Cian O'Callaghan
Dublin Bay North · Social Democrats · Ireland
“Unification presents distinct challenges that need to be carefully planned for and managed. The analysis done by Professor Doyle shows that the cost of pensions would be unlikely to transfer to a united Ireland straight away. Following Brexit, the UK and Ireland signed a bilateral convention on social security in 2019.”
“Ireland spends less than that defending a much larger territory and has decades of underinvestment to catch up on. We need increased investment, particularly in systems and technologies, including sonar and air surveillance radar.”
“I welcome this important discussion on the topic of Irish unity and its fiscal implications. It deserves analysis and fundamentally respect for the people, who will ultimately decide the future of this island. There are real challenges in any transition to unity but there are also very significant opportunities.”
“These are highly skilled jobs with union representation and apprenticeship programmes. They are of fundamental importance to the local economy and community. They should never have been left exposed in this way.”
“The Tánaiste must surely know that these exports are feeding Putin's war machine. Does he not think it is unusual that Ireland is one of the very few European countries where our exports to Russia have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine? That has been driven by the exports of alumina that have more than doubled.”
“We know from the investigation carried out by The Irish Times and the organised crime and corruption reporting project that alumina from Ireland is ending up in Russian owned smelters in Krasnoyarsk. Krasnoyarsk is Russia's only smelter producing high purity aluminium.”
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“The Government promised to tackle the scandal of 200,000 children living in poverty. There is clear evidence that a second tier of child benefit is the solution to this crisis, but the Government seems happy to talk about the matter but not take action. The Government also promised to abolish the means test for carers. It could have ended that injustice today by increasing the bank levy. Section 80 of the Bill maintains the bank levy at derisory rate of 0.1%. At the same time, banks continue to avoid paying any corporation tax. What about people with disabilities? Disabled people stand to lose €1,400 as a result of this budget because of the actions this Government has taken. Instead of introducing a cost of disability payment, the Government has left disabled people behind once again.”
“While families are choosing between eating and heating, this Government has chosen to give McDonalds and Starbucks a VAT cut. On what planet is that a solution to the cost-of-living crisis? The Government has done nothing to ease household bills, to bring down grocery prices or to tackle sky-high rents. It has done nothing but look after those who are already on top. This Bill represents a slap in the face to those who voted for the Minister on the back of promises this Government made during the general election. It promised it would cap childcare fees at €200 a month. Families are still paying €1,000 or more a month, and this Bill does nothing to change that. The Government also promised to cut college fees. Students who paid €2,000 last year will be paying €2,500 next year, and Government has the cheek to call that a reduction.”
“The Parliamentary Budget Office showed in its independent analysis that the lowest-income households did worst under this budget. That is fact. Coming into winter, people are looking at their bills and they feel this budget has hit their pockets. This is a Government that preaches prudence yet squanders billions on tax breaks for the rich. The cost-of-living crisis did not end just because Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil decided to stop talking about it. Prices are still sky-high, grocery bills are through the roof, rents are out of control and childcare can cost more than a mortgage. What do the budget and this Finance Bill do to help? Nothing. A recent Barnardos report found that four in ten parents eat less or skip meals in order that their children can eat. This is Ireland in 2025, a country of record surpluses and growing poverty.”
“Budgets are about choices, and the cruel decisions this Government has made are all over this Finance Bill. The Government had the chance to stand with struggling families, renters, carers and disabled people, but it chose instead to stand with the golden circle - developers and fast-food chains. Once again, the people who already have the most are walking away with the biggest gains while ordinary people are left behind. The Government could have sided with the people who go to bed at night worrying about the next day and how they are going to pay bills to keep their house warm and feed their children. Instead, sided with the rich who go to bed and wake up the next morning even richer as the value of their investments grows while they sleep.”
