Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Cork South-Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“That is important and the Minister and I share that view, much as we disagree on how it is not right to get rid of the triple lock. We have made that very clear and we think there is scope to deploy on peacekeeping missions elsewhere.”
“As I probably will not get more questions and it is my last contribution before the recess, I wish to take the opportunity to thank the staff of this institution and the Ceann Comhairle's office, who serve us so well.”
“We have all probably been guilty of the offence of going over time at different stages, I am sure. Despite our disagreements in relation to the triple lock, I think the Minister and I agree that peacekeeping missions are important.”
“In the context of the previous question, I submitted another question that was ruled out of order, which is fair enough. I probably did not word my question as precisely as Deputy Gibney worded hers. I record my concern about legal representation in that regard. It is important to say that. This question relates to another welfare issue.”
“The Minister said that she is not pushing anybody to the courts. I am not a doctor and cannot make a clinical decision, but if people suffered negative health outcomes that they believe have a connection to their clinical exposure, and they have never taken a case, how precisely is the Government going to help them?”
“The Minister talks about the need to ensure that Defence Forces personnel have the ability to deploy internationally and are not prevented from participating in rescue missions. I have no problem at all with head No. 7. Actually, most of the legislation is fine. It is just head No.”
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“At the heart of this is an increasing trend, not just in Germany, but in other countries as well, of using legislation initially intended for organised crime to prosecute climate activists and Palestine activists and, in several respects, dampen down political criticism and protests. There is a similar situation in Britain with regard to Palestine Action. When the relevant legislation was introduced 15 years ago, people raised concerns and asked whether it could be used to prosecute Greenpeace and so on. Those concerns were dismissed out of hand by the Ministers at the time. Lo and behold, political organisations are now being targeted by that legislation. We see the same here. The conditions in which Mr. Tatlow-Devally is being held are not acceptable. I am sure the Minister will agree with that.”
“Daniel Tatlow-Devally faces trial in Germany due to allegedly being on the site of a German subsidiary of an Israeli arms manufacture, Elbit Systems, and allegedly damaging property. I raised this issue with the Minister's predecessor. The conditions of the trial and detention are of huge concern, not only to Mr. Tatlow-Devally, but also his co-defendants. He is subject to 23-hour lock-ins, has been denied phone calls with his family and has limited access to lawyers. There is huge concern about the safety and fairness of the trial and the conditions of detention. It is important that the Government be vocal on it.”
“We are asking the Irish Government to do all it can at diplomatic level and through the EU to make all efforts to ensure that an immediate ceasefire is brought about. Is there an Irish connection with or presence of any kind in the region.”
“That brings me to my next question. In his reply to the previous question on Sudan, the Minister referred Trócaire's connection to Sudan. Is he aware of any Irish aid agencies which, either directly or through sister organisations, have a presence in Congo and whether they are affected by or involved in this in any respect? The violence that is currently happening has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and forced them to leave their homes. Obviously, that is disrupting access health care. Humanitarian workers and officials need access to provide that support now more than ever. A ceasefire is a medical necessity and is urgently needed in order to support the provision of life-saving care, protect health workers and strengthen security, especially in hard-to-reach areas like the Ituri province and other remote areas.”
“Will the Minister of State outline the Department's assessment of the current situation in terms of the outbreak and the extent to which the conflict is adding to it?”
“The scale of death and suffering in recent decades in the Congo has been very under-reported. Some estimates suggest that about 6 million people have died since 1998 due to conflict. Conflict in the region has rarely been in abeyance, but it spikes during certain periods. The conflict currently is between the Congolese Government and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group. It is primarily taking place in Kivu state in the east of the country and in surrounding regions. Ebola is a horrific and highly transmissible disease. It has already claimed hundreds of lives. It will claim thousands of lives if it continues to spread. The concern is that it will escalate further and that, as a result of the conflict, the authorities will struggle to get to grips with it.”
