Let us leave media reports aside. The British armed forces minister, Mr. James Heappey, told Westminster: RAF jets have deployed into Irish airspace on occasion. It is for the Irish Government to set out their policy on why, when and how. All I am asking is for the Tánaiste to set out the Irish Government's position, which unfortunately is as clear as mud because we are hiding behind the veneer of national security. The Irish people are entitled to know if our capabilities in terms of radar – I welcome the progress…

Over the past week, throughout the world, the 75th anniversary of the Nakba has been marked, including by the UN for the first time. This was not simply the marking of an historic event; it was also marking every day of those 75 years, 75 years of rights and justice being denied to the Palestinian people, 75 years of Israeli aggression, 75 years of disregard for international law. What separates the Nakba from other catastrophes is that it is not simply an historic event - it remains the day-to-day lived reality fo…

Hear, hear.

I return to the issue of the A5 road. As the Taoiseach will know, regrettably recently there was another tragedy on that road in County Tyrone. The A5 along with the N2 in this State is the most dangerous road in Ireland. In recognition of this, the need for improved transport links to the north west and, as the Taoiseach has acknowledged, the all-Ireland economic opportunities generated by this road when it is developed, will he give an absolute assurance that the Government will adhere to its previous commitment …

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. As the Minister will know, we have engaged extensively with him on these matters since probably before the last general election when we debated the need to protect, in the first instance, primary producers, as well as consumers, from what is an ongoing difficulty with our food supply chain. That difficulty arises from that fact that when we are talking about Irish food, there is lots of money to be made, particularly in the beef sector. The difficulty tradit…

I support this amendment. The Minister will be aware that below-cost selling or a ban on the sale or purchase, depending on what angle you are coming from, of goods below the cost of production has been one of the biggest sources of debate throughout the discussion. The most important amendment in respect of the regulator and the easiest one for the Minister to accept is amendment No. 10 which provides that the regulator would be empowered to determine what the cost of production is. We discussed this when I tabled…

The groceries order was in place.

As I mentioned, I was in the European Parliament when the originating law, the unfair trading practices directive, went through. I followed it at every stage during that process and I was proud at one stage because I got the European Parliament to adopt a position of supporting a ban on below-cost selling across the EU. That is the pivotal measure required and it would answer the Minister's first point. Does he want to know who opposed that measure? Ireland's Commissioner Phil Hogan fought it tooth and nail, as did…

I am sure that on hearing that the Government will bring the big retailers around the table, many watching this debate will wonder where they had heard that before, because there is a record of the Irish people being fleeced. We saw it with the insurance companies when we heard strong words from the Government but very little action. In fact, it took Deputy Doherty, who made several attempts to bring forward legislation, to start to make a dent in this and we are still paying among the highest insurance costs in th…

In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, cannot be held responsible for global fluctuations in energy prices but he can and he does bear responsibility for the Government's failure to get to grips with it and with the failure to properly support families who have been financially crippled by it. The truth is that Irish families were already stretched to breaking point. This country has long had some of the highest rents, mortgage interest rates, insurance costs and fuel prices in Europe but now the geniuses wh…

What about last year?

You had room to manoeuvre.

You dragged your feet.

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows that there is no need to remind me. I always stick within time.

The question concerns the consultative forum on international security policy the Tánaiste has announced. I am sure he is aware that there are huge concerns that this is a vehicle for the Government to undermine Irish military neutrality and non-alignment, something that has served this State incredibly well over many decades. Will the Tánaiste outline the form the forum will take and how stakeholders will be selected to be invited?

The concerns are genuine and deeply held because Irish neutrality has served us very well. The Tánaiste did not refer to Irish neutrality. It appears the forum will not have a mechanism to analyse how well military neutrality and non-alignment have served us. The Tánaiste says that his Department will identify potential experts. Who will select those experts and what criteria will be used? The Tánaiste stated that it will be open, but then indicated that members of the public can make submissions online. Will membe…

Perhaps if the Tánaiste had a better attitude, it would be easier to trust his bona fides on this issue. Nobody is afraid of open public and informed debate. The question I have posed is how the Tánaiste will ensure that these are genuinely open, public and informed debates. He referred to the chair of the consultative forum. I have no doubt Ms Richardson is an able and diligent person with expertise in her own right. Nobody doubts that. She also has very firm views that she has put on the record. The Tánaiste sugg…

I am asking how the final report will be written.

What measures is the Tánaiste putting in place to ensure we do not see the backlog of passport applications that we saw in recent years? Will he outline the measures that will be taken to ensure that applicants for passports, particularly first-time applicants, can have access to an accelerated processing of a passport when it is necessary?

This is an area in respect of which we need to improve. I am sure the Tánaiste's office has dealt with such situations. There is nothing worse than someone in a household realising that a passport is out of date or, worse, that there is an understanding of the length of time it takes for a first-time application to be resolved. In that context, I ask the Tánaiste to engage with the Passport Office to arrange for the putting in place of a facility for urgent cases. I accept that the facilities are there in emergency…