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Let me be clear: I am not saying the Government condones the production of sexual abuse material. I am saying it does not want to do anything about it because it does not want to annoy or harm its relationship with big tech and big tech investment here is more important to the Government than standing up to these people. That is what I am saying. I want to ask a precise question. The State can, under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 and the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2…

Over the past few days, we have seen how unprepared the State is for even moderately extreme weather, with the likes of yellow weather warnings and Storm Chandra. My question is about something much more severe, which is what contingency planning the Minister has in place for Irish agriculture if the AMOC, which includes the Gulf Stream, collapses, as researchers now believe is likely to start happening between 2050 and 2063.

What is the contingency plan? The Minister says he does not treat AMOC in isolation. That is good, but does he treat it at all? The national climate change risk assessment explicitly states that events such as the collapse of the AMOC are not addressed in the scenarios used within the NCCRA. The assessment does not account for this type of scenario. What is the contingency planning? It will be utterly devastating. It is a sign of the severity of the climate catastrophe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…

I heard the Minister's answer and, unfortunately, he is saying we do not have any contingency plans for the collapse of AMOC.

No, those actions are all based on not addressing AMOC. The NCCRA explicitly states that its assessment is not based on the collapse of AMOC.

I do not know if the Minister knows that climate scientists are now saying this is likely to begin in 2063. AMOC is already weakening. There is lots of evidence to indicate AMOC is already weakening. A high-risk event, even if there is a low likelihood of it happening in the next 20 or 30 years, is something we need to plan for. The year 2063 is not that far away. There are people who are taking up a farm now who could be affected by the collapse of AMOC. Are we looking at things like drought resistant crops, natur…

“My life is a balance between heating my home or feeding my children”. That is not exaggeration or scaremongering. Rather, those are the precise words - I took them down when she spoke at the briefing in the audiovisual room - of a disabled woman who is facing the impact of these horrific and cruel cuts from the Government. To attempt to shame the Opposition for speaking this truth and reflecting this reality and say that we are scaremongering in some way is very poor form on the part of the Government. This is the…

You did.

They are executing people on the streets of Minneapolis and you are going to give him a bowl of shamrock.

They are executing people.

You are a disgrace.

You are a disgrace. Answer the question.

The Taoiseach is the one cutting them.

Because the Government voted down the amendments that said it could not be used for weapons.

The national development plan is a plan for continued State failure to provide the basic services that working-class people need. There are no big new ideas in it. It is doubling down on a failed model of relying on the private market to deliver. It never has and it never will. Since I joined the Committee of Public Accounts, it has struck me that in 99% of cases, the scandals people hear about regarding waste of public funds are really cases of private companies ripping off the State. Hospital consultants set up p…

I cannot remember the last time a government brought forward a Bill that was so universally condemned by human rights organisations. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said there are "substantial gaps and ambiguities ... [in the Bill] in areas that directly affect the rights and safety of ... vulnerable applicants such as children and victims of trafficking". It also said that without clear, enforceable safeguards, which do not exist at present, the State’s human rights and equality obligations will…

Did the Cabinet agree this morning to press ahead with abolishing the triple lock without holding a referendum? If it did, why is the Taoiseach reneging on the promises he personally made to the Irish people in order to get the Nice and Lisbon treaties passed? It now seems crystal clear, despite the Tánaiste promising me just last September that alternative safeguards would be introduced, that there will be no safeguards whatsoever to ensure our soldiers can only be sent on genuine peacekeeping missions. Has the Go…

Instead of the Taoiseach taking these life-and-death decisions, why does he not allow the people to decide in a referendum?

He should make his arguments and we will make ours, and let the people decide in a referendum.