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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“However, we have more than ample legislation on our own Statute Book for our courts if there is a decision that is unfair to a company, an individual or a trade union or anything like that. Our courts absolutely have the legislation to ensure they have a remedy, and the Government should be satisfied with that as well. This Bill is not necessary to ensure that trade between Ireland and Canada can continue to grow. It has grown and that is important. It does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that we do not respect the fact that Canada is clearly a democracy. It is clearly a country we want to have good relationships with but this legislation goes much further than simply Canada.”
“Similar to what my colleague Deputy Smith has outlined, momentum internationally is moving away from these courts. UN-appointed experts are saying that the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, ISDS, is beyond reform. It is being removed from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Ireland and other countries are looking to resile from the Energy Charter Treaty because it is recognised that it is asymmetrical and it gives huge advantages to courts that states, legislatures and governments simply do not enjoy. I have no problem with - in fact, I think it is right - a decision about a company being upended if it is arbitrary, if it undermines its reasonable and legitimate expectations or if a government is interfering with how the company might conduct itself.”
“I want to pay tribute to my party colleague Lynn Boylan MEP and my colleagues here from across the political spectrum who attended the alternative pre-legislative scrutiny session that was held in the European Commission building. Ultimately, it was a huge failure that the pre-legislative scrutiny did not proceed, and that is compounded by the fact the Government is restricting the debate tonight to a single hour. This is despite the fact we have dozens upon dozens of amendments and that this is very significant legislation that has huge ramifications. We should remind ourselves that this was the subject of constitutional challenge. The Supreme Court recognised there was a clear issue here in ensuring Irish courts had clarity around when they could set aside the decisions of investor courts. That is the fundamental point here.”
“I want to put on record my disappointment and frustration at the fact that this debate is being guillotined. This has to be taken in the context of the Government and the Government members of the committee having moved to avoid pre-legislative scrutiny of this legislation, which was crucial. We in the committee have all cited international authorities, and will likely do so here tonight again, outlining the manner in which the investor courts have huge potential implications for the environment, for workers' rights and for sovereignty fundamentally. This is about sovereignty, to some extent, and how that is undermined. The fact is that there was no pre-legislative scrutiny and there was no opportunity. There was no scope for the public, public representatives or the media to hear that kind of evidence.”
“A story just reported today that the State's Chief Medical Adviser, James Deeny, communicated to Bessborough that they would put aside their investigation if the death rate continued to decline. That is what we are talking about here, the potential burial place of children. The Government needs to find some legislative mechanism to ensure sites such as this and across the State are protected, because this is not the only location.”
“That was the fundamental point. It is no ordinary planning application that we are discussing now. It is profoundly wrong and hurtful to build there. The Government will say it cannot interfere in planning locations, but there could have been a Government intervention in the Institutional Burials Bill. It is not only in Bessborough but also in Sean Ross Abbey and other locations across the State, and the Government should have recognised that. We have been talking for some time in this House about this issue as regards the institutions and where children were buried. Some 700 children who died at Bessborough are unaccounted for. We do not know where they are buried. It is absolutely appalling. I have talked about the State's complicity in this.”
“For those people, this is profoundly real. This is about being able to identify where their loved ones were buried; that is what we are talking about. I was at an oral hearing for one of the previous applications, which was thankfully refused, and I remember a debate between esteemed, capable people who had different opinions on how to interpret old ordnance survey maps. One set of experts was trying to say, "Well, the marking there for a burial ground represents the order's burial ground over here", while another expert was saying, "No, very clearly, this burial ground could potentially have been there." Which of them was right? The point of this, and what has stayed with me since then, is that this was no ordinary housing application. This was a housing application talking about whether or not children had been buried there.”
