Carol Nolan
Offaly · Independent · Ireland
“Despite this, her mother - who is utterly heartbroken and distressed as we can all imagine - is fiercely protective of her child and determined to protect her at all costs.”
“It is a form of cruelty beyond all description to force families to endure circumstances such as these. Many of us in this House are parents. What would we not do to help our teenage children? What is happening in Offaly is not an isolated case. I know there are cases around the country as well.”
“The Tánaiste will share my profound horror at the recent brutal murder of Jamey Carney, the absconding of her so-called partner to Jordan and the wider pattern of escalating violence against women that was raised earlier.”
“The schools are out, summer is well and truly upon us, and for most families this will be an opportunity to enjoy spending time with their children or grandchildren. Others will watch the kids being able to spend more time with their friends.”
“I thank the Tánaiste for his response and assistance. I directly informed the HSE about this situation, and I received an acknowledgement, but I will reach out to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and, with the consent of the parent, will pass on all details.”
“Will he therefore commit to a review of the relevant legislative and operational frameworks to ensure that, regardless of current statutory provisions, no chilling effect is being caused or created that might discourage or inhibit the reporting or public identification of suspects who are also international protection applicants, where su…”
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“We need to become more ambitious and more like Germany in terms of the range of apprenticeships and in terms of making sure that apprenticeships are on the same level as degree programmes. In fairness, I can see that progress has been made. We have the skills centre in Mount Lucas, and I commend LOETB on all its fantastic work. It was great to get the opportunity to meet some of the apprentices who were there on Monday. More women are going into apprenticeships as well and that was clear to be seen in Tullamore. I want to reiterate the calls for funding for phase two of the apprenticeship programme and for the STEM officer for Offaly County Council. I referred to the Farm Business Skillnet initiative earlier. However, the number of farm businesses supported has collapsed and this has to be taken on board.”
“I ask for this to be addressed. In terms of apprenticeships I also ask that the funding for phase two apprenticeships be allocated to Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board Excellence, LOETB. I visited its skills centre on Monday and the Minister, Deputy Lawless, was also there and it was very much appreciated. We need the STEM officer to continue in their role in Offaly County Council. It is important that is also funded. I make those calls on behalf of my constituency. I hope the funding for those positions will be continued because they have been highly effective. I saw the apprentices in action in the skills centre in Tullamore and they were very impressive.”
“IBEC recommended a targeted, time-limited rebate in 2022 to help businesses cope with rising costs. The Government refused it outright as the Minister reconfirmed to me recently in a response to a parliamentary question. I ask for that to be looked at again because businesses are really struggling and it is a sensible, common sense and practical proposal put forward by IBEC. Instead, we are told that any change is a matter for the Estimates process. Meanwhile, rural and domestic SMEs, battered by auto-enrolment, the living wage, and pension hikes get no relief. The neglect of practical, sector-specific training is particularly stark. For example, look at Farm Business Skillnet, the exact type of close to the labour market programme IBEC called for. Funding has crawled from €152,124 in 2023 to just €160,000 in 2025.”
“We are told constantly that Ireland must prepare for a changing world: automation, the green transition, AI and new labour market demands. Yet, when we examine how this Government is actually managing the National Training Fund – the very tool meant to deliver those skills – an interesting picture emerges. Through a series of recent parliamentary questions, I have exposed the reality. In 2025, the National Training Fund ran a surplus of €283 million. Levy income reached €1.297 billion while spending was just €1.014 billion. Projections show surpluses of €172 million in 2026 rising to €365 million annually by 2030 while actual training expenditure flatlines. Employers pay the full 1% levy in good faith, yet this money sits unused rather than reaching the front line.”
“He highlights the stark contrast with other EU member states. For example, in the Czech Republic, approved training centres have real flexibility and can deliver practical, relevant content, including first aid, emergency response, cargo security and company-specific training, even on the operator's own premises. Belgium offers 28 certified CPC courses, while the Netherlands offers 22. Drivers and operators have genuine choice and relevant training but it is not so in Ireland. There are issues with the RSA's implementation.”