“Gaelcholáiste Reachrann was founded in 2001 and, 24 years later, na daltaí, na múinteoirí agus pobal na scoile are still left waiting for permanent school buildings. Invitations to tender should have issued on 1 September. That is what was promised. That deadline has come and gone. Correspondence I have seen states that the Department of Education and Youth has failed to date to give the necessary approval for this to proceed to tender. What is causing this delay? When will it go to tender? Will the Minister of State tell us when the construction of these much-needed permanent school buildings will actually commence?”
“However, the Tánaiste did neither what he promised people in the TV debate nor has he done anything to reduce childcare fees. Can he not understand why people are really disappointed and feel betrayed by him now? During that election debate, they were given the very clear impression that, within 100 days of being in office, the Tánaiste was going to act to get their childcare fees down. Will he apologise to them? When is he going to act to reduce childcare fees and actually not break his election promises, which he has just done?”
“I think the Tánaiste knows well that most people do not read every word in a manifesto. However, they do listen to what the Tánaiste says in an election TV debate. This is exactly what he told the nation in the TV election debate. I will quote it for him again. He said the Fine Gael manifesto is proposing within 100 days of being in government capping monthly childcare costs per child at €200 per month. Then he went on to talk about what he was going to do on college fees. He did not talk about roadmaps or anything else. That is what he told the people. Anyone listening to that would realistically expect that, at least in the first budget, the Government would do meaningful things to reduce childcare fees, if not what he actually said in the TV debate.”
“He has just published his first budget and childcare costs were not reduced by a single cent. I have been contacted by parents who are at breaking point trying to pay these enormous childcare fees. One mother told me she is paying €20,000 a year for her two children. It is simply not sustainable. She was expecting this budget would take some of that pressure off and reduce costs. She feels deeply betrayed by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. There are parents who, as we speak, are asking themselves whether they can afford to go back to work. There are couples all over the country who are wondering if they can afford to have another child because paying thousands in childcare costs is just impossible. They cannot do it. These families feel betrayed by the Tánaiste and his budget. Does he understand why they feel let down?”
“He promised a cost of disability payment, which would finally recognise the enormous costs of having a disability. Not only did he fail to do this but disabled people will be €1,400 worse off because of this budget according to the Disability Federation of Ireland. The Tánaiste promised to tackle child poverty yet according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, this week’s budget will push even more children and more older people into poverty. During the TV election debate the Tánaiste said the Fine Gael manifesto was proposing that within 100 days of being in Government capping monthly childcare costs per child at €200 per month. He has completely and utterly broken that promise. His promises on childcare have left parents feeling betrayed. He made putting costs for childcare one of the central planks of his election campaign.”
“The news of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza is very welcome. At the same time the kidnapping of five Irish citizens on Wednesday night by Israeli forces in international waters is utterly unacceptable. They include an elected Member of this Dáil, Barry Heneghan. Will there be any repercussions for Israel for kidnapping Irish citizens? The Tánaiste bought the election with a litany of promises that he has broken. He promised students and their families that he would reduce college fees. They have gone up by €500. He promised that 40,000 homes would be built last year. That proved to be a complete fabrication. He promised tax cuts and spending increases, a combination we warned was not sustainable. He never once told people that the tax cuts would be for developers and that ordinary people would be forgotten.”
“In fact, it is costing us in terms of the VAT cut and, potentially, it will cost the State because approved housing bodies and others buyers have already locked in prices. This is a really rotten measure in terms of value for money and the public interest.”
“It is absolutely extraordinary that this measure is being brought in for apartments currently under construction, some of which are near completion. In the context of many of those apartments, the prices are locked in. Those purchasing them - approved housing bodies or whomever - have already agreed a price. This will create a windfall profit for developers, and that money will go straight into their back pockets. There is no need for a resolution like this now. It could have been designed in another way. I do not think it would work for activation anyway. If it was a genuine measure about activation, however, it should have been designed differently. This measure that will be voted through shortly by Government will give some individuals a windfall profit that will go into their back pockets, with no good policy outcome for the public.”
