I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 173 together. I thank Deputy Lahart. I am committed, as is the rest of the Government, to working with our European and Ukrainian counterparts to maintain our solidarity with Ukraine and to ensure Ukraine gets the support it needs to defend itself against brutal Russian aggression. This remains a key focus of my engagements, both bilaterally and at the European Union. Ukraine, as the Deputy can imagine, features prominently on the monthly agenda of the Foreign Affairs Counci…

To start with the Deputy's last point, that is a huge concern because, in fairness to President Trump, he has been very clear that he wants the war to end. He wants peace and the President of the European Commission, President von der Leyen, has welcomed some of the interventions President Trump has made in that regard. There has been significant dialogue between a number of senior European leaders including the British Prime Minister, the French President, the President of the Commission, Prime Minister Tusk and o…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 and 176 together. I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. His party is working him hard today. I assure him that my officials and I remain in ongoing and close contact with a number of like-minded countries, including France, which the Deputy referenced in the question, on our opposition to the current EU-Mercosur trade deal. Indeed, as I stated in response to an earlier question, I held a bilateral meeting on 14 April with my French counterpart, the foreign minister, Mr. Barrot, at which we d…

I had a significant one-on-one meeting with my French counterpart specifically about Mercosur. Our links and engagement with France on this remain intense and ongoing. Our position within the European Commission is very well understood. I do not think other member states would be in any way surprised by Ireland's position. What happens next is important. At the moment, the agreement is undergoing a legal scrubbing, after which it will be translated into all the EU languages. It is worth repeating that there is stil…

I will say more on CETA another time when we can have a proper debate. If we cannot ratify a free trade agreement with Canada in the middle of all the turbulence that is going on in the world, I am concerned. I cannot think of a better, less offensive nation to trade with and have a trade agreement with than Canada. Let us have that debate when the time comes. It is for another day. The Deputy provoked me there. I want to make a broader point regarding Mercosur, which is that free trade is a really good thing. I sa…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for consistently keeping it on the agenda in his time in the House. It is important that is done. Earlier this month, as he noted, we marked the 51st anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974. Those brutal attacks claimed the lives of 34 people, including an unborn baby, injured hundreds more and shocked the country to its core. More than five decades on, it remains deeply regrettable, to put it mildly, that no person has been held responsible for t…

I agree with everything the Deputy said on this matter. I fully acknowledge that very country has a right, even an obligation, in regard to its national security. However, that cannot become a cover for not providing assistance that could and should be provided. This House and successive Governments have constructively put forward proposals as to how that access to information could be provided. Not much is unanimously agreed in here but the Dáil has unanimously adopted four all-party motions calling on the British…

I do not have specific insights into provisional findings from Operation Denton. I know it is hoped the report will appear in the coming months. We all hope this provides families and survivors with much-needed answers. I will continue to make the point, as will the Minister for Justice, regarding the importance of this information being provided and, more broadly, the issue of legacy. The Irish Government wants two things to happen with regard to legacy. We want a legacy infrastructure that is human rights-complia…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 243 together. I met with Sean Brown's family just over two weeks ago on what was the 28th anniversary of his murder. I was struck by Bridie Brown and her family and the anguish, pain and hurt they have been put through. The family have shown enormous strength and resilience in pursuing this case. I commended them on their tireless campaign for truth, transparency and accountability over the past 28 years. I reiterated to them that I will continue to use any influence I have,…

I join the Deputies in commending Bellaghy GAA and the GAA more widely. The president of the GAA, Jarlath Burns, attended the meeting with the Brown family when they came to see me. Sean Brown was a good, decent man locking up his GAA club when he was brutally murdered 28 years ago. Not only have no answers been given to his family and no Article 2-compliant investigation established, there have been clear active efforts to suppress information. It is also very clear from the rulings of the High Court and the Court…

I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Smith for bringing forward this motion today. I thank them for the constructive way in which they are approaching the most horrific, appalling situation in Gaza and the Middle East, and I mean that. I approach this debate, and respectfully suggest we should all approach it, by moving beyond the mantra of "Government good, Opposition bad" or "Opposition good, Government bad". It does not get us anywhere. There is not anybody in this House, regardless of political background, or an…

I want to begin by welcoming members of the O'Farrell family to the House. I am conscious that for Shane's parents, Lucia and Jim, and for his four sisters, Hannah, Gemma, Aimee and Pia, this is very far from your first time in this House, or in the environs of Government Buildings. I had the honour of meeting you when I served as Minister for Justice. I was in awe of you all. I was in awe of your family and I was in awe of the might of a mother fighting for justice for her son. I saw at first hand your fortitude a…

I will begin today by condemning the senseless antisemitic murder of Yaron and Sarah overnight. These were two young diplomats in Washington DC who were killed in the prime of their lives. They were a young couple, soon to be engaged. I think of them and their families, to whom I send our sympathies. I also think of all those present at the Jewish museum in Washington DC last night, who include one of our own young diplomats. Antisemitism is a disgusting, despicable and vile scourge and we should condemn it at each…

The sheer hypocrisy of the Deputy. It was only in March of this year that the First Minister of Northern Ireland, who is the Deputy's party's vice president, said that she was delighted that £671 million would be spent on a state-of-the-art children's hospital at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital. Ladies and gentlemen, who was that contract with? Does anyone know? It was BAM: the same developer building the hospital in this jurisdiction.

Not only that-----

I have more to say, please. The contract was announced and it was welcomed.

Not only was the contract signed with BAM, do you know what happened then? It pulled out. As a result, Sinn Féin has further compounded the delays to the delivery of the project. Not only that but the children's hospital that it is delivering in Northern Ireland and that Sinn Féin's First Minister and vice president welcomed is more expensive per square metre than the children's hospital we are delivering in this jurisdiction.

They are not my words; they are the words of the Parliamentary Budget Office in the Oireachtas. That office has looked at the hospital Sinn Féin is presiding over in the North and the hospital we are presiding over here and it found that Sinn Féin's is more expensive than the one we are delivering.

Get over yourselves with the absolute hypocrisy.

I very much appreciate that events have overtaken us. First, I join with the Deputy in acknowledging that it is the tenth anniversary of marriage equality today. I acknowledge the pretty significant role the Deputy's party played in this. I enjoyed being in government with the Labour Party during that period when we put this referendum to the people of Ireland and became the first country in the world where, by popular democratic vote, we voted overwhelmingly to recognise that love is love. I recognise, as Deputy B…