“I have been in contact with the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, which has called this out and labelled it as fundamentally flawed and inherently biased. The survey ignored real-world problems and factors such as dangerous road infrastructure, the behaviour of other road users, levels of enforcement and indeed the performance of the RSA itself. Instead it focused on the negative and it was really like they wanted a particular outcome - no doubt about that. The sham survey, unfortunately, is not an isolated mistake by the RSA. It is a symptom of the RSA's wider failure to properly implement the EU CPC driver training directive. It is all down to the way this is being implemented. I have been provided with detailed correspondence from an experienced CPC trainer and member of the IRU expert panel in Brussels.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this question and for his response. It is very disappointing to see that neither the Minister for Transport nor the Minister of State with responsibility for transport is here because there are serious issues around the RSA. Last month, the RSA commissioned Leeds Beckett University to carry out research on HGV driver safety. There are a number of issues with that survey, which I will highlight now. They planned to interview only 40 Irish HGV drivers, but the extraordinary thing was that they wanted a sample of 20 drivers who had experienced issues such as speeding, drink driving, phone use or careless driving. It was like they were trying to engineer a particular sample for a predetermined headline, such as 50% of HGV drivers breaking the law. It really was biased.”
“I wish to raise the Road Safety Authority's, RSA, defective implementation of the EU certificate of professional competence, CPC, driver training directive and, in particular, its latest flawed initiative, namely, a biased heavy goods vehicle, HGV, driver safety survey that is deeply concerning for road safety and the future of the haulage industry.”
“A child travelling abroad must have their own passport and cannot be included on their guardian's passport. The Department strongly urges anyone who is considering travelling overseas, particularly families with young children, to check the validity of their passports before booking their tickets and to apply online for their passports in plenty of time. I have no doubt that Deputy Ward will be following up with the Minister directly on foot of the questions he has posed. With his legal background he will be able to outline precisely the changes he feels could be made on a practical level to reflect the argument he is espousing on behalf of his constituents.”
“I again thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As I said earlier, I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. As the Deputy is aware, passports, in particular children's passports for family holidays, are an important topic for Members as we approach the busy summer travel period. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade wishes to assure Members that the passport service is in an excellent position to deliver on the demand forecast for the rest of the year. Last week alone, 21,000 passports were issued. In relation to the data held in a passport, it is only possible for the passport services to follow the recommendations from the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The function of the data held in a passport is to confirm the passport holder's identity and nationality.”
“We need to move from the déjà vu debates that we have had here over and over again - it is like Groundhog Day at times here - to actual delivery. People need to have confidence that the Government is delivering for people with disabilities but we are not seeing it. Unfortunately, it is not there. Obviously, we need adequate funding to be delivered, if necessary through an emergency funding package such as the motion suggests. However, I suggest that we take short-term actions and put therapists in place in Offaly and Laois as soon as possible.”
“Where is the accountability when respite places remain chronically underfunded in rural counties like Offaly? The strategy speaks of central involvement yet families tell me that they feel sidelined and that their experience is reduced to consultation checkboxes rather than driving real and meaningful change. People have had enough of tokenism and box ticking, which people use for self-preservation or whatever it is for. We need to see meaningful and genuine change. We need to go back to basics and put short-term solutions in place until we can devise more long-term sustainable solutions. We cannot keep kicking the issues concerning disabled people down the road with strategies and plans while people, particularly children, suffer.”
“No doubt the Government will point to its National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. It states: At all stages, the views and opinions of disabled persons, their organisations, and other relevant stakeholders will be central to delivery, and we are committed to building their capacity where needed to support them in providing this strong voice. However, to the families on the ground, this reads as little more than hollow rhetoric because they are not seeing that in their lives every day when they have to cope with things they should not have to deal with, when they have to battle and fight for access to basic therapies or when they have to battle for SNAs with the school principal. It is just not happening. Where is the real meaningful action? Where is the urgency?”
“We are not seeing joined-up thinking; it is very disjointed. The services all need to work in tandem together, particularly with schools. Children are definitely regressing without timely occupational therapy or speech and language support. It is important that we mention carers because they save the State billions of euro every year. They do not get fair play because when it comes to respite, it can be very difficult for them to take time off. That issue also needs to be looked at. We also need to look at the home helps who support our elderly people in their homes. If a home help takes time off, as they are entitled to, there needs to be a replacement person immediately. We have to make sure that people with disabilities, our most vulnerable in society, are being looked after.”
“We have debated other issues such shortages in respite care, inadequate home supports, therapy waiting lists and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities time and again. In February and March last year and in contributions before that, the same pleas were made. Families are worn out from fighting for basic but vital services that really should be automatic. They tell me all the time in my constituency office that they really are battling. Every day is a battle for them. It could be trying to access basic supports for school transport and then trying to make sure that their child is catered for. Our Education Act talks about the importance of collaboration, working with people and making sure that inclusion is a top priority, but we are not seeing it.”