“The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered incredible humanitarian situations, conflict and atrocities over the course of several decades. Millions of people have been killed in war. Unfortunately, on the back of multiple wars, civil wars and invasions, we are now seeing a deadly Ebola outbreak that is spreading quickly and that is also affecting Rwanda This is all happening against the backdrop of the conflict to which I refer. Does the Minister of State agree that there is a need for a ceasefire in order to ensure that there can be humanitarian approach to mitigating the impact of the Ebola outbreak on the region?”
“I asked the Minister of State, and he has broadly agreed, that during its Presidency, Ireland needs to continue to raise this issue. Does he sense any movement or any greater willingness on the part of European countries to ensure that greater pressure will be exerted, particularly in the context of the supply of arms?”
“The Minister of State might have seen a very troubling report in The Guardian in recent weeks regarding Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights investigator from Yale University, who alleged that representatives of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Britain told him there was significant private pressure from the UAE which meant that the UK would not publicly divulge information linking Ethiopia and the Emirates to support for the RSF, which was responsible for the atrocities in El Fasher, and that there had been an attempt to downplay the scale of death and human rights abuses. Obviously, I have no way of establishing the this, but the concern is that similar pressure and reticence exists across countries within the EU.”
“It is vitally important to do whatever we can do to put pressure on to prevent a recurrence. I have referenced the role of the United Arab Emirates, UAE. The UAE is not the only country involved, but it is clearly a crucial one in terms of the supply of weapons to those involved in this conflict. That needs to be called out at both an Irish and a European level.”
“I am glad the Minister of State referenced El-Obeid. The moment in which the world paid most attention to Sudan was at the end of the siege of El Fasher when RSF arrived into that city and literally struck people down in the street with machetes. It was the kind of slaughter that was redolent of what happened in Rwanda. Tens of thousands of people were killed. It is difficult to get a clear sense of the loss of life, but it was absolutely enormous. Unfortunately, the world has begun to look away again at a time when, potentially, we face the same type of circumstances at El-Obeid. The latter is a significant city. Hundreds of thousands of people live there, many of whom are already internally displaced. Many of them may have left places such as El Fasher.”
“We have often discussed the appalling conflict in Sudan - the greatest humanitarian crisis on the planet at this moment in time. Millions of people are displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed. It is a situation that continues to escalate, particularly now in the Kordofan and Blue Nile states. There is a need to address the humanitarian crisis and to ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers. Ultimately, what is required also is pressure to ensure that the ongoing flow of weapons, which continues to this day, and finance in relation to fuelling this conflict are addressed. It is important that this be a priority in terms of this theme of the Presidency.”
“At the end of the day, the international community has broadly taken a clear enough position with some exceptions. Ultimately, it is the United States that is responsible for this blockade. Has the Minister directly raised her concern in relation to this issue with representatives from the United States Government ?”
“While there are commitments in terms of humanitarian aid, the difficulty is that the current blockade means that even with access to cash, the international payment systems have, to a substantial degree, been blocked off and, indeed, supply of energy is not being facilitated. Countries that would have previously supplied energy, including Mexico and so on, have now substituted to other forms of aids but, ultimately, the fuel is not getting through and, therefore, the system is grinding to a halt. Deputy Farrell said last night that there is food rotting in the fields because there is not the energy to harvest it. Ultimately, as well as cash, there is a need to ensure there is the ability for Cuba to receive energy, fuel, petrol and gas.”
“Childhood cancer survival rates have fallen from 85% to 65% and essential medicines are available at only 30% of normal supply levels. The key point is that although the Government is voting for these resolutions, how is it raising this in international forums to ensure movement?”
“Like other issues, the humanitarian aid is necessary but more than that, a political solution is needed. It is clear that US sanctions are pushing the people of Cuba to the brink. Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medicine and supplies. This is not just what I have said but UN human rights chief, Mr. Volker Türk, and the UN have called the immediate lifting of the United State's sanctions against Cuba. Mr. Türk said, "The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and the recent tightening of sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable." The daily blackouts are now exceeding 20 hours. Conditions are rapidly deteriorating. The UN Human Rights Office has cited frightening figures. Infant mortality has doubled to 9.9% per 1,000 births.”
