very supportive and useful comments. When Roscommon hospital was closed down in 2013 and there was a need to establish a medevac helicopter in Athlone, the Air Corps was tasked with providing this aeromedical emergency service. It has been providing that service successfully for the past ten years. It did not go out to contract; the Air Corps was just tasked with doing it. When a Garda air support unit was needed in the late 1990s, that did not go out to contract; the Air Corps was just…

I fully appreciate how limited and restricted the Minister is in his comments. The key final point I wish to get across is that this contract could be an enormous contract, worth up to €1 billion over ten years, which is the equivalent of half a children's hospital, but without having a children's hospital or even half a children's hospital to show for it. My specific recommendations are that, where possible, we should invest in our public service first and foremost. We should try to keep the money of Irish taxpaye…

I very much welcome the publication by the Government of the Private Security Services (Amendment) Bill 2021. It is long overdue. I recognise and acknowledge the work and contribution of Deputy Ó Laoghaire in the initial drafting of the Bill some time ago. I am heartened by the fact there is cross-party support for it. There is good reason for that support. I am happy to say that I will support the passage of the Bill through the Dáil for all of the reasons I will outline. It is something the public wants and needs…

I am delighted to be here to speak on Europe Day as a member of the Regional Group. Ireland joined the European project in 1973. I was born in 1977 and as such I am one of Ireland's lucky generations really. We were the first generation to be born within the European Union, the first generation to benefit fully from its membership and the first generation to witness first-hand the transition from national poverty and despair to at least some measure of national prosperity and hope. My generation did not have to rea…

Have private security firms been appointed to secure Irish embassies and diplomats in unstable regions abroad? If so, what is the cost of such arrangements, do they provide armed protection and will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister for that very useful response. More than €1 million seems like quite a large outlay for such a bespoke service. Has any consideration been given to resourcing and tasking the Defence Forces to provide such a service on a more permanent basis rather than just on an ad hoc basis? I ask that for a number of reasons. First, Irish embassies overseas are sovereign Irish territory and many other countries use their militaries, even in Dublin, to secure their embassies. Given we do not have a dedicated…