“We can all acknowledge maternal health in the forties and fifties in Ireland was not what it should have been, but to say the standards in Bessborough fell below that does not even begin to cover it. Public health reports looking at this saw an infant mortality rate of 82% in some years in the forties. The cause of death of some 20% of the deaths in Bessborough in the forties and fifties was marasmus, a form of severe malnutrition. People were dying in Bessborough in Cork in the forties and fifties for want of food and nutrition. It is also important to say this is not only history, and we would make a profound mistake in treating this as only a period that can be looked back on and examined in a historical context. There are people in the Public Gallery and watching on whose brothers, sisters and mothers were in Bessborough.”
“The State's response has always been to treat it as piecemeal and a bit of wrongdoing by institutions here and there, instead of really confronting the fact the State fully endorsed and was part of this system, and to a large extent relied on the system. There has not been a frank and honest recognition of the pain that was caused. The most obvious example of that was the heartlessness of the six-month limit for compensation under the mother and baby home scheme, as if the trauma of separation was any less for those who fell under that bracket. We know now very clearly that trauma exists right from birth and that separation would have been created. That was one of the most callous proposals and decisions adopted by any Government in recent years. Bessborough puts it into stark relief.”
“I am going to talk about Bessborough, but I will also talk about the entire system of mother and baby homes, industrial schools and county homes. We have had many apologies in this House, and rightly so; they are welcome. Too often, however, the State has failed to truly get to grips with what was actually in place in this State, that is, an entire system that was integrated between county homes, Magdalen laundries, mother and baby homes and industrial schools. To say it was a dark period of our history is an understatement, and I will return to that because it is not merely history. This was an entire system that had the imprimatur of the State and that the State was entirely complicit in.”
“I agree with her but I ask her specifically, and I want a clear response in relation to this, whether it is her intention to raise the specific item of Rosatom, which is a priority for the Ukrainian Government. Will she specifically ask that this be included in the next package? That is not a difficult question to answer. I want a clear answer to that and not on the Government's support for sanctions generally. I am aware of that. I appreciate and welcome it but will she call for that specifically?”
“I say again to the Minister that civil, humanitarian and infrastructural aid is important. It should continue and Ireland should continue to support that. I will raise the issue of Aughinish Alumina in County Limerick, which provides alumina. In recent days, a report in The Irish Times highlighted the fact that smelters supply aluminium to a Moscow-based trading company, which in turn supplies Russia's military industry. That is obviously a concern. The Russian smelters and Aughinish are owned by Rusal, a company with deep connections to the Kremlin and Moscow's arms industry. It is important, when we are considering how to ensure sanctions are effective, that issues like this are taken into account. I will again ask the Minister specifically. She talked in generalities about the need to support sanctions.”
“Obviously, that will cause a huge amount of concern for people, when they cast their minds to the potential ramifications of that, so that is all the more reason. I appreciate this is agreed at European level. The Minister talked about countries being vulnerable in terms of the supply chain. Ireland is not one of those countries. There is no reason Ireland should not push it. Will the Minister commit to using her voice to specifically call at a European level for such sanctions?”
“The Minister will be well familiar with our support for civilian, humanitarian and infrastructural aid. That has been the case for several years, continues to be the case and will be the case in the future. I welcome what the Minister has said about the sanctions. The package continues to be worked upon. The issue of sanctions against Rosatom is a very clear priority for the Ukrainian Government, as was articulated by President Zelenskyy in mid-February. He has called for sanctions, given the centrality of the atomic agency to the Russian economy and the war of aggression. The Minister talked about the issue of nuclear safety. There is also the issue that nuclear infrastructure has been targeted in a way that is very dangerous to the civilian population in Zaporizhzhia. There have also been attacks on the protective shell at Chernobyl.”
“In the four years since the start of Russia's appalling war of aggression against Ukraine, there has been a wide range of sanctions against Russian individuals and companies, and against the Russian Government. In recent days, we have, unfortunately, seen an easing of sanctions on oil and gas by the United States. I am sure that is something the Minister regrets. That move makes it all the more important that Europe maintains a robust approach to sanctions. It is remarkable that four years in, given the centrality of atomic energy to the Russian economy and the Russian war effort, the Russian atomic agency, Rosatom, has not been sanctioned. I want the Minister to raise the issue at the European level and encourage action.”
