I saw that the British ambassador to Ireland has taken a break from Twitter after saying he had been subject to abuse on the basis of his nationality. Obviously, nobody should be subject to abuse on Twitter or elsewhere and people are free to join or leave social media platforms as they wish. However, it is worth noting what he was referring to. He tweeted saying, “Had it not been for NATO operations ... many people in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan would not be alive today”. That was in response to the prot…

The Deputy may only speak to it now.

Law and order anyway; I am not sure about justice.

Since we last debated this in 2022, the long-awaited review of the Offences against the State Act has been published. This was the fig leaf that Sinn Féin used to justify abstaining on the vote to renew the Special Criminal Court as opposed to its traditional correct position of opposing the court and that most of the rest of the Opposition and the Government cited when voting for it. The review has recommended that the Act should be repealed. With that, the court would be abolished, yet here we are again with anot…

I am sharing time with Deputy Wynne. We have a crisis here. We have a crisis with the number of apprenticeships that are being commenced. We have a crisis with the skills shortage that is holding back our ability to tackle our housing crisis. We have Government plans, announcements and so on and a target of 10,000 apprenticeships a year by 2025. Interestingly, Deputy Bruton spoke earlier about his experience when he was the Minister. If you go back to 2016, the Government then announced a target of 9,000. Now, seve…

I have a simple question. Does the Government have any intention of meeting the 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030? Did it ever intend to do it? Was it just something to give to the Greens to say there was a target, before the Government then said to the data centres, big tech companies and big agribusiness not to worry because we do not actually intend to meet these targets? As Deputy Smith pointed out, the EPA has indicated we are miles off target. In the best case scenario, if the Government does …

I raise the issue of the Iceland workers. These workers have been treated abysmally since ownership of its stores in Ireland was transferred to a different company. They have been left without wages on occasion, without air conditioning in various of the company's shops, and many workers arrived at work this morning to find their jobs were gone and they were locked out of their own stores. One woman said she turned up to work this morning to no job, which is disgraceful after seven years of service. She is absolute…

I want to raise with the Taoiseach some issues that flow from the briefing we held yesterday with a group of Russians known as Free Russians Ireland. These are people who are steadfast in their opposition to the authoritarian Putin regime, who are completely opposed to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and who are calling for peace and for Ireland to facilitate peace talks. One of the things they spoke about was the repression of anti-war activists in Russia. Approximately 20,000 people have been arrested. Many of them, …

As guests.

They can sit in the audience.

Again.

But they are getting to speak.

Today is World Refugee Day. People will gather at 5.30 p.m. at the Garden of Remembrance today to celebrate the contribution of refugees to our society but also in sadness and in anger at the policies of fortress Europe which are responsible for the deaths of almost 30,000 human beings - men, women and children - over the past ten years in the Mediterranean. The latest victims of that policy are the apparently hundreds of people who drowned less than 100 km from the Greek coast. At the very least, they are the vict…

Part of the well-being framework is climate change. I want to ask about the absence of any reference to climate change except as a threat with regard to these consultative forums and the ready-up that starts on Thursday. The only reference is to climate change as a threat and driver of conflict. There is no reference to the role of the military in driving emissions. It is a completely underestimated and under-accounted for area because there is not compulsory accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from the militar…

I welcome the fact the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, has sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, on the killing of George Nkencho. I understand the Taoiseach will not be able to comment on the particular case. However, broader issues are raised by George’s killing. A statement was issued by his sister, Gloria Nkencho, yesterday, which raises some of those issues. She said: As we reflect upon the conclusion of the investigation into George's tragic death, it is imperative to acknowledge…

My question was explicitly not about the detail but about the broader issue of racial bias among politicians, RTÉ, journalists, etc.

We are having this discussion because 50 years ago, LGBTQI+ people rioted for their rights at Stonewall in New York. It was an event that lit the spark for a global movement that has forced real, significant change. At the forefront of those protests were trans women, most famously Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. They were among the first to resist the police that day. Marsha and Sylvia went on to open the first shelter for homeless LGBT youth in the US and during the HIV-Aids crisis, Marsha was active in ACT …

I thank Deputy Carthy. I wish to ask the Tánaiste about the consultative forum regarding neutrality. I watched the engagement with Deputy Barry earlier, where the Tánaiste was very worked up, I would say, at the Deputy pointing out the reality that the list of invited speakers gives the game away to an extreme degree. There is one anti-war speaker in the form of Roger Cole and multiple people who are on the record as being in favour of joining NATO, having links themselves to NATO, etc. Does this not just give the …

She is a US militarist.

No, it is great.