“That child and their parents do not know if they are going to have an SNA for September, which is very unfair. It is not giving anyone a chance really. I hope that this can be resolved. I have written to the Department of education and I await its response. I do hope that timely action will be taken to sort that out. That is a basic thing; a portal not being open for a school to make an application for an SNA should not be happening in this day and age. If there is a shortage of staff in the Department, people should be taken from some other Department. Practical actions need to be taken with a common-sense approach that goes back to basics and clears the problems. That is what I am recommending we do here tonight.”
“I call here once again for emergency action solutions, which I have outlined, to be put in place. Therapists should be brought in from CHO areas where the list is not as long and private therapists also to clear the backlog. I would hope that those solutions in the short term could be taken on board, because children are being failed and are being left behind by the ordeal in Offaly and Laois. I want to given another example of failure and a lack of planning and efficiency. Last week, it was brought to my attention that the portal that deals with SNA applications was not open for one particular school in Offaly to allow it to make its application for September. Bearing in mind that the schools will be all closing in June, it is grossly unfair on the school in question and on the particular child with special needs.”
“I cannot for the life of me understand why therapists from the other CHO areas where there is not a backlog cannot be brought in, along with private therapists, to clear the backlog in Offaly and Laois. We are hearing about recruitment all the time from the HSE, but this sorry saga has gone on too long. I know of children who have not received speech therapy and who have regressed considerably. How are such children going to reach their educational potential? It is not fair, and it is leading to a lot of distress for children and parents. It is causing huge stress for them because they are frustrated, and rightly so. School principals and teachers are frustrated, and we are all seeing it time and again. The mess in Offaly and Laois needs to be sorted out.”
“Lately, this was confirmed to me very clearly when I dealt with a case where a young child had been referred at a primary care team meeting in December 2023 to a dietician and an occupational therapist. Because those vacancies have not been filled, there is a problem and that child still has not had access. That was nearly three years ago, and there is no doubt but that the child has regressed. If that is not a prime example of neglect, I do not know what is. There has to be a change of direction. I have stated time and again that Offaly and Laois are among the worst counties in the State in terms of there being no therapists and vacancies not being filled.”
“I observed at first hand the level of frustration and of desperation at times that exists among parents and even among class teachers who are trying to access adequate supports for children in terms of ensuring that they reach their full potential, which was laid out as a vision in the Education Act 1988. Every child must be enabled to reach their potential. How can they do so if they are not supported? I am very concerned about this matter. I would go as far as saying at this point that children with special needs in Offaly and Laois are being neglected because of the lack of access to therapy. This has gone on and on. When I was elected in 2016, one of the first issues I raised here was the lack of speech therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and psychologists. It is becoming a major issue.”
“Beidh mé ag tabhairt tacaíochta don rún seo agus tá áthas orm an deis a fháil labhairt ar an topaic fhíorthábhachtach seo. Beidh mé ag tacú leis an rún seo mar cuireann sé na deacrachtaí atá ag daoine atá faoi mhíchumas os ár gcomhair go soiléir. Tá sé ríthábhachtach go bhfuil rún mar seo againn arís mar bhí topaicí mar seo os ár gcomhair cheana. I am happy to get the opportunity again to speak on this very important issue. When it comes to disabilities, we keep saying the same thing over and over again. I taught many children with special needs during the ten or 12 years I taught in schools.”
“By ignoring it, it is making it worse, and it is certainly making the suffering more unbearable for all of those victims who are mainly girls.”
“The public rightly expects that when the State removes a child from their family, it provides something better, something more stable and not a new set of dangers. I support the Bill's protective aims, but I urge the Minister to address these uncomfortable truths about Tusla. Our children deserve far more than fine words and amended legislation. They deserve a child protection system that adequately protects them. Anything less is a betrayal of the most vulnerable in our society, and it is neglect. I ask once again for the disturbing findings in the Sexual Exploitation Research Programme, SERP, report, which was compiled by UCD academics, to be looked at and for Tusla to be brought to an inquiry as soon as possible because it has to be. It is going to be a big scandal in years to come. There is no doubt about that.”