“The fact that Spain has been able to do that and that there have been much less successful infringement proceedings against the Spanish Government demonstrates that it is possible to do this under EU legislation that there is no obstacle to acting on services. What I want to know from the Minister, first and foremost, and I ask her to be as clear as possible, is when a Bill is going to come before these Houses. When are we going to be able to debate it and pass it?”
“The manifesto commitments were different from the programme for Government commitments but both Government parties had access to the Attorney General's advice at that point, which was that while it is challenging to do, there is no particular obstacle to acting on services as well as goods. The Minister talked about other European countries. Ireland is now but one of five that are examining this. One of those, Spain, has effectively completed the action and another, Slovenia, is quite well advanced, as I understand it. Spain has been able to bring services into the ambit of the legislation, albeit in relation to advertisements.”
“There is talk of sexual abuse in forms of interrogation and many other appalling stories are coming out of Gaza, all because there has not been accountability. It is important that there is accountability. There are actions Ireland can take. I would not overstate our influence but we should use what leverage we have and this is clearly one instance of it. We need to get this Bill onto the floor of the Dáil and debate it. Let us have the debate on the amendments. We currently have no clear sense of when this is going to come forward and that is not acceptable.”
“My concern and that of a lot of people is that we are going to continue with this dance whereby the Attorney General sends something across to the Government, the Government looks for clarification, the Attorney General sends something back and we are at this slow-bicycle race forever. The urgency of this is very clear. For all of the talk of the ceasefire, the Board of Peace and so on, the situation on the ground is desperate. The Minister is quite aware, I am sure, that at the minute aid organisations are being restricted from going into Gaza and that settler violence is on a scale we have not seen in quite some time. Torture is being used. There is the appalling story of a two-year old child being tortured in front of his father with a view to extracting who knows what.”
“This question has been frequently debated in recent months and years. The Government was elected on the basis of both parties committing to pass the occupied territories Bill, not a watered-down version of it. In any event, the progress we have seen on any occupied territories legislation has been quite halting since the election of this Government. When are we going to see that Bill on the floor of the Dáil?”
“The cost of energy is one of the key issues for people, whether households or small businesses. I am entirely underwhelmed by the response of the Government to the energy and cost-of-living crises anyway but when we see the cost of home heating oil shooting up in recent days in response to what is happening in the Gulf, it is clear that more action is needed. It is the wrong time to increase the carbon tax and we warned the Government about the energy credits. Some 320,000 people are now in arrears, which is a record high. There must be a response to the pinch on energy costs for people.”
“When it comes to the cost, while I understand these flights are expensive, it is crucial that people who might be effectively running out of money, such as people whose holidays have gone on longer than planned or who were over visiting family, are able to get on these flights. An additional chartered flight will undoubtedly be needed. I wish to respond on the energy stuff. I listened to the Tánaiste earlier. It was as if there were not a problem in this regard already. It was as if there were not already a cost-of-living crisis and people under pressure. He talked about not having a knee-jerk response to a situation that is five or six days old. We have some of the highest electricity prices in Europe, generally speaking, and some of highest petrol prices in Europe. People are already at the pin of their collar.”
“In those circumstances - I know the Minister will not comment on this because she would be worried about creating fear, speculation and so on - it is important there is dialogue with people in those countries because they are worried about how they will respond if an evacuation notice is issued and there are no flights available. There is a particular group about which I might correspond with the Minister to allow her to respond. We will need further chartered flights because there are at least 2,000 people who are anxious to leave. Obviously, there are only a few hundred seats on a flight.”
“On the consular side, I acknowledge, as ever, the professionalism and dedication of the Department of foreign affairs' staff. They put in long hours in situations like this. They are dedicated. From talking to people, some may have had difficulties contacting the embassy initially, given the pressure it was under. It is right and welcome that there is now a centralised situation in Dublin. Understandably, the bulk of people are in the UAE, with maybe the second biggest group in Saudi Arabia, but there are Irish communities in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and so on. There are people trying to think ahead as to whether evacuation notices will potentially be issued in some of those countries that do not have flights at this moment. I think Bahrain and Qatar are in that category.”
