Will the Tánaiste outline the Government's position on the increasing calls for qualified majority voting, in other words, moving away from the unanimity principle, on matters of defence at European Council level?

Many people will be concerned by that response. The removal of unanimity would itself require unanimity, but once that decision was made, it could only be reversed by the Council. A Government decision that fundamentally undermined Ireland’s position on defence matters could not be overturned by the will of the Irish people at a subsequent election. Therefore, it is crucial that all political parties be upfront and categoric in stating that, on matters of foreign affairs and defence, either Europe must speak with o…

The difficulty is that competences within the EU have been cited as the reason Ireland cannot act on matters of foreign affairs and defence. For example, how many times have propositions been laid before this House for Ireland to take meaningful action only for the response from the Tánaiste or his colleagues to be that we cannot do so because such would require movement at EU level? That is precisely because the EU has competence in these matters. In a while, we will discuss the procurement of Israeli weaponry and…

You are running down the clock.

You can talk about the investor court if you want to. I am asking about defence.

I am asking about the areas of foreign affairs and defence where you would concede the principle of-----

My question relates to the Defence Acts. The Tánaiste will be aware that we engaged in pre-legislative scrutiny of the defence (amendment) Bill in committee. The representative organisations and members of the committee from across the political spectrum were concerned about suggestions that the Bill would not include a role for representative organisations on the external oversight body. There is also concern that the Bill would infringe on the rights of Defence Forces personnel to be members of representative ass…

That commitment might count for more if the Tánaiste had not just spent the preceding two minutes defending the positions as they currently stand. In respect of the external oversight body, if the Secretary General of the Department of Defence can sit on that body in an ex officio capacity, it makes no sense that there would be a reluctance to allow representative bodies to also be represented in the exact same capacity. The changes proposed for the oversight body to oversee depend on the goodwill and buy-in of the…

The Tánaiste is correct that RACO does not agree with him; neither do any of the other representative organisations. Crucially, neither does the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, whose representatives gave evidence to the joint committee that they are unaware of a single other individual in the State who is precluded by legislation from joining a representative organisation. That includes judges, the DPP and everyone else. This would be a new principle established in law where those in a defined category are prevente…

Further to that, a related matter is the services provided by Ireland to the Israel Defense Forces. Since 2018, six members of the IDF have trained at the United Nations Training School Ireland or under NATO's Partnership for Peace. It is abhorrent that Ireland has facilitated the training of members of the IDF over the past 13 years, throughout which Palestinians were subjected to brutal oppression and onslaughts by the IDF. Almost as a sick joke, these courses included one on the international protection of civil…

It relates to Question No. 9.

Would the Tánaiste do it with Russia? Would he have our troops training with Russian troops?

I concur with Deputy Ó Snodaigh. There is an onus. It is not acceptable that we would hide behind either EU or UN rules and say that because these are the rules, we are just going to allow ourselves to become complicit in what is an elaborate and extensive Israeli war machine. It is imperative the Tánaiste give a commitment that he is doing everything he can to disentangle Ireland from any association with the IDF or Israel-based arms manufacturers, knowing, as we do, that those organisations are currently responsi…

What we saw on Mount Street last week was a visualisation of the stark failures of the Government's immigration and asylum system. The Government has failed. The Minister is clearly out of his depth. Communities have been antagonised and vulnerable people left in atrocious and inhumane conditions. This should not be complicated. We need an asylum system that is fair, efficient and enforced. Those fleeing conflict and persecution in Ireland need this and our communities demand this. The failure to enforce the curren…

On a personal level, I will take this opportunity to wish the Taoiseach well following his announcement earlier. As the European Council prepares to meet tomorrow, the people of Gaza face horrifying levels of hunger and an imminent famine. A report compiled by the integrated food security phase classification describes this chapter of an ever-escalating human catastrophe as a man-made starvation and warns that 1.1 million people - half of Gaza's population - are at grave risk. The UN Secretary-General, António Gute…

The crisis we are encountering is staggering. We see it every day when dealing with constituents who are just seeking to access the most basic healthcare services. What we are discussing first hit home with me a number of years ago when Fine Gael's health policies really started to impact. A family returned home to County Monaghan and contacted me to say they could not get a GP to take them on. It was the first time I became aware of just how bad the situation had become. I became aware of GPs working way beyond th…

Will the Tánaiste outline when Ireland will finally set a date to officially recognise the state of Palestine in line with the wishes of both Houses of the Oireachtas and the call from virtually all Palestinian political and civil organisations and in line with international law?

I thank the Tánaiste. The closing summary of his remarks have been read into the record of the Dáil hundreds of times over the past decade. When the Tánaiste says we have to look at recognition on the basis of what is the most optimal way possible for the benefit of the Palestinian people, I often wonder if those who cite this realise how patronising they sound. Every Palestinian political representative and every Palestinian civic organisation is asking states such as Ireland to officially recognise their state be…

I ask the Tánaiste to stop accusing every Opposition Member who asks a question on this issue or urges him to take action on this issue of being somehow disingenuous, and to accept that every one of us has a bona fide rationale for raising these matters. This rationale is that we want to see, in the first instance, an immediate ceasefire and, in the second instance, lasting peace. Of the 193 members of the United Nations, 139 recognise the state of Palestine. This is not somehow about showing great initiative. It i…

You used the term "performative". What was that about?