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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“There is increasingly an issue in Cork city where new developments could potentially come on stream but the inability for them to connect run-off or storm water to the foul drain is leading to potential refusals or refusals. That needs to be addressed because it is not sustainable and could hold back development. Second, I want to flag how, where estates are being completed, there are too often deficits in local authority approaches in terms of ensuring compliance. I can give an example of Gleann Órga in Ballinhassig in Cork where there have been ongoing issues with wastewater management. This was due to somebody who was in the position not having completed the work adequately, leaving residents with the consequences and the local authority not dealing with it adequately. That also needs to be addressed at local authority level.”
“I have two minutes, so I will make three quick points to the Minister but I want to make the general point that when we are talking about water, we should take stock of the picture internationally because there are so many examples of situations where privatisation has led to absolute chaos. We have seen this very clearly in relation to Thames Water. I know that privatisation is not on the agenda but people in Ireland had a lot of concern that the infrastructure for that was being created. We should continue to monitor situations internationally where privatised water systems fail people. We should continue to absorb that into the way we approach water policy. First, on constraint and development. I hope Uisce Éireann officials are listening to this.”
“The Taoiseach will be aware that Heba Muraisi is now on the 72nd day of her hunger strike in New Hall prison in Britain. Two more people have been on strike for more than 50 days so they could die any day. They are very much in that lethal period. Ms Muraisi has not been tried or convicted but has been in prison for a year, well over the usual six month pre-trial detention limit. The Taoiseach does not have to approve of Palestine Action to be concerned about pre-trial detention of more than a year for public order offences - and that is what this is - or to recognise legitimate grievances about their welfare. Has the Taoiseach raised this and, if he has not, will he raise urgently with the British Government his concerns about the nature of their detention and welfare?”
“The Taoiseach is familiar with Cork Educate Together Secondary School. It is a school, which should be in our constituency, but since 2018 it has been based in the building of Griffith College on the north side of the city. In that temporary location, it has no access to PE facilities. Its special education facilities are severely constrained and a lot of their 400 students have to get buses across the city. It has a hard deadline in terms of its current location of September 2027 and it has to be out of there by then. Planning was granted in May 2024 but still the tender has not been released. Will the Taoiseach give us an update as to when the tender will be released because the school is now working against a hard deadline, and it is hard to know what will happen at that stage?”
“I support what Deputy O'Hara is asking for. I happened to be present at the presentation of a medal in 2019 to the family of Joe Murphy. It was presented to his nephew Henry Delaney and is a source of great pride to that family. If the evidence is there, these medals are very important to families and the local community. A issue that was raised with me by Jim Hegarty, a nephew of John Joe Hegarty who was a member of the old IRA, is that the rank of the volunteers seems to have been in records recognised in relation to the pro-Treaty side but not for the anti-Treaty side. The rank of those who fought in the Tan War and the War of Independence should be restored to those who fought on the anti-Treaty side subsequently.”
“Is there an agreed protocol between the National Cyber Security Centre, the Garda and the Defence Forces in terms of how they will respond? Is there a clear plan of action in those instances?”
“It is very possible that future threats to our national security will potentially arise in a hybrid way. It is not inconceivable that we could have a kinetic or physical element to something, such as what we had with drones recently, as well as a co-ordinated cyberattack on Defence Forces' equipment, personnel and installations to hinder the ability of the Defence Forces to deal with the kinetic element of it, for example, drone interference with airports, infrastructure, visiting Heads of States and so on. The primary responsibility for the cyber element of that lies with the National Cyber Security Centre. Clearly, there need to be agreed protocols in relation to how that hybrid element or instances are dealt with. Is there such a protocol and how recently has it been concluded?”
“How advanced are protocols for those hybrid cyber threats that include a kinetic element and can include a cyber element? Part of that is the responsibility of the National Cyber Security Centre, but some of it potentially falls to the Defence Forces.”