“It is hard to see it as a ceasefire and I am not sure whether the people of Gaza experience it that way. There is increased settler violence in the West Bank without consequence or retribution. The Rafah crossing is shut again and humanitarian aid is being restricted. Humanitarian personnel, including medical personnel and a number of key agencies, are restricted in their access. One issue on Gaza I encourage the Minister and Minister of State to bring up in their engagement internationally, particularly with the US, is to ensure that medical personnel who want to get in to assist the situation are given access. They are being denied access on spurious grounds. It is having a huge impact on public and maternal health and the ability to respond to attacks, injuries and the humanitarian situation on the ground.”
“We will never be a major military power but we should be able to create a situation in which our place in the world is not to be swept along by one side or the other by the tides of the great powers but, rather, one where we are able to stand on our own two feet as a neutral State and plot our own course in terms of our philosophy and foreign policy. This illustrates all the more why neutrality is vitally important at a time when arguments are being made to undermine it. In the time I have left, I will mention Palestine. It is unusual to have statements on the Middle East without Palestine being the first item on the agenda. Certainly, it must remain on our minds. Israel has committed a genocide, as far as I am concerned. It has attempted to wipe out Gaza. We have a so-called ceasefire in which hundreds of people have died since it began.”
“They are proud of their role, and I am sure they will do all within their power to ensure it is fulfilled. It is of course a worrying time. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Opposition, generally speaking, is kept apprised of the situation there. It again demonstrates the dangers of this war and the huge consequences it has for the people of the region. The volatility of this conflict demonstrates to me the value of our neutrality. Our neutrality does not relate simply to where we deploy our troops; it is also central to the notion of an independent foreign policy philosophy that allows us to ensure we can - and we should - call out breaches of international law and breaches of human rights from wherever they come. We are a small nation.”
“As much as I state clearly that this is an attack that is unjustified, I condemn very clearly any response from Iran that involves targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, whether in the Gulf region or any countries surrounding it. It is important in all instances to condemn attacks on civilians. That is true in Lebanon as well. The Israeli Government is talking about clearing, as it would see it, the area south of the Litani River, which is obviously the area in which Camp Shamrock, the long-standing Irish presence through UNIFIL, is based. We send our thoughts to the Irish personnel. I know it is a worrying situation for them. I know they are committed and dedicated to their task. There is no fear of that and no question of that.”
“It is quite shameful not to rescue people in distress. Unfortunately, the track record of the United States, supported and encouraged by Israel in this instance, in terms of military interference in the Middle East has been disastrous. There have been decades of invasions and occupations. This latest action risks repeating that tragic history. The Irish Government must use its voice and bring every political lever to bear in the interests of diplomacy. Unfortunately, this came off the back of negotiations which Oman claims were making progress. Unfortunately, they were simply discarded in the blind rush to war without logic, reason or an objective or rationale. We have spoken about the situation in Lebanon, which is extremely dangerous. I too condemn the attacks from Israel and Hezbollah in both instances.”
“There are different reports, but it looks like well over 100 - it is certainly in the area of 140 - schoolchildren and schoolgirls were killed. I do not know how anyone cannot see that as the defining image. The drones and so on are a reminder. War has been a feature of life for all of human history, unfortunately. We must come to terms with what that means. Ultimately, it carries a heavy price. It carries a heavy price that we can see that the Iranian people and the people of the region are bearing. It is right to say that we must urge for diplomacy and call for restraint. It is difficult to be optimistic when you hear the rhetoric that is coming from the US Government and the Israeli Government and when you see that a ship was sunk with no effort to try to save the survivors. Again, where does that stand in international law?”