“Children are going missing from placements and are exposed to exploitation. The basic safety of these children cannot be guaranteed, yet the Minister wants to give Tusla more power, even though there are serious questions hanging over it already. It does not make sense to me. The State has taken on the role of parent for these boys and girls, yet too often it fails in that most fundamental duty. We cannot pass legislation that expands Tusla's role without simultaneously demanding radical reform, accountability, transparency and a proper inquiry. We need independent oversight, proper resourcing of front-line staff, rigorous vetting of placements and a zero-tolerance approach to failures that put children at risk.”
“Children are coerced into sexual acts in exchange for gifts. They are preyed upon because of their vulnerability, instability and the gaps in the system that is meant to protect them. This is grooming and exploitation on a scale that should urgently demand a full public inquiry. It should demand decisive action because the report is very disturbing, yet the response has been nothing short of criminally inadequate. This Bill is about protecting children from the influence of those guilty of major crimes. That is certainly right and necessary but even as we debate these measures here today, unknown numbers of vulnerable children remain in the care of the State - in the care of Tusla, acting as the State guardian, and they are being failed day in, day out. Young girls are being raped and exploited day in, day out, under the State's watch.”
“Let us not forget the ongoing scandal that I have consistently highlighted in this House, which to my mind has not been effectively addressed. The findings of the sexual exploitation research programme, SERP, report were very disturbing. The report was carried out by academics from UCD and it was entitled Protecting Against Predators. The report raises serious questions for Tusla that have not been adequately addressed. The State should hang its head in shame that it has not adequately dealt with this report, when the facts and evidence are laid bare in the SERP report. The report clearly laid out how predatory gangs, often organised groups of men, are targeting and sexually exploiting vulnerable children, particularly girls, while they are under the care of Tusla. That is under the State's watch.”
“There are many serious questions about Tusla. As a public representative, I certainly have no confidence in it. Time and again we have seen failures that should shake the confidence of every parent, child and citizen in this country. Just last year there was an horrific alleged rape of a ten-year old child in the care of the State at Citywest - a young girl who was under Tusla's guardianship. That is the fact of the matter. She absconded and was allegedly assaulted in circumstances that raise the most serious questions about supervision, placement safety and basic duty of care. How does a child in State care end up in such danger? This was not an isolated tragedy. It is in fact symptomatic of a deeper systemic problem within the system.”
“I welcome the core intention of the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill. Any measure that seeks to strengthen the legal framework for protecting our most vulnerable children from those who would do them harm deserves full support. The provisions aimed at safeguarding children from the influence of individuals guilty of major crimes, enhancing care orders, and promoting better interagency co-operation are, on paper, positive steps. We must always strive to put the welfare of the child first in our laws. However, I must speak plainly. Many people across this country will find it profoundly galling that Tusla, the agency entrusted with child protection, is being further empowered and charged with making these orders, when it stands accused of being institutionally unfit for the task it already has.”
“Parkinson's disease is the fastest-growing neurological condition in Ireland. Unfortunately, people are without supports in many counties. In my own county of Offaly, there is no neurologist, specialist nurse or team and people have to travel. It really shocked me that the HSE responded to a recent parliamentary question by telling me it has no idea of the number of people living with Parkinson's disease in County Offaly. I find that very concerning because if it does not know the level of need, how can it measure the level of need or put services in place? This greatly concerns me. I ask the Government to urgently intervene with the HSE in terms of the data blindness - it is just unbelievable that no data is collected per county - and the lack of neurological services in county Offaly.”
“This is not just a housing crisis; this is a crisis of priorities and disconnect. We cannot continue down this path. The Irish people will not tolerate it any longer. It is time to put Irish citizens first in housing, welfare and every single policy of this State. We have had enough. Rehouse our own people before anyone else. That is basic decency and, more importantly, that is common sense.”
“The State is deliberately prioritising non-nationals over its own people, many of them who should not be here at all. This is madness. This is discrimination against Irish citizens in their own country. It gets worse. The Government's new rules on tenancy rights, the residential tenancies (amendment) legislation, is driving small property landlords out of the market in droves. I warned about this in the Chamber before and I called for a review. It is State control of private assets. These punitive measures attack property rights, punish responsible property owners and drastically reduce the supply of rental homes. The result is more Irish families displaced, more pressure on a broken system and more emergency accommodation that this Government then fills with asylum seekers instead of our own homeless citizens.”