“I appreciate that it was not specifically written in the question, but if the Minister has the figure to hand, what does she expect the strength to be by the end of next year? I would appreciate that. The architecture around the whole area of cybersecurity is a little bit complicated in the sense that the National Cyber Security Centre is responsible for protecting the State broadly speaking, the Garda has responsibility as a major intelligence organisation, and the Defence Forces are responsible for protecting themselves. It is a combination to some degree of all three where there is a hybrid element and a kinetic element to it. With the development of this command, what are its priorities? How does it intend to develop?”
“We have spoken about how potential defence and national security issues will not always be what we have traditionally imagined. Cybersecurity and hybrid threats are going to be significant features of that. The cybersecurity command has been established, which was called for in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. That is very welcome, but progress in the implementation of its plans is what we now need. What is the current strength of the cybersecurity command? What will it be in 12 months’ time?”
“While it is obviously welcome that recruit pay has increased in general terms cadets' entry pay has not kept pace and they earn significantly less than their enlisted counterparts for the duration of a multiyear training programme. That anomaly needs to be considered.”
“The Minister said a while ago that she was going to meet all the representative organisations. I welcome that and hope that includes not only those for the Permanent Defence Force but also those for the Reserve Defence Force and the veterans' organisations. I am sure RACO will raise this issue with the Minister. The information she gave was in the longer run, when they are qualified and reach a certain rank. The issue here is at entry level. A cadet who joins - up to the age of 39 - earns €25,748 annually, or approximately €493 per week. A recruit in the enlisted ranks earns €540 per week in the first ten weeks, increasing to €617 for the following 16 weeks, and, after approximately six months, €860 per week.”
“We had a discussion a short time ago about specialist staff. Connected to that is the whole issue of cadet training and their experience. There is the issue of entry-level cadet pay. It has been well flagged by RACO, including at the conference a few weeks ago, and the fact that it has not kept pace with some of the other increases in the system.”
“A service commitment scheme such as has been recommended by RACO for certain critical roles, such as marine engineering officers, artificers and so on, would represent a tangible step towards stabilising the force. The Minister needs to look at that as a key action.”
“It is not merely about small numbers - although the numbers are small - it is also about the proportion and the fact that of the cadre six who went into the 63rd naval cadet class, only two were commissioned. Two thirds of that cadre, however small, left early. That is the issue. Specialist numbers within the Naval Service are critically low despite targeted recruitment. Some of that is due to the extensive time required to train personnel in key technical areas. Marine engineering officers are one group I have identified. These groups are currently operating at approximately half strength, resulting in increased workloads, added responsibilities and declining morale. Retaining such expertise - marine engineering officers, artificers and so on - is essential for the effective operation of the Naval Service.”
“There remaining four withdrew before being commissioned, referencing the extended service commitment associated with naval officer training as the primary reason for their departure. This is after considerable investment by the State and therefore, the loss of those personnel. Therefore, we need to be looking at commitment service schemes.”
“The key question I raise here and my key concern about the Naval Service is to do with specialist personnel. The Naval Service such as it is today requires people with very high skills. Many of them gain these skills within the Naval Service, but we have had the embarrassing situation in the past 12 months that a navy ship was put to sea without a functioning main gun. The reason for that is the Naval Service did not have the specialist staff required, namely, artificers. There are also issues with marine engineering officers, because there is a significant outflow of them. We have seen a situation with the 63rd Naval cadet class where six cadets commenced training but only two were commissioned.”
“We have had a fair bit of discussion in recent weeks in on capital investment, but there is obviously the need for current investment. Our Naval Service has serious challenges because of a lack of specialist staff. Some of that is because of their attractiveness to employers in the private sector. The State invest in training people but then they are lost and not retained. That is holding back the full development of the Naval Service and it is something we need to come to terms with.”
“For the industrial schools and the Magdalen laundries this did not stop an approach that offered redress, support and accountability to the category as a whole concurrently. I encourage the Minister to talk to the Departments in question - indeed she was in one of those Departments herself - about how that was approached. We can have the court cases, which people are entitled to tae, and we can have a redress system for the category as a whole.”