“They have just decided to go to war with no sense of how they are going to get back out of it. Who is going to suffer most of all? It is the people of Iran and the people of this region. I saw a tweet yesterday from RTÉ News. It stated, "The war in the Middle East has so far been defined by two images: Iranian drones and missiles plunging to the ground and exploding, and interceptors streaking into the skies to stop them". I am not one who particularly likes to say that RTÉ's coverage is forever off the wall. There is good stuff, bad stuff and whatever. I have to say that I really disagree with that. Yes, the drones and everything that goes along with them are a significant feature, but for me the defining image of this conflict is the image of dozens of girls wrapped in their shrouds having been bombed at their school.”
“He said the US felt that if Israel was going to strike, it needed to get its retaliation in first, in effect. That was an extraordinary statement of how US policy is being dictated by the Israelis. He has tried to walk that back to some limited extent, but that statement and his response to it reflects the fact that there is no plan here, as far as I can see. That is one of the most frightening things. There is no plan here. The Pentagon is distancing itself from the White House. Marco Rubio is putting something out there and walking it back. JD Vance is missing. I do not know what is going on with him. What on earth is the plan? What is the objective? How do you say that when this conflict has achieved some kind of objective, you can settle some kind of peace? There is nothing like that.”
“One of the points the Spanish Prime Minister made very well was that in recognising why this war is wrong and dangerous, we are by no means undermining our capacity to condemn the Iranian Government for what it has been responsible for in recent months and years. I have condemned on multiple occasions the brutal repression of protestors, the extrajudicial killing, the repression of political dissent and the repression of women's rights. That is crucially important - absolutely - but there is no contradiction there. I think Pedro Sánchez articulated that quite well. For all the talk from the United States of the people of Iran, ultimately this is not in the interests of the people of Iran. Marco Rubio let the cat out of the bag when he said that they responded because Israel was going to strike.”
“It contributes to the degradation of organisations such as the UN when the international community generally offers clear and firm condemnations - very often, rightly so - of countries in the global south, but it is not called out so clearly when the United States, Israel or other countries in the developed world breach international law. We all had lots of discussion about Mark Carney's speech, and this the very kind of thing he was speaking about. It undermines the multilateral order when we do not call something like this - a clear breach of international law, a breach of the UN Charter and an extremely dangerous war - for what it is.”
“As the Minister adverted to, it is drawing the world's eyes away from the genocide that has been committed in Palestine and the potential for even greater neglect of the Palestinian people in terms of the ongoing killing and deprivation of aid. This is a particularly dangerous war. It is important that the Irish Government calls it what it is: a breach of international law and against the UN Charter. The Irish Government has not been quite so weak as the Governments of some other European countries, but there are other European countries that have said clearly what this is. People have focused on Spain, but I also want to instance Norway. Greater leadership needs to be shown. Micheál Martin made a great play of the flaws of the UN at Leaders' Questions on Tuesday. He is right; the UN is not perfect by any manner or means.”
“It is important that we recognise that this was an act of aggression, it was an illegal act and it was against the UN Charter. Most of all, it was profoundly dangerous. Democrat and Republican Presidents for 20 or 30 years have made it almost an article of faith not to blindly enter into a conflict with Iran, in the knowledge that it was potentially a tinderbox for the entire region. We do not know how true that is going to become. We do not know the ramifications but what we see already, within days, is that this is now spilling into Bahrain in terms of civil unrest, it is clearly spilling into Lebanon, it is resulting in threats to Türkiye and it is potentially destabilising in terms of Syria, Yemen and other countries.”
“Ar an gcéad dul síos, aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag an Aire Stáit. Gan dabht, ba chóir go mbeadh ár saoránaigh mar thosaíocht ag an Rialtas. Ba cheart don Rialtas a chinntiú go bhfuil siad slán sábháilte agus go bhfuil cumarsáid mhaith leo agus lena gcuid teaghlach. Tá sé sin fíorthábhachtach. Tiocfaidh mé ar ais chuige sin. Sometimes when you speak to people about politics, the international issues are not necessarily the first thing on their lips. They think about the bread and butter issues. This issue is something that does concern people. There is a very clear understanding among the general public that this conflict is particularly dangerous, without logic, without basis and at risk of spilling into something much greater and wider, with long-lasting ramifications for the region.”