“This Government's housing policy is not just a failure; it is outright betrayal of the Irish people. While Irish families are sleeping in their cars, or if they are lucky enough, in emergency accommodation, this Government has spent €9.2 million of taxpayers' money on accommodation for asylum seekers. Dozens and dozens of properties bought, no problem at all. That is real homes, real apartments and real three-bed houses being handed over to people who arrive here, often with no valid ID, no legitimate claim to asylum and many coming from safe countries. They are the facts. Meanwhile our own citizens, Irish families, are left begging for emergency accommodation that simply that does not exist. I have seen this first hand in my own constituency of Offaly. I have exposed this scandal through my parliamentary questions.”
“Only recently, after ongoing pressure and the issue being raised by me in the Chamber many times, it has finally received approval and has been placed on the national development plan. Road safety cannot be delivered by means of enforcement alone. We need cameras, but we also need concrete and proper infrastructure, particularly in the vicinity of schools where, in many cases, there are no footpaths.”
“Children and parents are forced to walk on the road while cars block the hard shoulder. The road surface floods and the times on the signage are wrong. The situation is simply unacceptable. It certainly poses difficulties and risks in terms of children's safety. Cameras will be welcomed by schools like Cloneyhurke National School but let us be honest. Cameras catch offenders but they do not build footpaths, resurface roads or install proper traffic calming measures. That is the glaring contradiction at the heart of this Government's approach. While the Department rolls out a national camera strategy, communities in Offaly have been left waiting years for basic road infrastructure. The Tullamore-Kilbeggan link road on the N52 is a case in point. For over a decade, we were told funding was in the pipeline. TII kept its grip on the money.”
“I welcome the publication of Ireland's first national camera safety strategy. Any measure that reduces speeding and saves lives on our roads is certainly worth considering in a constructive manner. Across the country, thousands of schools and communities will breathe a sigh of relief when they hear this news because far too many parents have their hearts in their mouths sending their children to school every morning. Just yesterday, parents at Cloneyhurke National School contacted me with the shocking results of the school's green schools walkability audit. Some 97% of vehicles were breaking the 50 km/h schooltime limit during drop-off. Some 83% were travelling at over 60 km/h and some were recorded at over 100 km/h. There is still no footpath between the school and the community hall.”
“No woman should be rushed into a life-changing decision but I am of the view that all children born and unborn have a fundamental right to life.”
“From where I stand, any attempt to eliminate the three-day reflection period can now be seen for what it is - a morally reckless extension of an abortion ideology that many people find deeply troubling. Why the clamour for more and more abortion? Why the rush to annihilate all protections in the law for the baby in the womb? The Irish people did not give us a blank cheque to go on eliminating all protections for the unborn child until no such protections exist at all. To claim that they did is fundamentally flawed. As political representatives, we should be prioritising the provision of positive support for women in unplanned pregnancy, including access to practical assistance and counselling, rather than seeking to weaken the existing protections.”
“I will be opposing this Bill not merely on the grounds that I have profound conscientious difficulties and objections with the legislative intent driving it, but also because I sincerely believe that if it was implemented, it would represent an impoverished health policy that would fail to protect women and, of course, the lives of the unborn children that it will impact. In fact, it was on the basis of information released to me through numerous parliamentary questions that we can confirm that the three-day waiting period prior to having an abortion has played a critical and life-saving role in the lives of thousands. In fact, over the five-year period since the law was introduced, 10,426 women did not return for a second appointment after the three-day waiting period. This was between 17% and 18% of women. I have to be clear.”
“Both were launched as new oversight mechanisms to protect farmers and small suppliers but, because the underpinning legislation and the powers granted were not sufficiently robust, they have failed to deliver real and meaningful change. New institutions without real teeth simply become expensive talking shops and we have had more than enough of those.”
“However, two critical deficits remain within the Bill. Unless they are rectified, the Bill risks becoming yet another well-meaning statute that delivers little on the ground or in reality. The first deficit is that, as far as I can see, the Bill contains no automatic consumer relief mechanisms. Monitoring margins is useful but, when suppliers' profits surge, the CRU still cannot impose or mandate automatic rebates. The second deficit is that the legislation hands the CRU and the Minister broad discretionary powers but does not guarantee resourcing. We have seen this before. We only have to look at the unfair trading practices legislation and the Agri-Food Regulator.”
“Tá áthas orm labhairt ar an mBille seo inniu. The ESB, Ireland's own exaggerated prices, surpluses and bonuses board, has been charging households and businesses some of the highest energy prices in Europe while boasting about profits and posting record profits. It is obscene and extremely unfair on households and businesses that are struggling to survive and yet it goes on and on. That is partly why I am broadly in support of this Private Members' Bill, which offers a focused and practical measure that finally gives the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities the statutory tools it has long lacked, including monthly price and margin transparency, proper oversight of hedging practices, stronger powers to address anticompetitive behaviour and an explicit legal duty to protect consumers from unfair pricing.”