“The Minister is right that the men and women of the Defence Forces are its greatest asset. The weight of this needs to be emphasised. The Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors, ACCAS, group has identified what it believes to be 110 untimely deaths. It has used that language advisedly because the link needs to be proven in that regard. However the group has questions and concerns over that many deaths and serious illnesses. That is the concern, and indeed in other jurisdictions there was a connection between the chemical exposure and serious illness. In the Air Corps there were many instances of no protective equipment, no masks and so on being provided. I appreciate court cases have to happen, and people have an entitlement to that.”
“We had the EEA air monitoring report in 1995, Forbairt report in 1997 and HSA report in 2015, but there is other documentation that not public at this point in time. Is the Minister open to doing something in addition to dealing with individual cases as a category?”
“The reality is that this is not an issue that has only arisen in Ireland. We know that in other jurisdictions such as Australia and the Netherlands exposure to very powerful, strong and dangerous chemicals caused adverse health outcomes for personnel in those locations. Australia took a sensible approach. Officials evaluated the situation trhough the study of health outcomes for aircraft maintenance personnel and they offered health supports. That is key to what we do on this. That is the kind of approach that makes sense - evaluate the situation, try to identify the connections between the exposure and health impacts, provide healthcare solutions and find out how it came to pass. This has been examined on a number of occasions in the past, although not all of this is in the public domain.”
“This is probably the Minister's first time debating this particular matter but the issue of the potential adverse health outcomes for former aircraft maintenance personnel in the Air Corps has been discussed a lot over the years. Many people who served in aircraft maintenance believe many have suffered very severe health outcomes, including untimely deaths, because of exposure to dangerous chemicals. What is the Minister going to do about that in respect of the category generally, not individual cases?”
“I note the report last weekend by Conor Gallagher in The Irish Times made the point the LÉ William Butler Yeats did not have radar-guided weapons in the way the previous flagship, LÉ Eithne , had and it was therefore constrained in its ability. Finally, Deputy Smith is absolutely right. There is no reason it should not be released. I believe it, certainly, but transparency is important here and we need to get serious about that.”
“There are many comments I would like to make but the first relates to the timeline. It sounds extremely tight. It will be purchased within the first half of the year but that is not a lot of time for the personnel to get used to this and ensure protocols are in place and so on. What struck me most was clearly the visit of President Zelenskyy was very welcome and worthwhile but the Minister has talked about it proving the radar system worked. These drones were 400 m or 500 m away from the naval vessels. They could be seen with the naked eye, so it does not prove anything on that or tell us anything about our radar capacity.”
“It is a huge concern that in the past there has been excellent co-operation between An Garda and the Defence Forces but to see both organisations briefing against each other raises significant concerns about the strength of the protocols that exist. We are not going to get into operational matters, because it would not be appropriate, but we clearly need to see protocols tighten up if there is a conflict in approach.”
“To be clear, there is no doubt but that the presence of drones such as this in our airspace is a threat to our national security. The neglect of the Defence Forces by the past three Governments, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in their various turns, has created a threat to our national security. The Minister spoke about bringing forward the radar picture, the anti-drone system and counter unmanned air system capabilities. That was due to be delivered in the autumn - quarter 3 of 2025. It is in the Commission on the Defence Forces. She is not bringing it forward. It is already late. In that context, it is a concern to me as to whether it will be in place before the EU Presidency. Realistically, it needs to be in place now.”
“The presence of drones in Dublin Bay during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was the source of much commentary internationally and domestically. We are facing into a crucial year in which security, and the ability of this State to ensure the safety and security of high-level meetings and the people attending them, will be under a good deal of scrutiny, which needs to come through. We need to consider the protocol with regard to the response to this and in terms of equipment. It is not something we wish to see repeated.”
“It is reasonable for people to draw that conclusion. There is an obligation on the Minister to demonstrate that she will find a solution to this. That is why we have brought this motion to the Dáil. The Government is not opposing it, which I welcome, but we need a solution. A lot of our community pharmacists are being stretched very thin as things are. The agreement the Minister needs to reach with the pharmacies needs to ensure that vulnerable patients who have been relying on blister packs for a very long time continue to be provided with them. They are not a luxury but a lifeline for them. That is the obligation on her. This needs to be resolved.”