“Will the Tánaiste tell us where this is at? The increase has been agreed. When will the statutory instrument be put in place?”
“The Tánaiste will be aware that pensioners who worked in Bus Éireann and CIÉ have been waiting for over 18 years for an increase at a time of cost-of-living increases. Many of them are under severe pressure. They have been told numerous things, that a pension increase has been agreed between the unions and the company and is awaiting sign-off of a statutory instrument, and that it is with the Department of public expenditure or the Minister for Transport. Ultimately, this has been agreed. It is meant to have been signed off. They are anxious to see it agreed in the next month or two because the pensioners, the former CIÉ staff, are under pressure. This included an increase to the lump sum people received and, therefore, people who are retiring in the next month or two could lose out on that if this is not signed off.”
“I make the point, and I have made it before, that one of the concerns I have, in terms of getting people into psychology, is that to try to reach the point of being able to do clinical psychology, one has to get experience. That is a barrier to people from low-income backgrounds. One has to be able to gain that experience and not everyone is able to get a paid position that provides clinical experience. I am concerned about people who are not seen and who have been on the waiting list for a year or whatever. When they turn 18 years of age, they are the back of the queue for adult primary care psychology.”
“It is vitally important that we make this early intervention. The nature of primary care is that people are not triaged. It is very much a question of how long people are on the waiting list. CAMHS can triage people according to severity. The nature of primary care is, of course, that one comes in and is waiting the time one is waiting. That is all. All that time somebody's condition can be escalating. That can cause behavioural issues in school, an increase in the severity of suicidality and issues in terms of anxiety escalating. All of these problems escalate if we cannot address that. It sounds from what the Minister is saying that many of the vacant posts which existed a year ago still exist. That is a concern.”
“That is a huge number. It is maybe a slight improvement, but very comparable to what was there before. This time last year about 70% of the posts in primary care psychology were absent. That is not in the reply and I am sure the Minister will not have those numbers in front of her. Part of the problem here is that there is a gap in recruitment. My big concern in relation to primary care psychology is us not making the investment there. The threshold to get into CAMHS now is so high because of the pressure it is under. Therefore, people who are at a relatively high level of suicidal ideation, as well as people dealing with things like ADHD, are not being seen quickly enough and their condition is therefore escalating. The other concern I have, potentially, is with people ageing out, that is, people who reach 18 without having been seen.”
“Primary care psychology for adolescents is a huge issue. I am concerned that sometimes it slips under the radar. This service provides important support, but, unfortunately, from my experience in replies to previous questions, the numbers on the waiting list in south Lee are significant, including over a year for some people.”
“There is an issue with the terms and conditions of the accord for pensioners, but there is also a discrepancy - a sort of two-tier system - whereby people who retired in January 2024 and those who retired in January 2025 are potentially on different pension rates, despite perhaps giving the same service. That needs to be addressed. I ask the Minister of State to bring that back for the Minister. While I welcome the increases that were agreed finally being paid out, there are still issues that need to be resolved.”
“In recent years, we have lost the post office on High Street in Cork city and the post office in Crosshaven, which were big losses to those communities. That needs to be addressed in terms of investment. In the context of the modernisation and changes that are happening to An Post, there was talk of closing the mail centre and the distribution centre in Cork at different stages. To my mind, both are now vital, given the increased emphasis on parcels. I will briefly flag the pension issue for An Post's staff. It is vitally important that the increases that are agreed are paid out on time at the earliest juncture. That took a significant campaign from pensioners and An Post, but there are more issues and I want to highlight that.”
