I was in the defence committee this morning discussing the maritime security strategy. Within that came our capabilities, and we know the issues in relation to naval vessels. We do have legacy expertise in the Mediterranean neighbourhood through Operation Pontus and working with EU partner states on that. We can act and we do have expertise in our Defence Forces and Naval Service to do that. On the piracy and the kidnapping and detention of Irish citizens, the Tánaiste says he is open to practical solutions or idea…

Would it be fair to say that the Tánaiste and Government have an appetite?

In the spirit of the worker's voice on this, we have seen the action in Italy with workers' solidarity, which has been called for for a couple of weeks. The Labour Party has the Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025. Would the Tánaiste support, at least in principle, the idea that workers in this country who refuse to handle, store or provide carriage of settlement goods - I have kept it at goods for this particular Bill - would be protected under the Unfair Dismissals Act from han…

Finally, on the transport of weapons through Irish airspace, we know, as Deputy Murphy said in his contribution earlier, that these end up going into the Department of Transport investigations black hole. Will the Tánaiste please commit to this House, and this is small, that he will ask the Department of Transport to expedite these investigations, to publish results, and to change and improve how it conducts these investigations, because they are a matter of the utmost seriousness with regard to the integrity of ou…

The greatest ally genocide has is those who choose not to call it out when they see it. Over the weekend, I saw a commentary about whether there is the need for these statements on Gaza and, indeed, yesterday's statements on the flotilla. Some people in this country were questioning whether we should have these statements at all, considering the issues our own country faces. To those people I say: remember our own history. When the violence on this island came to an end, we required the assistance of other countrie…

The motion is not unimportant but it is a symbol of support. The flotilla itself is also a symbol but it is much more; it is actual action. It is an action towards developing and delivering a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, something which the international community has failed to do. If successful, it would be a counterbalance to the abhorrent Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as set up by Israel and the United States. We know an awful lot about turning symbols into action in this country. When South Africa was under…

I endorse the calls of Deputy Paul Murphy for an Irish representative on the legal observer post for the Global Sumud Flotilla. It is well within the tramlines of diplomatic action that we would do that. I raise with exasperation and desperation the case of Barry Corcoran in my constituency. In 2019 Barry wanted to take part in a deep retrofit pilot programme. He did his due diligence, checked the SEAI register for approved companies and picked a company from that list. Unfortunately, when the company began the wor…

There are swathes of people raising families in a rental system that was never designed for long-term living, with the inflationary impact of increased rental costs. The average industrial wage in this country is just over €50,000, but the average rental price in Dublin is over half the industrial wage. If we take into account all the cost-of-living increases, particularly relating to food, they have been well discussed. We have brought forward motions in relation to this. My colleague, Deputy Nash, has done great …

It was not my initial intention to raise this as a priority question this morning but I am glad of the opportunity. It relates to the pension entitlements of deceased Defence Forces officer Peter Flood and transferring those to entitlements to his widow.

The reason I raise the issue - the family understand and have been informed of the circumstances by the Defence Forces - is that the individual in question left school after his communion, had no formal education and, in the words of his own family, had severe literacy issues. He found sanctuary in the Defence Forces. He served there for 22 years and had multiple tours of Lebanon. He was a proud Defence Forces member and was always sure and had told his family that if anything happened him, his beautiful wife and h…

I thank the Tánaiste. I will not delve too much further into the details of this. I look forward to his more detailed response and anything the Department of Social Protection can do. I will come back through him if I believe there are any further avenues we can pursue.

I am sure that the Taoiseach will join all of us in sending our thoughts to the communities of Donabate and Portrane with the breaking news that remains have found in the search for poor Daniel Aruebose. I want to return to what we raised at the Business Committee last Thursday, which is a commitment from the Taoiseach at the earliest possible convenience to have a debate on Gaza, with the measures that are now being discussed in Europe and the fact that a detailed memo was apparently brought to Cabinet this mornin…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an occupying power within occupied territory; and to provide for related matters. This is a two-part Bill.…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Speaking to members of the community who were around in the first Pride and subsequent Prides, the movement was rooted in protest, demonstration and anger. We are here tonight in that spirit with regard to transgender healthcare. I want to read two things. My colleague, Deputy Wall, referred to how we were bottom of the list in Europe with regard to transgender healthcare. In the 2020 programme for Government, the Government's commitment was to: Create and implement a general health policy for Trans people, based o…

I thank Sinn Féin for this really detailed, strong motion that has been presented tonight, and I thank our party's spokesperson, Marie Sherlock, for sharing time. As a former party spokesperson on health, nothing has struck me more than the cases of women who have come to me to explain to me the pain, the silencing, the suffering and the exclusion they have felt as women in this country suffering from endometriosis. This motion from Sinn Féin says everything that needs to be said because it focuses on diagnosis. Th…

On the same issue, if the roles were reversed and a GAA club in Greystones, Swords or anywhere else were trying to go somewhere and the mentors who were travelling with them were falling foul of this, we would be rightly asking questions and, indeed, be outraged. We know this is not a normal case either. There have been many political representations made on this. We also have something else coming down the tracks with the Lajee Center in Bethlehem sending dancers over who may be subject to the same situation. The …

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am delighted to have the opportunity to move this Bill on Second Stage. To be clear, this Bill will not solve the many issues impacting negatively the daily lives of residents in north County Dublin and east County Meath, including aircraft noise, night-time flights and the passenger cap. Members of the Government who were in opposition when this Bill was introduced supported it at the time. It would transfer the functions for regulating aircraft noise from the a…

I fundamentally disagree with the assertions of the Minister of State on the provisions of this Bill. I thank Deputies O'Reilly, Graves, O'Rourke, Pa Daly and Toole for contributing to the debate. These Deputies do not just contribute to the debates when the lights and cameras are on. They have been at every committee and public meeting for years on this issue. There is no other issue that unites politicians in north County Dublin more than the issue of the airport and the various related matters. In the recent dev…

It is on Committee Stage.