“When they warned that toll avoidance would push HGVs onto unsuitable secondary roads, wasting millions of litres of fuel, they were ignored - another fine example of practical and constructive solutions put forward all the time but no one listening or taking action. There has to be a change of direction. At times, it feels like the Government has moved so far left that it has left behind businesses and is divorced from reality.”
“Not only should the Government meet it about barrier-free tolls, but it should meet TII about excessive toll charges. This is not sustainable for any sector. The excessive toll charges need to be called out. There need to be immediate meetings with TII to address those issues. No business can sustain that. Hauliers are not asking for favours. They are the lifeblood of retail and manufacturing and rural economies. They pay diesel, tax, VAT, PAYE and PRSI, road tax, tolls and the insurance levy, an unrelenting burden on razor-thin margins. Is that not an example of them being taxed out of existence?”
“The warning signs were there in plain sight, such as the chronic driver shortage that the IRHA quantified as requiring 4,000 additional drivers over five years and the punitive toll increases now costing the sector approximately €72,792 a day, with some large operators paying between €20,000 and €35,000 per month. That is unacceptable. I met the senior management of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, last year. At that meeting, I asked about barrier-free tolls at the Dublin Port tunnel to allow trucks to move more freely. The Ceann Comhairle raised this in the Chamber many a time. I commend her for that. It is another example of the Government not listening. It should be able to intervene directly with TII. I met TII already as an Independent TD, so I ask the Government to meet it.”
“He has also stated many times that the sector is being taxed out of existence. There needs to be a look at how business is being done. Hauliers are an important cog in the wheel of the Irish economy. They need to be supported and listened to. Timely action needs to be taken. It is important that we support the people contributing greatly to our economy. Hauliers are on the road 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year. Their need for certainty does not disappear because of a war breaking out or a political decision taken elsewhere, yet successive Governments unfortunately waited for a crisis to emerge before taking action. There is a crisis and the Government needs to act. It needs to continuously support these sectors. They are people who create much-needed employment, particularly in rural counties.”
“If the communication, as in listening skills, had been there and if the Government had heeded the warnings, it would not have come to that. In ten years as a TD, I have never seen anything like the distress it caused to people who were really grappling with many issues. These are people who create huge employment in rural counties like Offaly. It is not fair to do that. With the direction this Government is going, it appears at times that those who work the hardest are punished the most in terms of the haulage, agricultural and construction sectors. I met people from all of those sectors on the protest lines. The Government needs to listen to them. That needs to change and be learned from this. I commend the IRHA president, Mr. Ger Hyland, who made the case many times in here for the sector.”
“I am delighted to speak this evening. As a rural TD, I have always strongly advocated for the haulage and agricultural sectors, which are interwoven in many respects. The recent protests were a sign that not only was the Government moving in the wrong direction, but it had completely taken its ear off the ground. You need listening skills at all times for effective communication. That effective communication was not there, hence the protests. I stood with many hard-working, decent and genuine people at the protests in Tullamore, Birr and Cloghan where I heard directly from many agri-contractors in particular and small haulage companies trying to deal with the fact that their businesses were on a knife edge, ready to go to the wall. It was a shocking situation that should never have arisen.”
“Today I call on the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and the Minister for foreign affairs to follow Poland's lead immediately and lodge Ireland's own challenge today at the ECJ and use every legal and diplomatic lever available to protect our primary producers before provisional application begins on 1 May. Our farmers cannot afford another EU deal that puts free trade above food security and food standards.”
“Last Friday Poland announced that it will file a complaint against the EU-Mercosur trade deal at the Court of Justice of the European Union. As I understand it, this is the first member state to take this step. This follows the European Parliament's earlier referral, which I welcomed as a rare victory for common sense and prudence. Irish beef farmers have been warning for years that this agreement threatens their livelihoods, our food standards and our national interest. Yet, Government opposition has too often looked like political damage limitation rather than principled action.”
“We heard at that meeting of the case of a couple who had to abandon their hopes and dreams of building a home due to excessive costs. They only got as far as digging out a foundation. That is very wrong. That is failing rural people. We need to see action here. The comments of the former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, on rural Ireland were disgraceful. He should really hang his head in shame and so should Fine Gael.”