Our relationship with Ukraine is becoming increasingly hot and cold. Government spokespeople continue the line about the country standing resolutely behind Ukraine, yet it looks like we are selling alumina to the Russian war machine. During his recent visit, I was worried that certain Ministers had been physically attached to President Zelenskyy, they were standing so close to him in the pictures, yet we are offering Ukraine our best broken-down armoured cars. Now we have a situation whereby we are systematically c…

I join colleagues in proposing amendments that would include services in the occupied territories Bill or, as an alternative, at least restrict the advertising of services available within the occupied territories. Today the Government is going to use its majority to force the adoption of a piece of legislation - its version of the occupied territories Bill - which is knowingly and intentionally inconsistent with our international law obligations. Throughout the entire process of debating the occupied territories B…

I thank Deputy McDonald for bringing forward this Bill. Having consulted with my colleague, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, Mal O'Hara, I will support the Bill on Second Stage to allow this debate to continue. My support on this Stage should not be conflated with endorsement of any one party's framing of the constitutional issue. That issue is bigger than us all and everybody, from the ground up, must be involved in the conversation. A grassroots approach to ensuring that the voices of all commun…

As this House prepares to consider Report Stage amendments to the Government's version of the occupied territories Bill, with the Green Party and other Opposition parties seeking to include services within the Bill's ambit, is it not time for the Government to be frank and admit that the barrier to the inclusion of services is not a legal one but, rather, is based on a political decision taken by the Government?

The Minister spoke about the House being united by a desire to act, and that is true, but it is united by a desire to act effectively. The deep concern is that what is being proposed and what we will be voting on next week is not effective. When the Attorney General's original advice came in July 2024 on foot of the ICJ opinion on Frances Black's Bill, no distinction was made between goods and services in that detailed piece of legal advice. That distinction only arose in the programme for Government that was signe…

In her first set of remarks, the Minister said that there was a clear indication from the US in terms of its opposition to what we are doing, even the more minor approach that the Government is taking in the Bill. It is important to remember that, as well as changing in Europe, opinion is changing in the United States. This matter is not a fixed matter any more. You cannot win a primary in the Democratic Party now if you get funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, and if you take a pro-Isr…

I am happy and pleased to support Deputy Murphy's Bill today on behalf of the Green Party. This is probably the fourth substantive debate we have had on animal welfare related issues during the term of this Dáil. We are discussing hare coursing today. We discussed fox hunting, puppy farms and greyhound racing. I recognise the work of those Deputies who have brought these issues forward as Private Members' Bills or motions. I welcome the focus during the term of the Dáil on these issues. It is indicative of the fact…

Apologies. I know the point has been made about the risk of hare coursing being driven underground. First, it is important to recognise that illegal hare coursing already takes place underground. It is probably the biggest cause of mortality among hares right now. I do not believe the existence, and continued existence, of an illegal practice justifies the continued State support for a practice that is currently legal. While it is important the State takes those steps to deal with illegal coursing as it happens at …

Competitiveness, security and values are the key themes of Ireland’s Presidency. Each of these themes should be intertwined with our goals for a decarbonised, energy abundant, peaceful EU and peaceful world but, as we have seen from some Government pronouncements, these values are open to interpretation. I think we should be competing to have the most energy-efficient buildings, to have the fastest public transport; that real security means energy security through actioning renewables and that our values should be …

Two Bills are being guillotined this evening, the airport cap Bill and the liquefied natural gas, LNG, Bill, each of which will have major impacts on our climate targets. Not only are they being guillotined, but Committee Stage and Report Stage of each are being run together so the two Bills can be rushed through this House. There are 58 detailed amendments across the two Bills that will not get proper consideration because of this process. I ask the Chief Whip to please withdraw the use of the guillotine and allow…

Amendment No. 18 in this grouping is in my name. Before I get into the substantive issue, it is important to again raise the process that is being followed here. This is important legislation and there are fundamental disagreements over the extent to which it will contribute to our country's energy security, but it is being rushed through both Committee and Report Stages in two hours. There is no need for this Bill to be rushed in this way and I think it is unprecedented, certainly in this Dáil, to see this Bill an…

This is a bespoke piece of legislation and a bespoke consenting process for this particular facility. It is a complete exception to our planning process, so it is not good enough for the Minister to say the Government will deal with the issue of public ownership in the second, subsequent piece of legislation. There is absolutely no reason the public element that has been articulated by the Minister throughout could not be reiterated in this legislation. We are doing something entirely new and novel here, and clarit…

I wish to speak in favour of Deputy Ahern’s amendment. It is important that we focus on the issue of the use of LNG through this facility and, as such, into Ireland’s energy network. Liquefied natural gas is about two thirds more carbon-emitting than traditional natural gas. We are introducing it into our system now, as a number of speakers have already pointed out, in a context where liquefied natural gas was banned through the ban on fracked gas brought in by the previous Government in 2021. This ban applied to t…

My amendment No. 13 has been grouped with Deputy Ahern's amendment. I will not dwell on it, but the same point I made about the previous Bill also applies in respect of this one, namely the fact that only two hours have been provided for the Committee and Remaining Stages. Detailed issues have to be addressed, including climate, balanced regional development and the significant impact of noise pollution on people who reside in the vicinity of the airport. These are real issues in respect of which there is disagreem…

I was there.

I thank the Minister for his response. I want to come back briefly on two elements. The Minister has said that in advancing this legislation he is not setting aside our climate obligations. Just so it is on the record of the House, section 39 of the Bill is a modification of the application of section 15 of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. It is worth looking at what that actually does. Section 39 states: The Minister and [An Coimisiún Pleanála], in performing their functions under this Act, shal…

We cannot do that tonight because we have not even had the opportunity to go through good amendments or to address some of the points in detail. After Committee Stage, most fair-minded Ministers would at least look at what the Opposition has said and make some changes or improvements. We do not have that opportunity here. I have a good amendment for the Minister. It is amendment No. 14. He recognised the work ANCA has done and the fact that it recently published a decision. Let us give that decision some teeth. Let…

I thank Deputy Kerrane for bringing forward this motion. I will raise two discrete issues that have been raised by childcare providers with me in my constituency of Dublin West. The first is the concern about the time it is taking for Garda vetting of applications from childcare professionals. This vetting procedure has had a new element added to it in recent months, namely, the European criminal records information system, ECRIS. This requires a new set of checks to take place, which is increasing by up to 20% the…

Last week a UK report showed that girls who receive the HPV vaccine in their early teens have an almost zero risk of dying from cervical cancer but at a time when the research shows there is a chance of actually eliminating cervical cancer, uptake rates of the vaccine in schools is actually falling all over the country. It is down to 63% of girls taking it up in the Dublin North West region. In January, the Minister for Health announced a HPV vaccine catch-up programme for fifth and sixth year students. This was a …

This is the second Bill I will discuss this week which will act to tear holes in our country's climate ambition. It is doing that on a week when we are seeing the realities of the scale of climate change across Europe, with heat impacting on so many countries and making life intolerable for millions of people. The irony of this is lost on the Government, which is rushing through this legislation and the airport cap legislation with the minimum of debate. I will focus on that before I get into the substantive discus…