“At the outset, and on a separate manner, I take the opportunity to condemn strikes on Kyiv last night resulting in the loss of over a dozen citizens, and perhaps more. It is another example of the war of aggression that is taking an enormous human toll. The first question I have is in relation to the blockade of Cuba. The humanitarian situation there escalates by the day. The impact that it is having on the ordinary people of Cuba, particularly children and those who are sick, is profound. Clearly, a resolution is needed. The Government needs to make statements.”
“We can all work towards simplification if workers’ rights and the environment are not made victims, but I am concerned that they will be sacrificed for this. On overseas development aid, unfortunately, many countries are walking away from their track record. There will be people, especially in Africa, who will suffer because of cuts to medical and public health programmes. We need to keep that matter on the agenda. Last of all, fair play for farmers and fishers in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Presidency should, to the greatest extent possible, ensure there is Six Counties representation and engagement with them. That does not seem to be prominent enough in the programme as things stand.”
“The shameful record of the EU on the Middle East in recent years has been frequently outlined in this Chamber. We cannot allow a situation where all the focus is on the humanitarian side, which is important, and not push for a sustainable political solution for the Middle East, including in Lebanon. I wish to flag the issue of Sudan. Too often, Sudan has been allowed to slip off the agenda. However, the conflict there is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, conflicts in the world. The cost-of-living crisis is next. The cost of energy and reform of the energy markets are crucial. Workers’ rights are another priority we highlighted. I and many trade unionists across Europe are concerned that this Ireland Inc. proposal will lead to forum-shopping and to companies registering in countries with the weakest labour laws.”
“It is incumbent on those who support Irish unity to take opportunities such as this to advocate for it. I am not saying that this is going to be the number one priority for Slovakia, France or Greece, but the EU, as an institution, will have a role to play when and if reunification is achieved. That is very clear, and previous Irish Governments have made engagements to ensue that the North can, in the event of Irish unity, access the EU. However, in their contributions, the Minister and the Minister of State said more about space than about Irish unity. Investment in space is important, and I appreciate that it has knock-on impacts for research, science and so on, but this is the Irish Government and it should be using opportunities like this to advocate for Irish unity. The next priority is the promotion of peace.”
“They need a Presidency that is assertive, that shows leadership, that is proudly Irish and that is willing to highlight and advocate on behalf of our interests. Of course, there is a balance to be struck. We must acknowledge that we hold the Presidency now but that this is a role that only comes around every so often. In that context, we need to take this opportunity and show assertive leadership. In our submission on the Presidency, we highlighted six key priorities, namely Irish unity, the promotion of peace, the cost-of-living crisis, workers' rights, overseas development aid and fair play for farmers and fishers. On the first of these, it is extraordinary that we are going to go into a Presidency at a time when the Irish Government seems to have no ambition whatsoever to talk about Irish unity.”
“Our reliance on other member states, which has been reported, reflects the fact that for many years successive Governments failed to invest in defence. The priority for the Irish Government should be to be strong on neutrality and on defence. The two things need to go together. Ultimately, a failure to invest leads to a reliance on others that has been demonstrated in the context of this Presidency. On the political side, this should be a Presidency that leaves a mark. If we get to a stage at the end of the Presidency where the Commission is happy that all its priorities were shepherded through by the Irish Government to the Commission's satisfaction, I am sure that will lead to praise for the Government and its Ministers. Ultimately, however, that is not what the Irish people need.”
“I will start with the logistical side of things. I acknowledge that this is a project which many hundreds if not thousands of people in the Department of foreign affairs and other Departments will work very hard on. I am always very aware of the professionalism of the Department of foreign affairs. I commend it on its work today and on the work it does on an ongoing basis. I have every faith that it will deliver, from an organisational point of view, a very successful Presidency. The other part of the logistical side of things to register again the concerns we have raised in the past about security. The anti-drone technology that was supposed to be procured and put in place last autumn is only just about coming into play now, just in time the Presidency.”
“Those children and their parents need the support the most, as the children struggle the most with the change in the pattern of their day. I want to briefly raise the matter of children with special educational needs. Gaelscoil Uí Riada serves the Bishopstown and Wilton areas in the south-west of Cork city. Its application for two additional classrooms for special classes under the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme was rejected. Will the Minister of State push for that within the Department? The Department keeps talking about modular units rather than an extension but there is not the space for them. It is a tight, city-based site. It is crucial to ensure that the school can offer additional special education classes.”