“It has given up on the people struggling to keep food on the table and instead just announced one big giveaway for vested interests. It is just the latest shameful chapter in this Government’s legacy of failure.”
“It could have abolished the means test for carers and reduced the cost of childcare for families while rolling out a public model. It could have introduced a weekly cost of disability payment and turbocharged the delivery of affordable homes. Instead, the Government chose to side with vested interests. Instead of broadening the tax base, it has eroded it with giveaways and tax breaks for multimillion euro companies and developers, all done under the guise of fiscal responsibility by a Government trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes and make fools of them. I have news for the Government, though. No one is buying it. This budget represents the Government reverting to type. It is prioritising the corrosive politics of the golden circle.”
“The State must provide a social floor below which no one can fall. This should involve fully implementing Sláintecare - a single-tier, free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare system - building a public model of childcare, building a sustainable home care service and ending the current postcode lottery, more direct State involvement in the building of affordable homes for rent and purchase, and ending lucrative long-term leasing deals for social housing provision. Expanding the State’s capacity is the only viable solution. This budget will be remembered as one of bad choices and missed opportunities. The Government had a chance to take radical action to improve the lives of those who were struggling. It could have lifted 40,000 children out of poverty. It could have targeted energy credits at roughly 800,000 households who needed them most.”
“There are countless examples of this. We see this in our childcare system, which delivers neither affordability for parents nor good conditions for staff. Our housing system is characterised by profiteering. This comes at the financial expense of taxpayers and the social expense of the most vulnerable. We can see this when private developers build on public land and profit from it, when private landlords are paid billions of euro in rental subsidies, when private operators of emergency accommodation get rich while children grow up in totally unsuitable accommodation, and when local authorities enter into long-term leases with investment funds. Everywhere one looks, one sees the waste of taxpayers’ money on a Government ideology that says the market is always king. It is time to bring these services back into public provision.”
“This Government is playing fast and loose with the country’s finances, and this could have devastating consequences. The Social Democrats alternative budget includes a range of proposals to broaden the tax base. Instead, the Government has narrowed the tax take by €1.3 billion. This is reckless and irresponsible. Decent public services are a key foundation to a successful economy and society. Privatisation by stealth is undermining public services. It is also hugely costly. Outsourcing of services makes the co-ordination of those public services more difficult and results in their increased commodification. It weakens the public sector, reducing the skills and the staffing levels available to provide high-quality services. This amounts to little more than wealth extraction, making a small number of people very rich from taxpayers’ money.”
“When it comes to investment in our public services and infrastructure, Ireland is lagging behind. We need urgent and substantial investment. We face a myriad of challenges such as an ageing population, infrastructural deficits and climate change. It is simply not possible to invest in our future while eroding the tax base. The Fiscal Advisory Council, the ESRI, the Nevin Institute and the Commission on Taxation and Welfare all have the same clear message, namely, our tax base is too narrow and needs to be broadened. Just ten companies account for the majority of our corporation tax income. Our corporation tax dependence is reminiscent of 2008 when Fianna Fáil crashed the economy. An over-reliance on property transaction taxes at that time left a gaping hole in the public finances when the property bubble burst.”
“The Government’s own economic evaluation service has criticised the refundable element of the research and development credit as having significant amounts of dead weight. This has wasted billions of euro over the years. Government investment should instead include a strong focus on direct spending at Ireland’s traditional and technological universities. University-based investment would ensure the resulting innovations would be available for wider use and not confined to one firm. It is also essential that Ireland become an attractive and affordable place to both live and do business. This means improving our social infrastructure, particularly housing, health, childcare and education, while also investing in our economic infrastructure, particularly the grid, transport and our ports.”
