I agree. The Government should and unapologetically will talk to those who create jobs, investment and growth in our country and economy. The point I have been trying to make and will make to the Trump Administration is that the relationship is now two-way. There is not a state in the United States of America that does not have jobs created by Irish-owned companies. The top ten companies are responsible for around 115,000 jobs in the United States. The investment level by companies is around $323 million in the las…

I thank the Deputy for the question and congratulate him on his election to the House. I look forward to working constructively with him. This question is timely because it is important to work together at an EU level on our approach to the transatlantic relationship. The European Union and the US share a strong, mutually beneficial partnership. That was true before the US presidential election and is equally true after the election. This is a partnership which has for decades underpinned global stability, sustaina…

Since the discussion at the Foreign Affairs Council, President Trump has announced his decision to implement tariffs at 25% on steel and aluminium imports to the United States, commencing in March. Tomorrow, I will attend a virtual meeting of EU trade ministers, where ministers from all 27 member states, along with the European Commission, will discuss this development and consider appropriate responses. Ireland's and the EU's view is clear, however: tariffs hurt businesses and consumers. They are not in the intere…

I thank Deputy Dempsey for the question, congratulate her on her election to the Dáil and look forward to working constructively with her. The passport service issued more than 1 million passport books and cards in 2024. There were 16,792 adult passports and 12,474 child passports issued to residents of County Meath in 2024, bringing the total number of passports issued to Meath residents to 29,266. The passport service forecasts that more than 940,000 passport applications will be submitted in 2025. Based on these…

I join Deputy Dempsey in thanking the passport service for the huge amount of work it has done and the reforms it has undergone. Let us consider that it has come through the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit turbulence with the impact that had on passport application numbers and the general significant demand for passports. I often meet constituents who are pleasantly surprised about how quickly the passport arrives. It seems like only yesterday that they took the picture to send off online and the passport arrives the …

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú and congratulate him on his re-election. I have always enjoyed our sparring with him on a variety of issues and working constructively on other issues. I do not expect any change in that service, so I will look forward to it. I thank the Deputy for raising an important question. In the current context, the situation in Israel and Palestine remains a standing agenda item on the Foreign Affairs Council each month. This enables me to exchange with EU counterparts on this key priority on a month…

There is a lot of engagement at European level in this regard. It is obviously important that this continues and I welcome the fact that this month, there will be that meeting I referenced to the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, of the EU-Israel association agreement. Ireland has been arguing that for a long time. It should have happened a long time ago and will happen this month. I also welcome that in the following month, March, crucially, there will be a high-level political dialogue with Palestine in the…

I have been very clear on the EU, and I have said it many times. I said it in my previous role as well that I think the European Union, in many parts of the world, could have done even more to apply more pressure to bring about a ceasefire. However, I am very conscious, in the context in which we are talking tonight, that there is a ceasefire in place but the ceasefire is extraordinarily fragile. There have been remarks in the past number of hours that are alarming, concerning and threaten to further undermine that…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 12 together. I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his question. I congratulate him on his re-election and wish him well for this term in the Dáil. As the Deputy rightly says, Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2026. Our preparations for Ireland’s Presidency are now intensifying across both policy and operational strands of planning. These are being led by my Department, in close co-operation with the Department of the Tao…

I take the point the Deputy makes but I assure him it is long-standing practice that we publish our proposal much closer to the Presidency. That is done for a variety of reasons, including the fact that we need to see where the legislative agenda in the European Commission is at at that stage. Let me say this. We will want to do a number of things but crucially, we will want to be efficient and effective at progressing the legislative priorities that are set out at a European level at that stage. We will want to pu…

The Deputy is right. The pharmaceutical sector is obviously of huge economic importance to our country. I hope and expect it will continue to be. So too is the benefit to patients, not just in Ireland but across the world. I agree with the Deputy that we should make it our business to be better in terms of innovative ways of accessing new medicines and willing to work more at an EU level with other member states in terms of joint procurement. Some of that has been done through the BeNeLuxA initiative, but probably …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 13 together. I thank Deputy Daly. I will endeavour to give an equally comprehensive answer to him. I want to thank him for highlighting this issue because, truthfully, we cannot talk about this enough. As I said, I passionately believe that the relationship between the United States and Ireland is mutually beneficial. It is a deep relationship with many ties which are personal, cultural and historical, but it is also an economically important relationship. As we engage with t…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 23 together. I congratulate Deputy McCarthy on his election to Dáil Éireann. I very much look forward to working with him constructively. I am pleased to tell the Deputy that the passport service is an excellent position to deliver the demand forecast for the rest of the year. Ensuring that we have enough staff to respond to demand is a key priority for my Department and is kept under constant review. The number of officers employed by the passport service from 2020 to 2024, …

I thank the Deputy. The short answer is that we do. We are trying to get to a sustainable position where we do not see peaks and troughs, but rather a consistent, good and high-quality service with turnaround times that are at least in line with the office's expectation. I am pleased to say that at the moment, the times are ahead of expectations. Of course, and I say this respectfully to all of our constituents and the people of Ireland, people can help us by checking their passports before booking foreign travel a…

The short answer is we will keep this under review. I am pleased to see that so many applications are being made online. Regardless if someone lives in Cork, Dublin or anywhere else in this great country, he or she is able to apply for a passport. More than 93% of applications came that way last year and people can get passports in a time-efficient manner. In terms of the office we have in Cork, which plays a valuable part, we will continue to keep under review any additional infrastructural supports for it.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 20 and 37 together. I thank Deputy Connolly. It is an honest question and let me give an honest answer, which is, I do not know yet. I want to engage in the first instance. I take the point that Senator Black is looking to sit down with me. I will make sure that happens in the coming days. I have been meeting my officials on this issue, too. The decision we will have to make is on whether it is possible to amend the current Bill or is it more likely that we will need to introduc…

We have to be accurate. I do not believe it was legally possible in 2018 to pass this Bill. The Deputy says we have had ample time since 2018, but the moment that created a potential legal path forward - it was no more than a potential legal path forward - was the ICJ advisory opinion. I find it odd in this Dáil that it is suggested that Ireland and the Irish Government are not supportive of the people of Palestine, a two-state solution or standing up for international law. When I will meet the Palestinian Prime Mi…

We have joined that case.

I believe our words do mean something. They mean that, at a time when many countries were turning their backs on UNRWA, the humanitarian agency that gets assistance to the very people the Deputy wants to help, we pledged €20 million more.

Yes, and I deplore the decision of the Knesset on that, but instead of backing away, we supported UNRWA with €20 million more. The Deputy referenced the ICJ case. We have sought to join it and have made a submission, something that many in the House said we would not do. We have seen how other countries have responded negatively to our decision, but I believe we are on the right side of history by doing it. Every avenue we can explore, we are exploring. Regarding the occupied territories Bill, we have a clear commi…