“Parents of children with special educational needs constantly feel a number of things: first, that they have to fight for absolutely everything; and, second, that there is a constant cycle whereby every spring there is a debate on special classes and every summer there is a debate on summer provision. That is despite the fact that the planning for these should be improving all the time, yet for parents it seems as if the same debate repeats itself and there is not any advance. I want the Minister of State to take away in particular the point about special schools being able to offer full-time hours. Not every special class attached to a mainstream school offers full-time hours but the school has the option. However, it is not part of the guidance available to special schools, which operate between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.”
“Will the Minister of State take away a couple of points? While the issue I raised was resolved ultimately, that does appear to have been after the last minute, as it was after the provision had already begun on Monday. It was only today that I learned that additional resources were provided yesterday. It should not have come to that. It should not have been the case that two sets of parents were faced with a situation where children with visual impairments were potentially not going to be able to avail of the summer provision because of a lack of SNA supports.”
“in the special schools or for the full hours in some of the mainstream schools with special classes attached. There are different anomalies affecting different categories of parents, leading to an awful lot of parents not getting the support they ought to get. It was very late when they found out what would be available.”
“to 2 p.m., whereas mainstream schools with special classes or units attached to schools do full-time hours in many instances. Not every school does, but they are in a position to offer the full four weeks with full hours. The guidance for special schools seems to be that there is no scope for the provision of that. There is also an issue with the window, which was shorter this year than last year - only ten days, when previously it was two weeks. It was opened quite late this year, towards the end of June, whereas last year it was open in May. A lot of parents who are looking to avail of summer provision do not have the opportunity. They are being offered a home-based programme, but that is only for ten hours per week for four weeks compared to either 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
“Time will tell whether the provision is adequate for those particular children. It still speaks to a fundamental point with regard to the programme as a whole. I will give a number of examples. There seems to be a big issue with special schools in particular. Some parents have told me there was a delayed release of funding, which has led to some schools struggling to ensure staff are provided. There is a particular frustration with the reduced length of the day for special schools for 2026, continuing for the past number of years. The Department's position is that this is from stakeholder feedback. A lot of parents say that this really has not changed since Covid. The kind of feedback that might be talked about could go back that far. There is obviously a discrepancy with the special schools. For them, it is from 10 a.m.”
“Unfortunately, despite the fact that this is an annual debate, there still seem to be huge anomalies, discrepancies, things that are difficult to understand and shortfalls in time, hours and provision. I was prompted to raise this in the context of an issue in a particular school. I was contacted by a parent and a teacher about a school where two children who had visual impairment were not going to be allowed access the programme because of a lack of SNA support. Trying to get that addressed was something the school had been chasing over the course of two or three weeks, and it received no response from the Department. In the interim, I have learned since submitting this matter that some additional resources have been allocated, but the fundamental point in terms of structure is that this school found it difficult to get answers.”
“Last night we had a debate on childcare. During the course of that I made the point that July and August can be stressful times for parents as they try to figure out a patchwork quilt of different types of care as school finishes and there are camps and things like that. The stress of that is multiplied by two, three and ten for parents of children with special educational needs. The Topical Issue I submitted is about the summer provision programme. While the summer provision scheme obviously cannot be precisely the same as school, it is meant to offer a certain amount of continuity for children, staff and families in terms of the support, care and education those children get during the course of the summer.”
“There are people who are prevented from being able to go out and get a job, keep a full-time job or stay in the workforce because they cannot get childcare. It is a problem for us all because there are people out there who are making the decision to put off having a second, third or perhaps even a first child because they cannot afford it. It is dictating where people live and many other things like that. We have to get to grips with the fact it is a problem for all of us we have to solve for the good of us all.”