“Foreign direct investment is, and will continue to be, an important part of Ireland’s industrial strategy. Multinational companies provide highly paid employment and contribute a disproportionately high share of our taxes. However, we cannot continue to rely on a handful of companies to fund so much of our tax base. To complement our multinational sector, Ireland needs to build up a thriving, dynamic indigenous sector. We must provide greater supports for new innovation and Irish startups. This will be key to driving job creation, productivity and growth. Ireland's investment in research and development lags behind our European neighbours. It is essential that we catch up. Too much of Ireland’s investment in research and development is based around tax breaks for large multinational firms.”
“It should not be too much to expect a decent standard of healthcare, yet the sad reality is that we cannot fully depend on our public health system, and large parts of it have been broken for some time. The Sláintecare plan to create a single-tier universal healthcare system has been progressing at a glacial pace. No updated costings have been published in the last year. There is no ring-fenced budget for reform, and the Sláintecare 2025+ plan was published without any money pledged for implementation. The Social Democrats are calling on the Government to urgently lay out a five-year funding programme for Sláintecare. This must be included in the pre-committed element of the annual budget process. Ireland's economy faces unprecedented risks and challenges. It is essential that we do everything in our power to protect our prosperity.”
“Successive Oireachtas education committee reports have also raised concerns about the absence of specialist counsellors and therapists in all primary and secondary schools. The Social Democrats alternative budget ring-fenced funding for these supports in all of these schools. As things stand, there are far too many who cannot access our health service when they need to. There are too many people on lengthy waiting lists for treatment. There are too few primary care centres working in our communities. The scandal of people languishing on trolleys persists. Critical programmes, like the cancer strategy, have been starved of funding and regional disparities continue in the availability of acute care. Unfortunately, I heard nothing from the Ministers to suggest that any of this will change.”
“By fully harnessing our renewable energy resources, Ireland could enjoy both energy independence and sustained economic growth - cleaner air, cheaper bills, and less money wasted on EU fines. Once again, the budget is totally devoid of ambition in this area. Ireland should be a republic in which every child and young person has the opportunity to achieve his or her potential. This can only happen if everybody, regardless of background, is able to participate fully in education. Investing in education creates a better life for each student but also acts as an investment in our economic future. The best place to start is by making primary and secondary schools genuinely free.”
“These include capital investment in the infrastructure needed, including acquiring existing and new sites, reducing average childcare fees by more than €200 per month and a move to transfer staff in the sector into a public model. We are in a climate crisis, yet somehow Ireland is now producing less offshore wind energy than it did 20 years ago. That is an astonishing fact. With a bit of ambition, it would be possible not only to secure our own energy supply but also make Ireland a net exporter of clean, green energy. For the past five years, the Social Democrats have proposed using budget surpluses to invest in transforming Ireland's economy to make us carbon neutral.”
“High-quality early childhood education has a long-lasting and positive impact on children's outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged children. This includes benefits to educational, cognitive, behavioural and social outcomes in both the short and long term. We in the Social Democrats have set out a clear pathway to establish a public model of early childhood education and care. A public model of childcare would have the triple benefit of guaranteeing quality early years education for children, affordability for parents and decent pay for workers. We would then be able to keep skilled workers in the sector. The Social Democrats alternative budget contains measures that would start us on the road to this public model.”
“Pensioners, disabled people and other welfare recipients have struggled to keep their heads above water as inflation soared. That is why the Social Democrats' alternative budget proposed an increase of €15. A €15 increase would start to close the gap between welfare rates and the minimum amount needed to achieve a decent standard of living. Hundreds of thousands of people live week to week on incomes that are not sufficient to live a dignified life. Workers were promised a living wage by 2026 but where is that commitment now? If the Government wants to make a genuine effort to reach that target, we need a more substantial minimum wage increase than the 65 cent announced. It is not a radical idea that people working full time should be able to live and not just survive.”
