Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí a chur an t-ábhar seo faoinár mbráid ar maidin. Ireland has very long-standing connections with Hong Kong and a strong Irish community there. The Department of Foreign Affairs has been closely monitoring political developments, in particular the implementation of the national security law adopted in June of last year. These measures have led to the detention of a number of pro-democracy and human rights activists over the past few months. We are particularly concerned following t…

I thank the Senators for their comments. Ireland and the EU are deeply concerned about the situation in Hong Kong and the implementation of national security legislation. Given our engagement with the region and our responsibility to our citizens there, it is correct that we do so. We continue to raise these concerns directly and consistently when engaging with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, bilaterally and in multilateral fora. The protection of the one country, two systems principle in Hong Kong, as well as t…

Gabhaim buíochas le gach duine a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht seo, go háirithe an Teachta Pringle a chur an reachtaíocht seo os ár gcomhair inniu. This is a really important issue. I do not disagree with Deputy Pringle on its importance. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, has set out the ways that we can monitor Ireland's implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as detailing some of the programme for Government commitments that marry with the obj…

Our inequality levels have reduced thanks to the progressive policies of previous Fianna Fáil Governments. I am glad to see our influence on this Government. We have moved mountains in seeking to help and support the most vulnerable in society. Health expenditure has amounted to €19.8 billion, including additional funding of €2.5 billion to maximise capacity in the system and allow for the purchase of necessary equipment such as personal protective equipment, PPE. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in major disrupt…

The trade and co-operation agreement secured a new basis for engagement between the European Union and the UK. It preserves our and the EU's core principles while respecting the wishes of the UK, wishes with which we did not agree but respectfully do so. There is a framework which can be built on by mutual agreement over time. The agreement provides for zero-tariff and zero-quota trade for goods of EU or UK origin. Securing a zero-tariff and zero-quota agreement was a major priority of Irish exporters which rely on…

I thank the Deputies from all sides of the House who participated in today's session. The trade and co-operation agreement and indeed the broader questions regarding our bilateral relationship with the UK, are vital issues for everybody on this island. It is appropriate that the Dáil should be fully engaged in considering the issues arising. I echo the call made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs for unity today. There will be a question and answer session tomorrow, when the Minister and I will be here. There will…

I thank the Senators for raising this. I know their commitment to the Defence Forces well. Senator Chambers served in the Reserve Defence Force for many years and Senator O'Loughlin has constantly been a strong advocate for the Defence Forces publicly and within the parliamentary party. I take my colleagues' comments very seriously indeed. I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Defence. He is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is quite busy at the moment for him, and for me, and we are all trying to help …

I again thank my colleagues for their sentiments, which I take very seriously indeed and which I will certainly relay to the Minister and to the Taoiseach. I will, however, take the opportunity to remind the House that the establishment of an independent commission on the Defence Forces follows a very specific commitment made in the programme for Government, as agreed by Government parties, to establish such a commission before the end of the year. The continuous review programme of the Department of Defence will c…

Tá mé buíoch den Dáil gur glacadh leis an díospóireacht seo anocht. Tá sé an-tábhachtach ní hamháin go bhfuil díospóireacht againn ach freisin go bhfuil guth aontaithe sa Dáil anocht ag tacú leis an vacsaín, leis na heolaithe, le muintir na tíre seo agus leis na daoine ar fud an domhain a ghlac páirt sna trialacha cliniciúla. I would like to speak about the EU's co-ordination efforts to secure a vaccine for Covid-19. A safe and effective vaccine is our best chance to beat the coronavirus and return to our normal li…

I thank the Minister for his ongoing hugely positive role in this process, his leadership in the Department of Foreign Affairs and his excellence as a colleague. I appreciate that and that extends across this House on Brexit. There has always been a shared understanding across the Oireachtas of what the UK's decision to leave really means. From the broad political consequences to the specifics of technical policy areas, the unity of purpose in both Houses has been a hallmark of Ireland's approach to Brexit. Make no…

I am not entirely clear on the format, but I am happy to make some remarks.

Okay, I will leave my concluding statement until then. In the past, I have just answered questions as they arose, which I will do for the next five minutes. I will then be happy to take questions. I will go through some of the points that have been raised. If I heard her correctly, Deputy McDonald spoke about the protocol's full implementation or operation being dependent on a wider free trade agreement. I want to be clear that the Northern Ireland protocol to the withdrawal agreement was designed to be an evergree…

I am saying that it is not a panacea. I am not a doctor or a scientist but I understand that antigen testing can be very useful for screening, but it is not a replacement for PCR testing. I do not believe anyone thinks it is.

I have one final point to make before I finish with this particular part of the debate. Deputy Pringle raised issues of plain English. It is something in which I am very interested. The classic example of bad English for me is the name CETA for the Canada-EU trade agreement. I would love to know who conceived of that particular title for the agreement because it makes the issue confusing and scary. When 27 member states, the vast majority of whose representatives are not native English speakers, are trying to negot…

That point was raised during the debate and I did not get to everything, so I am glad to have this opportunity. The Brexit adjustment reserve is part of the overall budgetary proposals for the next seven years and the recovery fund. Progress on it was to some extent held up because of the situation pertaining to Hungary and Poland which put a veto on an own-resources position until that was resolved last week. That issue was resolved, and the European budget process could then move forward, including the Brexit adj…

One of the reasons fishing is such a difficult issue to resolve is because the British place a higher priority on it. They see these as their seas and when they leave the European Union as they see it, they will keep all their seas. That is what some of the hard Brexiteers see. They may not understand the other side - that they need to export their fish. It is taking so long because the Irish and French positions on the issue of fish have been unified. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the rest of the Governmen…

The Acting Chair made the point that some people were not here. To be fair to them, this is officially the format and was always the format when we sat in Leinster House, but we have not really stuck to that since we came to the convention centre for various reasons. I find no fault in anyone who is not here to ask questions. It could well be a better system, allowing more people to ask questions, but that is up to the Dáil to decide. I am only here to do what I am told to do. Deputy Richmond made a good point abou…

On the matter of the Brexit adjustment reserve, I said what I have said. We have been working closely with the European Commission to express our concerns about Brexit, which are well known. The fund was devised by Ireland and Belgium, although I am certain we will not be the only countries to avail of it. I think, however, that we should be pretty satisfied when the proposal comes through but that will be in addition to provision we have made ourselves. Regarding traffic at Dublin Port, there is a contingency traf…

I will come back to the Deputy on the exact point raised, but the climate debate the leaders had took place throughout the night. There were many side discussions, mainly involving the Taoiseach, to be fair, because it was a meeting of leaders. The meeting continued throughout the night to try to reach an agreement on this issue. Again, nothing is ever perfect when 27 member states are around the table, but it is a hugely significant step forward. I look forward to the European Union working together. From these co…

I do. It is important that I read the script. It deals with issues that the Taoiseach promised I would raise and it is important the Dáil be apprised of them. I thank everybody for their participation in the debate. On 8 December, I participated in a meeting of European affairs ministers online, where we prepared the agenda for the European Council of leaders. Unfortunately, it is not possible to have side discussions when a meeting is held online. We had a good discussions on Covid, the MFF recovery package and cl…