“We need to treat this as a public good and it needs to be publicly provided. That is the direction we need to go in. While I recognise that in the moment we are in subsidies to the sector are necessary it seems the Government’s strategy, just as with housing, is to rely on that. It is to constantly build it more into the system and add subsidy after subsidy while ultimately not building the public service we need. People who have to pay childcare fees while renting find there is nearly nothing left. That could be €2,500 just for those two costs alone. The other thing this place needs to get to grips with is it is not just the parents' problem but a problem for all of us. It is a problem for the whole of our society. It is a strategic problem.”
“Families who rely on childcare and those who work in the sector are being profoundly let down. I will speak about the families who rely on it first. For many that is €800 or €900 a month if they are relying on it full time. There are also many parents who rely on it for two or three children and for them the costs are crippling. This is true at all stages and we need to get to a place where we have wraparound childcare. This is quite a stressful time for parents because schools have finished. Parents up and down the country are trying to work a patchwork quilt of a few hours with a parent here, a summer camp there and a few hours with a childminder. It all speaks to our never having got to grips with a public childcare model in this State and that has to be the direction.”
“Smaller numbers are affected and it is not designed for rare diseases and this needs to be addressed. I echo the point made in relation to the long-term illness scheme as well. There are instances, and I can send the Minister an example, where there are two people with the same disease with slight differences and one qualifies and one does not. That is not good enough either. The process clearly needs to be improved, but I welcome the progress made and I encourage the approval of givinostat and skyclarys.”
“That is the case already, for example, with givinostat, which will benefit those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It has already been approved by the EMA, but it has been quite delayed getting through the system here. It is also the case that the reimbursement system is not designed for rare diseases. This is not a contradiction, but sometimes when we talk about rare diseases, we think of it the wrong way. Each disease is rare in and off itself, but when we take them cumulatively, they are not rare. It is not unusual for someone in the population to have a rare disease. It affects quite a lot of people, but by the nature of each individual condition, which has a smaller evidence basis as patient populations are smaller, the reimbursement scheme is not working for them.”
“The key point is that there has to be processes, but they have to be efficient, quick and responsive, and in our view that is not the case at this moment in time. In the first instance, I welcome the fact that there is now a rare disease strategy. The implementation of it will be key, but there are a number of key points that Ireland is falling down on. First, in relation to orphan medicines, in the instance of the 5% of rare diseases that benefit from an orphan medicine, where treatments exist, access is delayed. The State is an outlier when it comes to early access. There is no early access scheme for rare diseases. That should be happening. Rare Diseases Ireland has made the call that it should happen within one year of EMA authorisation.”
“I want to pick up on a point made by Deputy Ward. He is right that an awful lot of these decisions come down to economics, and that is not the way it should be. There are clearly medicines that not only can make a profound impact on people's quality of life but can actually save lives. Of course, there has to be a system and decisions have to be made in an appropriate way, but that cuts very little mustard with someone like Craig Coady, who has lost a child through Friedreich's ataxia, and is now worried about his other child. It cuts very little mustard with a parent of a child who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and who is watching their son's functions, muscular abilities, strength and ability to live their life to the greatest level possible go further and further from them.”
“We have not seen any progress in the last budget. We need to see progress in this budget for families who are absolutely broken by childcare costs.”
“Parents in Cork could be spending €800 to €900 a month for childcare. That is if there is only one child they need childcare for. It could be well over €1,000, or €1,500 if they have two children. It is absolutely breaking families, and that is if they can find childcare facilities at all. In large parts of my constituency, in places like Douglas and Carrigaline, it is effectively impossible to find a place. The Tánaiste went to the people in the last election and talked about €200 a month. The new maximum fee cap of €183.70 a week is a reduction but is still closer to €200 a week. We are a very considerable distance from €200 a month. This is absolutely breaking families. The Tánaiste and his party like to talk about the squeezed middle. Any parent who needs childcare is definitely in the squeezed middle. There is no doubt about that.”
“The framework the European Union created ensures the decision comes back to the Department, which makes a determination about whether there is a risk of the goods ending up in military situations beyond civilian use. The Department seems to have been satisfied there was no problem. Surely, it would have had information about where it was going to end up.”