“It has estimated that disabled people stand to lose up to €1,400 because of the actions of this Government taken today. It is now nearly four years since the Government published the Indecon report on the cost of disability. That report estimated that the average annual cost of disability in Ireland ranges from €9,482 a year to €11,734. The Social Democrats have backed the calls for a proposed weekly cost of disability payment, recognising that those with disabilities face extra costs, particularly in transport and healthcare. Disabled people should not be financially punished because they have a disability. This budget ensures that disabled people are left behind for yet another year. We also believe that this budget could have introduced more significant pension and social welfare increases.”
“The last thing carers need is the State rummaging through their personal details to decide if they deserve any payment for their hard work. The Government could and should abolish the means test for carers now. Irish banks are making record profits but still not contributing any corporation tax. It is therefore completely justified to triple the bank levy to fund the abolition of the means test for carers. Budget 2026 was a chance for the Government to deliver on its election commitment to carers by creating a system that treats them with fairness, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, it is another missed opportunity. The Disability Federation of Ireland has described this budget as a betrayal of disabled people, stripping away vital supports and deepening poverty.”
“Make no mistake that this is work and all carers should be paid properly. The means testing of carer's allowance based on income thresholds is unjust. Louise Mac an Tsaoi is a full time carer for her son, Liam. She recently told the Irish Farmers' Journal of her experience of the means test. She said: My husband Sean passed away four years ago which meant my Carer's Allowance was halved as I went on to the Lone Parent Allowance, both of which were means tested... We have had to rely on a fundraising effort by family, friends and the community because I couldn't get a loan because my income is so low... [P]eople like me shouldn't have to jump through hoops for a bit of financial security when we are saving the country so much by caring for our children at home.”
“Refurbishing these homes is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to bring these buildings back into use, yet the Government has chosen to leave the vacant homes tax at a measly 0.7%. At the same time, property prices increased by 7.5% in the past year. If the new derelict property tax can be set at 7%, why has there been no increase in the vacant homes tax? Under this Government, it pays to sit on a vacant property in the middle of a housing crisis. The Social Democrats would put a stop to this. The Government's approach to the carer's allowance reflects a similar lack of compassion. Carers play an essential role in society, providing care for elderly, ill or disabled family members. Their hard work saves the State billions and allows their loved ones to remain in their homes or communities.”
“The Social Democrats' alternative budget proposes fully costed and ambitious initiatives, including a €150 million fund to give the local authorities the resources to CPO vacant homes, increasing the vacant homes tax to bring empty buildings back into use, setting up a savings scheme to leverage some of the €160 billion on deposit in Irish banks to build affordable homes, establishing a State construction company, and investing €120 million to build a modular home factory which could produce up to 2,000 homes every year. Regrettably, these proposals have been ignored. Instead, the Government doubled down on its failed policy of handouts for private developers and tax cuts for investment funds. Prolonged vacancy and derelictions of homes cannot be tolerated in the middle of a housing crisis.”
“Arash is just one of the more than 16,000 people stuck in homeless accommodation, which is an unprecedented disaster. In an hour and a half of speeches by the two senior Ministers today, there was no mention or recognition of homelessness at all. That speaks volumes. In this budget, there is a complete absence of the kind of vision and ambition that we need in housing. The Social Democrats are clear that only a radical shift to a State-led approach will solve the crisis.”
“The Government has spent years talking about tackling child poverty but budget 2026 has yet again shown this just to be talk, not action. The ESRI introduced its proposal for second tier of child benefit in 2023, giving the Government ample time to act. Its absence from the budget shows up where this Government's priorities lie. We know that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have utterly failed to get to grips with the housing crisis. This failure has devastating consequences. I want to tell the Minister of State about a constituent of mine named Arash. Arash and his family have been in emergency accommodation for over eight months. The children in the family must travel 21 km to school each day and they have no direct transport links. Arash has tried everything humanly possible to get his family a stable home, but to no avail.”