“Again, a greater vision is needed. Ten or 15 years ago, you would have been concerned when you looked at An Post because of the trail-off in the number of letters being sent. However, the manner in which online deliveries, parcels and all these kinds of things have come to the fore since then has meant that a new range of services has come into An Post and there is potential there. The most common reason I visit An Post is with packages for Depop and Vinted on behalf of my other half a lot of the time. There are many services that An Post offers that were not previously offered. It is still the case we are seeing closures, unfortunately, and we need to look at that. When somebody retires or finishes up who was obviously passionate about it, too often it is not attractive enough for someone new to run it.”
“Tá an córas oifig an phoist thart timpeall an Stáit riachtanach, lárnach inár gcuid pobail agus níos sine ná an Stát féin. I go leor cásanna, d’imigh an ról síos ó ghlúin go glúin laistigh de theaghlach. Tá sé dlúthcheangailte leis an bpobal. Tá sé sin tábhachtach. Caithfimid an córas, an bonneagar agus an t-infrastruchtúr a chosaint. Ní tharlóidh sé sin trí bhotún. Caithfear infheistíocht a dhéanamh le tacú le hoifigí an phoist. Ba cheart dúinn a chinntiú go bhfanann daoine san obair sin agus go bhfuil sé de chumas ag an gcóras daoine nua a mhealladh isteach. The post office network is crucially important. It is a service that, in many respects in many communities, is older than the State. It offers a tremendous community hub but also an increased level of services that people are benefiting enormously from.”
“Uaireanta – tarlaíonn sé seo i go leor gnéithe den saol agus den Stát – bíonn aidhmeanna difriúla ag coimhlint lena chéile. B’fhéidir go mbíonn aidhmeanna uaillmhianacha náisiúnta ó thaobh pleanála de, go pointe áirithe, ag teacht salach ar aidhmeanna na Gaeltachta. Caithfear cás difriúil is eisceachtúil a dhéanamh don Ghaeltacht mar ní bheidh an dara seans againn. Caithfear cur chuige faoi leith a bheith ann.”
“Tá daoine ag bogadh go Maigh Chromtha agus an ceantar máguaird. Tá daoine eile ag bogadh go Dún Garbhán agus Eochaill mar níl sé de chumas acu teach a fháil, idir teach a thógáil nó teach a cheannach. Tá go leor cúiseanna nach mbíonn tógáil ar siúl. Tá constaicí ó thaobh pleanála de agus an stuif sin go léir. Is maith an rud í an turasóireacht ach ní cóir di a bheith níos tábhachtaí ná todhchaí na Gaeltachta. Tá 1,000 teach ar fáil ar Airbnb ag an am céanna is atá deich dteach ar fáil le glacadh ar cíos. Níl sé sin inbhuanaithe ar chor ar bith. Impím ar an Aire féachaint ar na moltaí. Ní leor glacadh leis an rún agus trácht a dhéanamh ar cad atá i gceist gan aon rud a dhéanamh faoi. Caithfear déileáil leis an gcíos gearrthéarmach agus níos mó a dhéanamh ó thaobh tithe sóisialta agus inacmhainne. Ní mór déileáil le ceist na pleanála.”
“Cé gur rudaí luachmhara agus maithe iad, má chaillimid an tobar agus an Ghaelainn mar theanga phobail agus bheo, príomhtheanga an teaghlaigh agus an teanga a labhraítear sna siopaí, mar shampla, beidh rud dochreidte ársa is luachmhar caillte againn nach féidir a thógáil ar ais. Is é sin an dara pointe atá agam. Ní bheidh an dara seans againn an Ghaeilge agus an Ghaeltacht a chosaint. Tá sé seo riachtanach. Tá go leor daoine díograiseacha ann. Tá go leor daoine agus gníomhaithe pobail atá tiomanta chun forbairt a dhéanamh, imeachtaí pobail agus scoile a eagrú agus gach rud cosúil leis sin. Mura bhfuil sé de chumas acu cónaí sna pobail sin, áfach, beidh orthu imeacht. Sna Gaeltachtaí is cóngaraí dom, Gaeltacht Mhúscraí agus iarthar Phort Láirge, feictear dom go mbíonn sé sin ag tarlú.”