The massacre of over 1.5 million Armenians certainly was an act of genocide and the campaign of genocidal massacre that was inflicted on the people of Armenia was a crime against humanity also. I hear that the Minister is saying we are not in a position to adjudicate on the matter. However, I have made reference to the US. I will make reference to numerous other countries that have taken a stand also. It least another 30 nations have described it as genocide, including 16 EU members. I note the Vatican has also tak…

I thank the Minister. I hear what he is saying. Six million Jews perished at the hands of the Nazis in the Second World War and the latter half of the 20th century witnessed further genocidal campaigns in places such as Cambodia, East Timor, Bosnia and Rwanda. It is important that we learn from the past to ensure that genocide is called out as it is and that we try to ensure that acts of genocide will not happen in the future. I call on the Minister to look at the issue again, follow the lead of America and 30 othe…

While we are here to discuss the motion relating to Ireland's participation in the European Defence Agency project on maritime surveillance, we cannot separate the MARSUR project from the larger and more substantive issue of Irish neutrality. We have heard, and will continue to hear, arguments about the benefits to Ireland of participation by Ireland in the EDA. What we will not hear from the Government parties is how this participation comes with the continuing price of undermining our military neutrality as a nat…

Almost six in ten people who responded to the recent Central Statistics Office Social Impact of Covid-19 survey believe Covid-19 has impacted negatively on their mental health and well-being. In the 18 to 34 age group, one in five reported being downhearted or depressed all or most of the time. In Wicklow, service providers tell me the greatest increase in demand for mental health services is for those in the 12 to 14 age bracket. These increases are set against excessive pre-pandemic waiting lists for care. As a r…

This morning, we will hear Ministers and Deputies praise carers for the fantastic work they do and although that praise is justified, carers have, unfortunately, heard it all before from the Government. Carers do not need any more sympathy, kind words, empty rhetoric or plamásing from the Government. They need recognition, support and active help. Carers rightfully feel they have been abandoned by the Government for far too long. Over the past year, many of the supports that were in place have been withdrawn, despi…

Across the Continent of Europe, the single most important project that faces governments in this moment remains the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is only right and just that the European Council would focus on vaccines as the primary political issue at its recent meeting. Across Europe and here in Ireland, we have measured the impact of the pandemic across several key areas, for example, health, through the number of fatalities and hospitalisations, including ICU referrals, and infections. Financially, we h…

I asked a number of questions in my contribution. I want to ask a number of supplementary questions of the Minister of State which I did not cover in my contribution. I want to raise the issue of Catalonia. Sinn Féin defends the right of nations to choose their own destiny through democratic means. The objective of the Spanish Government is to criminalise those who have peacefully worked to see the will of the Catalonian people realised, namely, their independence. This persecution strikes at the heart of European …

Will the Minister of State answer my first question? I asked about the Government's position on self-determination for Catalonia-----

If there was ever a time that called upon the nations of the world to look towards their common humanity, rather than individual need, this is it. Unfortunately, it seems factors ranging from inexperience to the pursuit of domestic electoral gain mean the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine is being seriously hampered. The problems at international level must be dealt with as quickly as possible. We must be careful that Ireland does not become collateral damage, yet again, between the EU and the British Government. I …

Irish adopted people are uniquely discriminated against in comparison with other Irish citizens because they have no statutory right to their birth certificates or adoption files. Apart from vital information, these files contain early care records, details of illnesses, vaccines and placement with foster families, correspondence from natural mothers or family members and consent forms. Since 1952, the legislation has been amended eight times but none of the Adoption Acts to date has legislated for information righ…

This is plainly a scheme designed by property developers for property developers. It is nothing more than a regurgitation of failure. A similar scheme was attempted in Britain by the Tories. All that succeeded in accomplishing was pushing up property prices. The ESRI and the Central Bank have made it known that they have concerns, as have county councillors and Deputies from the Minister's party and the other Government parties. Yet, those in Fianna Fáil seems consumed with a form of cognitive dissonance of the typ…

The announcement yesterday by Bank of Ireland to close 103 branches throughout the country is a devastating blow to communities that are reeling after many years of cuts by this Government and previous governments to post offices and Garda stations, and this is another damning blow. It is going to suck the life out of the centre of these rural villages. We as taxpayers pump in €4.7 billion to Bank of Ireland. We are major shareholders, at 14%, yet in my constituency of Wicklow, the branches in Tinahely, Carnew and …

The mother and baby homes issue stands as a great stain on the history of this State. It has twice made victims of the people who suffered in those institutions, each time at the hands of the State, as victims of abuse and as victims of a cover-up. The Government, which has direct responsibility for the commission, must add its name to the long list of perpetrators who have inflicted suffering on the mothers and children who fell victim to these cruel State institutions. I am unsure as to whether the Minister speak…

In this moment, we have the vantage point of being able to look back at a century of partition and all it has entailed. We look back at a linear progression of misery, despair and hopelessness, pitted with milestones of suffering. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Ballymurphy massacre and the introduction of internment. The Good Friday Agreement provided us with a new point of departure, a moment that allowed for an historical pivot which faced our island into a future that allowed us to garner hope. We d…

Now that the reality of Brexit is here we are left to deal with its wide-reaching implications, especially in the areas of trade and fisheries. Politically, the advent of Brexit, with its accompanying unleashing of English nationalism, has made the future of the British union one of the central political issues for the next decade. The unification of Ireland is now an urgent political issue that cannot be ignored. Workers and families in the North of this island will face the full impact of Boris's assault on worke…

Following an initial period in the immediate aftermath of the 1 January deadline, when haulage traffic was much reduced, primarily due to stockpiling by companies, we are now facing into the full implications of Brexit and the withdrawal agreement that was designed to avoid the chaos that a no-deal scenario would have introduced. Measured against the undoubted catastrophe that the failure to secure a deal would have produced, it was and is too easy to overlook the fact that, in any guise, Brexit is bad for Britain,…

We are rapidly approaching the midnight hour that will mark the introduction of Brexit. The closer we get to that moment, the more I am reminded of the work of the historian Professor Christopher Clark, who described the great powers of Europe in the fateful summer of 1914 as sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff as the Continent obliviously inched towards the ensuing catastrophe. In the present, we are witnessing the re-emergence of a toxic form of English nationalism, the emotional expression of which appears …

As a matter of record, my concerns and those of my party over the disparate allocations of resources from the EU Covid recovery fund are well established. With the dual challenges faced by our country through the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, Ireland merits consideration of a fairer allocation of funding than that envisaged at present. As things stand and as we are all aware, Ireland will contribute more to the fund than we will receive. When this is coupled with reports that the EU Brexit fund introduced to assist…

The Minister for Foreign Affairs is on the record as saying that Ireland will do well from the Brexit adjustment fund. I believe the Minister of State has also said that he expects us to get the lion's share of this €5 billion. I know that the French, under President Macron, have their eyes on this fund. They expect to use it to look after their fishermen. What actions is the Government taking to ensure we get a just amount given the serious impact Brexit will have on economic sectors across the board?

While this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, it also marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima in August of this year marked the day Ireland ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Those two events, 75 years apart, stand in stark contrast to each other, one an abiding and horrific testimony to the destructive capacity inherent in nuclear weapons, so much more powe…