This April Fool's Day we are bracing ourselves for the impact of the most foolish April Fool of them all. I am talking, of course, about Trump's tariffs, the scale and scope of which we will learn tomorrow. Not content with damaging his own economy, he has now got his sights set on ours too. Reportedly, even within his own administration, there is no knowing yet what exactly he has planned. Indeed, he may not even know himself. In that context, I was glad that the Tánaiste responded positively to my request in sche…

We had concerns about it.

All of us in this House agree that the tariffs Trump is proposing are bad for the worldwide economy. Indeed, we could be facing an international "Trump slump", as it has been described. The fear of tariffs itself is having a destabilising effect across Ireland and across Europe. We all appreciate that the EU has to respond in a strategic manner to whatever comes forward from the US tomorrow, but equally, we have to control the controllables here at home. The Minister for Finance has pointed out the need to invest i…

It feels like every day we are seeing more horror around the world. At the weekend, we saw the appalling earthquake and loss of life in Myanmar. There is also the ongoing slaughter of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza and the continued bombardment of Ukraine by Russia. At this time, it is particularly concerning to see the rowing back across the world of aid programmes, with UNRWA under attack and, of course, with Donald Trump's cuts to USAID, which are triggering a global public health crisis. Even our nearest neighb…

We have spoken in this Chamber before about the significant delays in the Government's response to the scale of Storm Éowyn. With climate change, there are likely to be stronger storms in future. We need preparations. Some years ago, after flash floods in Louth, the then Minister, Simon Coveney, committed to putting business flood relief schemes on a permanent statutory footing. I believe that is the Government's plan. With Storm Éowyn, however, we saw that, while the Department of Social Protection can activate it…

I certainly welcome the committee being established but we need to see the publication of the national security strategy. I have been raising this with the Taoiseach and his predecessors for some time. I also raised as long ago as December 2022 the need for briefings for Opposition leaders on national security matters. That was in the context of the HSE cyberattack, the presence of Russian ships in our economic zone and serious concerns about Russian spy assets in Ireland and activity of organised crime in Ireland.…

The office of Ceann Comhairle has been dragged into a mess of the Government’s making. The Ceann Comhairle's position has become untenable because of a deal between the Government and Michael Lowry and his group. The big question is why. Why is the Government willing to go to such lengths to facilitate Mr. Lowry? Why does it insist that someone can be in government and in opposition at the same time, all for Mr. Lowry? None of us knows why. Mr. Lowry is certainly not saying. He is showing everyone the two fingers. …

-----would certainly be a lot more critical of Ministers than we are likely to see tomorrow. Finally, we saw the Government and Ceann Comhairle ramming through changes last week in a way that was simply not acceptable. The attitude of the Taoiseach throughout this saga has been deeply frustrating. He has become increasingly tetchy in patronising Opposition leaders, accusing us of subverting democracy and, today, even of being arsonists. He gets deeply offended if we question his motivations and insists this is abou…

Yes, because of Lowry.

And you have Lowry.

You have done it yourselves.

What happened in the Dáil yesterday is without precedent. Yesterday, the Taoiseach and his Government rammed through a scheme to create a sort of new sham Opposition. Let us be clear: the so-called "Other Members' Questions" is a contrivance manufactured purely to placate the Lowry lobby. The regional Independent group, led by Deputy Michael Lowry, is patently stitched into this Government. It helped to construct the programme for Government and some of its members are now Ministers of State. However, it now seems …

A Cheann Comhairle, you have a duty to apply the rules fairly and impartially under Standing Orders. I deeply regret to say after what we saw yesterday that I do not believe you applied the rules in that matter. That is why this morning, together with my parliamentary party, we agreed to ask you to reflect on your position over the coming days. If necessary, we will have no option but to table a motion of no confidence in you.

I regret that it has come to this.

You pontificate but you never answer the question.

It seems that not only is the Taoiseach becoming increasingly tetchy as Taoiseach, but increasingly patronising.

Nobody has ever accused the Labour Party of not being serious. We are a serious party. We were serious about entry into government.

We are a serious party that was serious about seeking to achieve change in Ireland.

That is what we have always been about. I am proud to lead our party. We parrot nobody. Yesterday’s events in the Dáil were unprecedented. We witnessed what happened. We are deeply regretful that the Ceann Comhairle’s office was dragged into this. It is with great regret that I expressed the view that the Ceann Comhairle’s position is untenable but let us be clear that this is a mess of the Government’s making, and the Taoiseach in collusion with Michael Lowry. I agree with the Taoiseach on one thing. It was deeply…

That is one event.