“Can the Minister of State imagine how a parent feels to see his or her own child grow up in poverty while the country is awash with money? Ann, a mother from the south east, told The Journal , "my husband and I often skip meals so our children can eat... Even child benefit, which we once used for extras for the children, now goes straight into the weekly food shop." This budget utterly fails to address the astonishing fact that nearly 200,000 children are living in poverty. It is important that we never forget the stress and hardship that poverty can cause a family. There is a way to tackle this scandal head-on. The ESRI has proposed a second tier of child benefit that could lift 40,000 children out of poverty and significantly reduce the gap between the poverty line for most others.”
“One of the biggest betrayals by this Government is its decision to jack up college fees despite vowing throughout the election and in the programme for Government to cut them. Worse than that is the Government's attempt to spin this. It expects students and families who paid €2,000 last year to believe that fees of €2,500 are a reduction. Why can it not just be straight and admit what it is doing, reneging on yet another commitment and increasing fees for students and their families at a time when they are under huge pressure? It is shameful. If this Government was really interested in reducing the cost of living, it would prioritise investment in public services like education, high-quality housing, healthcare and childcare.”
“Under the Social Democrats' alternative budget, roughly 800,000 households would receive a €400 energy credit. Many public services that are free or heavily subsidised in other countries are exorbitantly priced here. Childcare is just one example. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil made solemn commitments to families about the cost of childcare during the election. They promised to cap fees at €200 per month. This would be life-changing for many families who are paying €1,000 per month and even higher, but nobody in government has mentioned that cap in a while and this budget does nothing to reduce prices, which is another broken promise. If the Social Democrats were in government, we would live up to our commitments and reduce fees by €200 next year, as well as rolling out a public model to increase capacity.”
“The Government says inflation has reduced, implying the cost-of-living crisis has receded, but there is no recognition that prices remain sky high and rising, especially for basics like groceries and energy. So many out there, trying to feed children or keep the lights on, feel like they are enduring a daily battle. They are weary and exhausted and when they look around for support from the Government, they find none. A major problem is that the Government seems incapable of devising solutions which do not involve spraying money around at everyone indiscriminately, which is not sustainable. This is why the Government opted to scrap blanket energy credits, instead of doing what it should have done in the first place, adapting them so they are targeted at those who need them most.”
“Government spending has soared from €70 billion in 2020 to €116.8 billion now, but what do we have to show for it? A worsening housing disaster, threadbare disability services, antiquated infrastructure and rising poverty. That is the Government’s legacy and this budget doubles down on this failure. Anyone examining this budget would think the cost-of-living crisis was being felt most acutely by developers and the owners of fast food chains. They are the ones being singled out for special treatment. They are the ones getting a helping hand from this Government. When it comes to assisting workers and families struggling to keep their heads above water, this budget offers nothing.”
“The cost-of-living crisis did not end once the election was over last year. A recent report from Barnardos found that four out of ten parents skip meals or eat less to stop their children going hungry. This Government has forgotten about these families. This is a giveaway budget for property developers and owners of fast food chains. There are handouts for millionaires while ordinary families struggle to get by. This is outrageously unjust. We should not be surprised that Fianna Fáil is focused on looking after its buddies while failing to help those who need it most. It smacks of the time when Charlie Haughey told the nation to tighten the belt while he continued to live his lavish and opulent lifestyle. This double standard is part of the Fianna Fáil DNA.”
“At the same time, Government TDs intend to vote against the Social Democrats' Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023 this evening. This Bill would clearly show how much of these tax cuts are going directly into the back pockets of developers. When millions of euro of public money is being gifted to developers there is absolutely no justification whatsoever to oppose this Bill.”
“They are not the only vested interests this Government is looking after. Fianna Fáil has long been a champion of tax cuts for developers and we all know the disastrous results of that obsession. Now, Fine Gael is on board, too. For the first time since the crash, tax cuts for developers are back on the agenda. VAT for developers of apartments is being slashed at a cost of €390 million a year, with no guarantee or even expectation that prices will come down because there are no affordability conditions attached to this gift. No one in government is demanding prices come down or rents become more affordable. Instead, it is being done with one express purpose: boosting developer profits. This is further evidence that this Government is not on the side of struggling renters or those desperate to own a home of their own.”
