I wish to start by making some comments about the so-called humanitarian pause. Before going into the Israeli cabinet meeting last night, Benjamin Netanyahu said: We are at war, and we will continue the war. We will continue until we achieve all our goals. It is clear that in the minds of Netanyahu and the Israeli cabinet, this is a short-term pause and when it is over, the killing will resume. Their intention is to resume the killing of Palestinian men, women and children and to carry on with the genocide. For tha…

For six consecutive weekends now, tens of thousands of people have marched in Irish cities in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in opposition to Israeli state terror. I can think of no other event in my lifetime as an activist that has made that happen - not the water charges, the Iraq war or the Gulf War. It is pretty much unique. The protests, and the sentiment among the broad mass of people towards the genocide, can have a significant impact on the so-called neutrality debate. While the Tánaiste had hop…

Has the Taoiseach read the report issued by Oxfam and others in the past days on the wealth divide in the context of carbon emissions? They tell us that the richest 1% in the world account for more carbon emissions than two thirds of the world's population. They tell us that someone who is in the poorest 99% of the world's population, which is the vastly overwhelming majority of humanity, would take 1,500 years to account for the same number of carbon emissions as that of some billionaires today. They conclude that…

Some 19 femicides have taken place in this State since the murder of Ashling Murphy. I put it to the Taoiseach that if that number of people had been killed by a paramilitary organisation, the State would rightly be moving mountains to try and achieve change, but male violence against women seems to bring forth a less urgent response. GREVIO - I hope I pronounced it correctly - the Council of Europe group of experts on violence against women, reported recently and made some serious criticisms of the Government and …

I want to say at the outset that my office has received 13,000 emails to date urging support for this motion. Nearly half of them came in last night alone. It is a response that is unprecedented in my experience as a Deputy. The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the closing of the embassy is not just a symbolic action. It is a practical action because if Ireland was to be the first European country to send its Israeli ambassador home, every other state in Europe would more or less immediately come under real …

It is not unusual in rural areas for people to live 15 minutes away from a fire station, but it is practically unheard of in built-up urban areas. That is, unless they live in Ballincollig in Cork city, one of the State’s 25 largest population centres. Ballincollig fire station was closed two years ago in November 2021. Since then, Cork city has had its fourth fire pump reinstated, but it is not based in Ballincollig, even during the daytime, which was indicated as a possibility, or even a likelihood, when the pump…

The ruling classes and governments of the world have almost without exception either supported Israel's war or limited criticism to mere words. Because of this, Palestinian trade unionists made the following appeal, "[We] call on our counterparts internationally and all people of conscience to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes - most urgently halting the arms trade with Israel, as well as all funding and military research." Congratulations, therefore, to the Belgian transport workers and Barcelona do…

I have an urgent issue to raise concerning a hunger strike. Asylum seekers currently accommodated at the Kilbride Army camp on the Dublin-Wicklow border will march to Government offices tomorrow to seek a meeting with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman. I ask the Taoiseach to request the Minister to meet with these men's representatives. I have been informed by my colleague, Councillor Kieran Mahon, that approximately 20 of the 123 men at the camp, which is opera…

I will fit them into one minute.

Reports are emerging from Gaza of medics having to perform amputations of limbs without anaesthetic. Yesterday, the Taoiseach disagreed with my proposal that the Israeli ambassador be expelled. That is not an issue that will go away. It will come up again and again as this situation worsens. I will leave it aside for today, however. In his response to me yesterday, the Taoiseach failed to say what alternative action or actions he might intend to take. We have heard a lot of words in the past days and weeks but, sur…

That is not action.

I want to raise the issue of the repression of expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people. In Germany, we have seen school students who wear the Palestinian scarf threatened with school discipline. In Paris, people can be fined €135 for wearing the scarf; hundreds have been. In Britain, attempts have been made in universities to ban groups that show solidarity with Palestine. These are groups that oppose racism, and that have a long history of campaigning against antisemitism, yet they face bans. The Pri…

WCNSF is the new acronym being used by medics tending to victims of Israel's bombs. It stands for "wounded child, no surviving family." More than 4,000 children have died as a result of that bombing campaign. More than that number will need surgery repeatedly throughout the course of their lives. Criticisms of the Israeli assault have been raised in recent days by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste but when we watch a potential genocide unfold before our eyes, we have to ask ourselves whether that is enough. The time h…

An Irish national teachers' organisation poll of 1,300 of its members, conducted before the summer holidays, found that 98% of teachers who were renting agreed that it was "very difficult" to secure new accommodation in their area. A recent Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, survey of 1,000 schools, this time in conjunction with the Irish Primary Principals Network and the Catholic Primary School Management Association, found 800 unfilled vacancies. Is there a connection between these two findings? Of cour…

Sorry lads, if you do not mind, I am trying to speak. She stated: I think it is a systemic issue. It would be very much related to the housing shortage in terms of both rental and getting properties to buy. It's difficult if you want to teach in Dublin and if you are from outside the area you can't get accommodation. It is not just a Dublin problem, it is very much a Cork issue as well. Here is an example from Cork city. It is the story of a Greek couple, one a nurse with work experience and the other either a soci…

A Cheann Comhairle, if you would not mind, I am trying to speak with this going on in the corner. He gave up after two months of house hunting, as there was nothing affordable within a reasonable distance by public transport from work. He could not secure preschool places for the kids, as they had no permanent address. The man returned to Greece disheartened. In conclusion, the housing crisis the Minister of State is presiding over is knocking on and flowing into the education sector, the health service, other serv…

I do not need to wax lyrical about the role of migrant nurses in our health service, and I do not need to wax lyrical about the role of migrant workers more generally in our health service. We all know their role is critical and that, without their contribution, some say the service would collapse within a matter of days. I suspect it would actually collapse within a matter of hours. Irish society owes these workers a real debt of gratitude, and like all workers, they deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect…

I, too, fear this is not an isolated case. I have to wonder, if allegations such as this can be brought forward by more than a score of nurses in a public sector workplace, which is a unionised workplace, what is going on in some private sector workplaces with vulnerable workers who do not have trade union protection and who are in fact employed in places that are not just non-union but anti-union. With regard to some of the wider questions that are raised by this case, Migrant Nurses Ireland stated, "We strongly s…

Are they mandatory?

The Tánaiste will be aware that Mallow will be added to the constituency I represent at the next general election. As a socialist, I will do my very best to represent and fight for the interests of ordinary people in this area. While I was happy to recently visit Mallow and introduce myself, I was disappointed to see a large derelict site halfway down the main street. On inquiry, I discovered that the old Central Hotel site has been in the hands of various private owners down the years and has been vacant and derel…