The Government of Finland, along with the Government of Sweden, has just announced its intention to ditch its neutrality and apply to join NATO. The latter is a US-led military alliance that is responsible for decades of brutal occupation in Afghanistan and horrendous atrocities in the Middle East. During the war in Kosovo, it bombed hospitals, prisons, embassies and many people's homes. The political establishments in Sweden and Finland have used the horrendous Russian invasion of Ukraine to drive a pre-existing a…

If he had a free hand, I am of the view that the Taoiseach would like to sign Ireland up to NATO. However, he knows that he does not have a free hand so instead he wants to chip away bit by bit at what is left of our neutrality. Will he commit to giving people a referendum to enshrine neutrality in the Constitution in order to stop it from being a policy matter that can be changed?

The establishment parties.

Like the Taoiseach is elected.

It has. Not now-----

This is whataboutery.

Public transport fares have recently been reduced for the first time since the Second World War. As a consequence, we have seen an increase in passenger numbers which is very welcome. Imagine what moving to free, fast and frequent public transport could do. We know that cutting fares saves people's money, reduces congestion and cuts CO2 emissions. More than 100 cities and towns across the globe have now moved to fare-free public transport and we should do the same here. It is one of the demands of the Cost-of-Livin…

Thousands of workers in our bars and restaurants are being told to leave the country by the end of the month as the Department of Justice is refusing to give a simple extension until September for those on stamp 2 visas. This means thousands of people will have to leave their accommodation and jobs for the summer. When they return next September they will have to try to find new apartments and new jobs when their new courses begin. It is a ludicrous situation. The English Language Students Union, ELSU, is calling f…

But are they going to be extended on this occasion?

Exactly.

But are they going to be extended on this occasion?

Breathtaking cynicism has characterised the Government's ramming through of this proposal. The height of that breathtaking cynicism will be seen this evening when the Government votes in favour of a motion that calls on it to secure full public ownership of the site and new building on the very same day that it has done the very opposite. It is a disgusting level of cynicism. Government Deputies are all used to telling untruths at election time and then breaking all of their promises. Look at the Green Party and wh…

In the most recent budget the Minister increased social welfare rates by a measly 2.5%. Over the past year we have seen inflation at 7% or more. Does the Minister intend to immediately increase social welfare rates to at least keep pace with the spiralling cost of living so that those on low fixed incomes are not compelled to fall deeper and deeper into poverty?

The Government likes to talk a lot about the cost of living being caused by factors outside its control but let us look at the factors that are in the Government's control. Social protection is set at poverty levels. That was the case before the huge inflation we are seeing but it is getting worse. The crumbs being offered to people are not good enough. When their bills are soaring by thousands of euro giving them a few hundred euro is not enough. In 2021, 19% of people unable to work due to long-standing health pr…

I will give the Minister some other statistics from the same report. After paying their rent, one in two people living in local authority housing is at risk of poverty. It is even worse for those reliant on HAP or the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, of whom 59% are at risk of poverty after paying their rent. More than one in ten of the population is living in enforced deprivation. Almost one person in two of the population is not able to afford to replace worn-out furniture. Almost one in ten cannot afford new cl…

Mortgage holders could be facing extra mortgage charges of €1,000 per year as interest rates rise. This is the latest part of the cost of living crisis. We hear from the CSO that inflation has hit 7%, making this the sharpest cost of living crisis and squeeze for ordinary people since the 1980s. Irish banks are already charging the second highest rates for mortgages in the eurozone, with average borrowers paying €2,000 more per year than their counterparts in other European countries. These are the same banks that …

Ireland is not just a rip-off republic, it is also a republic of low pay. More than 370,000 workers in this country are regarded as low paid. Sometimes the Government likes to repeat the Thatcherite mantra that work is the way out of poverty, but for one in five of those in work it certainly is not because they are still living below the poverty line in what is the fifth richest country in the world per capita . A majority of hospitality workers are low paid, while one third of workers in retail, food production, a…

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I want to raise the murder of a female Al Jazeera journalist by Israeli troops in a Palestinian refugee camp earlier today. A photographer from the French media company, AFP, has reported that Shireen Abu Akleh was wearing a press flak jacket and standing with other journalists when she was shot and killed by Israeli troops. The Israeli Defense Forces ignored the jacket and shot her in the head in what has been described as a cold-blooded assassination. Another journalist reports that the "army did not stop firing …

Last Friday, hundreds of parents of children with disabilities protested outside the Dáil. There were also protests in Cork and Enniscorthy. These were organised by Families Unite for Services and Support, FUSS. The hashtag used was #LetsMakeAFuss. The speeches we heard were extremely powerful. We are talking about parents forced to make a fuss and to struggle to get, or to try to get, what their children deserve as a basic right and need. They really should not have to have protests, to take court cases against th…