As we know, the British-Irish Council has a brief for the totality of relationships on these islands and can be attended by representatives of the Irish Government, the British Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, and the Executives of Scotland, Wales, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey. The Good Friday Agreement also provides for a British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. This met last week. It was attended by the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice. It is great that the Taoiseach could attend the Br…

It is significant that the second meeting of the EPC took place in Moldova, a small state of 2.6 million people which is a pro-European democracy and is under constant threat from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. That brings me to the question of EU enlargement generally. Moldova and Ukraine have candidate status and hopefully Georgia will have that status soon. In the western Balkans, countries are waiting to join. Russia is engaging in ongoing attempts to destabilise these countries and is eyeing up Tran…

Now that the local elections are over, I have no doubt there will be a renewed focus on restoring the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland. We need to see the Assembly and the Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council, the cross-Border bodies, as well as the east-west institutions, functioning as originally envisaged. It seems the parties in Northern Ireland have been meeting in recent days to renew their efforts in this regard. We are told the DUP is seeking legislation to give legal assurances in r…

It is clear from what the Taoiseach said that one of the main objectives of the recent meeting of the Council of Europe and Iceland was to show solidarity with Ukraine and in particular to see how Russia can be held accountable for its war crimes. Russia has undoubtedly committed many war crimes in Ukraine, including attacks on civilians and on critical infrastructure. We have just seen the blowing up of the Nova Kakhovka dam. However, there has also been rape and torture as well as the deportation of civilians, in…

I welcome the establishment by the Minister of the consultative forum on international security policy. The brutal invasion by Russia of Ukraine has significantly altered the international security environment. War has broken out in Europe again. The rules-based international order is under threat and like-minded democracies need to show solidarity with each other at this time. Countries in Europe are reassessing their security and defence policies. Sweden and Finland responded immediately by applying to join NATO.…

It is great that the Taoiseach was able to attend the summit in Ostend with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. As the Taoiseach said, the development of offshore wind energy is so important in order to tackle climate change and decrease our dependence on imported fossil fuels. The Taoiseach also considered at the summit the provision of offshore grids and electricity interconnection, and that is obviously very relevant to Ireland within the EU. Offshore wind has enormous potential for Ire…

What are the Taoiseach's views regarding ongoing reports of Russian ships operating off Ireland's west coast, including in our exclusive economic zone? Only last week, four Russian navy and merchant ships were observed close to undersea cable sites. Clearly this must be seen as a threat to the flow of global digital communications in particular. We are now all aware of the threats posed by Putin and the role of hybrid warfare. As I understand it, our critical infrastructure includes natural gas subsea interconnecto…

Europe Day 2023 is worth celebrating in Ireland. This year, we are also commemorating the 50th anniversary of our membership of the European Union. In 1972, some 83% of the electorate voted to join the EEC. We have not looked back since. As many have said, our membership was transformative. It literally transformed the economic, social and cultural life of this country. In short, it brought peace, prosperity and progress to our island. A programme of events to mark our 50 years of membership was prepared by the Gov…

Our reflections over recent weeks on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement are drawing to a close. It was fascinating at the conference in Queen's University in Belfast last week listening to the insights of the main players involved in reaching the agreement. I think in particular of Senator George Mitchell who chaired the peace talks. All of us on these islands owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the crucial role he played in the talks. His observation that the participants in the talks took rea…

I too believe the visit to Ireland by US President Joe Biden last week can be considered a great success. It cemented the close ties between Ireland and the US, put the focus on the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement, opened up the possibility of substantial investment in the North if political stability can be achieved and reinforced our shared western values. In his Dáil address, President Biden said that the UK Government should work more closely with Ireland regarding the restoration of power sharing. He said that p…

Ballina, is it?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked a debate here about Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality. Once again on the Continent of Europe this issue is concentrating minds. In this regard I welcome the establishment by the Tánaiste of the consultative forum on international security policy. I understand that meetings are due to be held in June in Dublin, Cork and Galway as part of this initiative. It is time for a respectful debate on the security threats we face and to see whether our foreign and …

I am very interested to hear about the issues the Taoiseach discussed with Prime Minister Sánchez. Since the UK left the EU, Ireland has lost an ally on a wide range of matters, but we have been busy forging alliances on all the various issues of the day such as the Single Market, the digital Single Market, financial rules, the rule of law, migration and agriculture to name a few. This is important given the role played by qualified majority voting. I am aware that we worked with Spain in the past on Common Agricul…

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the advice given to him on bilateral relations with China and whether its role with regard to international peace and security is being revised following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is important to have good relations with China. Trade is particularly significant in this context. For example, our food and drinks exports to China exceeded in 2021 €700 million. In recent times, some concerns have been expressed. There have been human rights issues, including the suppression o…

As regards the brutal war in Ukraine, there is no sign that this will end any time soon. It is becoming as protracted as ever. In recent days we have seen fierce fighting and a huge loss of life in Bakhmut. In addition, there have been more missile strikes on several cities. Of particular concern are strikes in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant. This plant has been damaged on a number of occasions and the threat that this poses cannot be overestimated. The International Atomic Energy Agency must b…

I ask the Taoiseach about his recent visit to Washington, where he attended a number of events and had a meeting with US President Joe Biden. John Hume began to engage with US politicians in the 1970s and get them to take an active interest in Northern Ireland. Since then, successive US administrations have played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process. The Taoiseach's key message in Washington was that the Windsor Framework and the restoration of the Stormont institutions can result in significant invest…

The DUP has clearly linked two issues, the Northern Ireland protocol and the restoration of the Stormont institutions. Following extensive negotiations between the EU and the UK, a new Windsor Framework has been agreed. European ministers agreed to aspects of the Windsor Framework today and the EU-UK joint committee meets later this week to advance it further. The DUP has set up an expert panel to consider the Windsor Framework further and is committed to voting against the Stormont brake in the House of Commons to…

I appreciate that all the effort now must be in getting the institutions up and running. However, has the Tánaiste given any consideration to what might happen to the Belfast Agreement-Good Friday Agreement in due course and the reform of same? That has been discussed from time to time, particularly after the Assembly elections. If worst comes to worst and we cannot get the institutions up and running, has the Tánaiste discussed with his British counterparts what would need to be done then and what other measures c…

This question relates to the recent Council of Europe decision on Northern Ireland legacy issues. I welcome the opportunity to hear the Tánaiste's views on that decision by the Council of Europe. I ask him to give an update on the Government's role in opposing the legacy legislation that has been brought forward and is due to become law later this year.

As we have heard, the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is due to become law later this year. There has been widespread opposition to this Bill from the Irish Government, from all of the political parties in the North, from victims' groups and their families, and from several human rights organisations. The Bill was published unilaterally by the British Government and is a departure from the Stormont House Agreement of 2014. In response, the British Government brought forward some amendment…