“Last night, on Virgin Media, the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, said slashing the VAT rate for hospitality was "not what I would do if I were Minister for Finance”. Even Government Ministers are unwilling to defend this giveaway for big business, paid for by ordinary workers. At a time when the Government has the gall to lecture the rest of us about protecting the national finances, in this budget it is eroding the tax take by €1.3 billion, a massive amount of public money that could be used in so many other ways, not least to introduce a second tier of child benefit that would lift 40,000 children out of poverty. Faced with the choice of tackling child poverty or dramatically boosting the profits of large corporations, this Government did not waver. It came down on the side of big business without hesitation.”
“Last year, McDonald's Ireland made a profit of €42 million. This is not a business that is struggling but that does not matter to the Government. Slashing its VAT bill by 4.5% boosts its profits by millions and all of that money will go into the pockets of shareholders and wealthy investors. It will not lead to lower prices. There are some small, independent hospitality businesses that are struggling. The Social Democrats proposed targeted supports for these businesses but a blanket VAT cut across the sector means large profitable chains will disproportionately benefit, raking in huge sums because the Government is cutting their taxes. It is not often I agree with Fianna Fáil TDs on Government budgets but then again, members of the Government do not usually appear on TV to slam the budget either.”
“Indeed, Fianna Fáil Members are missing in their entirety. I wonder why they have gone into hiding. Budgets are about choices and the choices made by this Government in this budget could not be any clearer. Look after large corporations and developers at the expense of ordinary people and those who are struggling. There is no hiding or disguising it and no way to spin it. This Government’s choice is clear. This has turned out to be a McBudget, a giveaway for fast food chains and developers that the public will find difficult to swallow. The Government's budget awards multinational companies like McDonald's and Starbucks millions in extra profits while families choosing between eating and heating are denied targeted energy credits and more and more children sink further into poverty. lt really is outrageous.”
“I am sharing time with my colleagues, Deputies Aidan Farrelly and Jen Cummins. First, it shows something about how the Government respects, or disrespects, this House that not one senior Government Minister is here for this.”
“I am not looking for more information about this. We have information from the Minister for Finance. I want the Government to act. Our public money is being invested against the wishes of the Irish people in companies operating illegally in the occupied territories. You are the Tánaiste of the Government. Will you pick up the phone to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and tell them to stop using our money in this way? Nobody supports it, and nobody wants it. Will you act?”
“The Minister for Finance in a recent reply to me stated that €5.6 million of taxpayers' money is still being invested in companies operating in the occupied territories. The Tánaiste has absolutely no mandate - none whatsoever - to use our public money to invest in these companies. How can he justify this? Will he put an immediate end to this gross misuse of public funds? Will he instruct the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to stop using our money to invest in these companies?”
“With respect, that is the same answer we have been getting all year. We are told that the Minister is investigating, has gotten reports and is looking into it. Munitions that are being used in a genocide are going through our Irish airspace and the Tánaiste needs to act to stop that from happening. Enough of the excuses about looking at reports, investigating and so forth; when is he actually going to act to do something about this?”
“The Tánaiste has been telling us for quite some time that he will be bringing the Bill forward very shortly and that he will be meeting the sponsor of the Bill. He has met with the sponsor of the Bill several time and that is welcome. When is it actually going to be brought forward? Surely at this stage, given everything that has happened, the Tánaiste can actually give us a firm commitment and timeline on when he is going to bring it forward.”
“Given that Irish citizens were engaged in this humanitarian mission with massive support from the Irish people, and in light of the fact that a flotilla had already been attacked in international waters, does the Tánaiste not agree that sending some personnel would have shown the support of the Government, would have put additional pressure on Israel and would have been warranted?”