“There has to be a review. We are talking about millions of euro worth of goods ending up in the hands of the IDF and the Ministry of Defense in Israel, while they kill tens of thousands of civilians. There should be a review. There absolutely should. The Minister has talked around it. The Government has done things in relation to Palestine that we have welcomed and other things that did not go far enough compared with other European countries. The standard in Europe is undoubtedly low and Ireland is perhaps above that but looking beyond that internationally, it is not anything to shout about. However, the fundamental point, which the Minister has not answered, is that the Department was given the opportunity to refuse those licences. These landed in the Department.”
“The end user here was the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, and the Israel Ministry of Defense in the context of tens of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of children, being killed. The Department was asked to sign off on this licence and it did. It did so three times to a value of €20 million in 2024. Why did it do so?”
“The Minister said there is no change in policy. I find that hard to gather when for five years in a row licences were approved for significant sums of money and in the past two years, they have not been. I welcome that. The Minister said there has not been a policy change. I would say there has been and I welcome it. It is the right thing to do. However, drilling into what the Minister said, the policy of the EU broadly speaking - appropriately - is that goods primarily used for civilian uses that could potentially be used for military uses, require a double check. They come back to the relevant agency in the state. That state then decides whether it is appropriate and whether the state is confident the end user will be civilian and will use it for a civilian purpose or for a military purpose.”
“There may have been other questions earlier on this topic. I am looking forward to hearing the Minister's answer. It is difficult to comprehend how during a genocide, licences were approved, in particular for 2024, for dual-use goods for which the end user was the IDF and the department of defence in Israel. The value was €20 million. It is quite extraordinary. It is difficult to understand how such applications could have been approved in the context of such appalling crimes against humanity. They should not have been approved. I welcome that has now stopped, but we need answers about why they were approved.”
“I would also make the point that in the review of the legislation, the O'Shea report asked the Oireachtas to consider other matters, including fatal foetal abnormalities. It asked that an expert panel be established to examine those issues and advise the Oireachtas accordingly. That is important and should proceed. People have talked about the human cost. There is a profound human cost for parents and for women who have no choice but to travel because of the situation they are in. The Oireachtas needs to address that and an expert panel needs to be established in that regard. The three-day wait period is unnecessary, it is wrong and it is causing profound hardship, particularly for vulnerable women in difficult situations. I welcome this Bill and the fact many Members of Government intend to support it.”
“The testimony brought forward by many women is that the three-day wait has created immense difficulties, particularly for women who are coming from a background where they are experiencing coercive control or domestic violence, where attending even one appointment is an enormous challenge, much less trying to return again within that period. Ultimately, it has a significant impact on their ability to make the right decisions for them. People have talked about consideration. This does not abolish consideration; this abolishes a mandatory requirement and constraint on women who are very clear on what is necessary for them and what is necessary for their needs and healthcare. It does not abolish consideration, and it does not mean people cannot make their own decisions and give their own thoughts on that.”
“Tacaím leis an mBille agus tréaslaím leis an Teachta Cullinane as é seo a thabhairt chun cinn. Is Bille tábhachtach é agus tá sé riachtanach. Tá sé ciallmhar. This is an important legislative change. At the end of the day, and as far as I can see it, we are talking about a three-day wait for women to be able to access essential healthcare. Fundamentally, that is what this is about. It was never necessary in the context of the repeal of the eighth amendment and it is one of the strongest recommendations of the O'Shea report.”
“That includes passing a Bill with teeth. The Government has watered it down and taken the teeth out of it. Two thirds of trade with the occupied territories is trade in services. That is no less immoral than trading in goods with those territories. It is not one bit less immoral or one bit less wrong.”
“Its legislation provides the same basis for infringement proceedings. That has not happened. The road is clear for us. The Minister has talked about leadership before. The reality is that Ireland is no longer leading. I pay tribute to Senator Frances Black and the other Senators who initiated this legislation. They showed leadership but the Government has fallen behind. Other countries are moving ahead. I am close to the end of my time but I will make two final points. The clear objective of the Israeli Government is to close off the possibility of a viable independent Palestinian state. The Minister has talked about European co-ordination and so on and so forth. If we can do that, we should, but the EU has clearly been found wanting. The situation on the ground is profoundly urgent. We need to do everything we can.”