“Many of the people who were retrieving these medications from the chemist are themselves on carer's allowance or something like that, are responsible for the care of their parent, their adult child or another loved one, and are being hit by perhaps €20, €40 or €50 a month in additional charges if we are talking about two people whom they are caring for. It is therefore quite understandable why people are responding to this and believing that it is cruel and heartless in relation-----”
“A minute or two ago, I could see the Minister become exasperated at my colleague describing this as cruel as "heartless", but it is important that she understands how this is being felt by people. When people went to their chemist or learned about this, it was very hard for them to understand why a government would come to such a decision because these blister packs are essential to people who have conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia and other vulnerable categories of patient. A lot of these people are on not just one or two tablets a day but multiple tablets. Sometimes the administration of the medication to people is quite complex, so it is vital for their health that they have the ability to avail of these blister packs. People have gone into a chemist and learned about this during a cost-of-living crisis.”
“The aggrieved firm simply went to the UK High Court to have its award enforced and that court ruled Antin was entitled to seize Spanish property located in London to the amount of €120 million. In a subsequent twist that exposed the impotence of the EU when confronted by the enforcement of ISDS awards in foreign jurisdictions, the European Commission found this was actually illegal state aid, but ultimately the declarations of the Commission were set aside. There are other examples like Eiser Infrastructure versus Spain. We are not the only country that has issues with this. There are ten others that share our concerns. We do not need these investor courts. They undermine the sovereignty of our courts and trade is progressing quite well all the same.”
“The question to be asked is, what did the Government not want the public to see when it waived the pre-legislative scrutiny? This is not about trade. It is about protecting our sovereignty. Locking ourselves into these investor courts is a compromise of judicial scrutiny. We are potentially putting ourselves into a situation where private corporations can sue the State if they deem a particular policy a threat to their profits or potentially even their future profits. There have been examples of what can happen in relation to similar courts and I note the Government is trying to pull out of similar court provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. I will give a few examples. The Antin versus Spain case arose when Spain refused to pay an international court award against it.”
“It beggars belief that legislation with such weight and implications is being rushed through without any real scrutiny and without having the opportunity to bring in expert witnesses, constitutional witnesses, trade witnesses and so on. It is unacceptable and simply not good enough. I commend the work of my colleague, Ms Lynn Boylan MEP, who organised an event to substitute for the lack of Government pre-legislative scrutiny last Thursday. It was very informative. There is no public interest in signing up to these investor court mechanisms. The trade elements of CETA are in effect; trade is already happening. There is nothing progressive or forward thinking in this. There is only the potential for future liabilities to the State.”
“The Irish public would be confident that, if a business believes it is deserving of compensation because of a Government decision, it will get a fair hearing in Irish courts. It would also expect that Irish courts should have the power to set aside a decision made by some of these international courts if they believe there is a constitutional issue or if they believe there has been an error in fact or in law. We are not at all clear in what circumstances the Irish High Court can set aside a decision in relation to the investor court. That is a big problem, with the sovereignty of our courts being set aside.”
“I am concerned at the haste in which this legislation is being rushed through. I cannot understand why Government representatives on the foreign affairs committee sought to waive pre-legislative scrutiny, given the fact that the predecessor of this legislation, or large parts thereof, was effectively struck down in the Supreme Court. There are constitutional issues here that I do not believe are rectified in the key section here, namely, section 3. The Supreme Court found that, ultimately, we need to have a sense of the circumstances in which Irish courts can set aside decisions of the investor courts. That is not at all clear to me. The Bill talks about procedural safeguards. I see nothing that makes it clear. The Irish public needs to understand.”
“I believe that Ireland has been left uniquely vulnerable in this new trade climate because of the policies of successive Governments. That does not mean that an Irish Government should take the position to rush into any trade deal on offer regardless of the terms and conditions and the implications of it. That would plainly be an absurd position. I hope it is not the position of the Government. If it is, it is certainly inconsistent, given that the only trade deal referenced in the programme for Government is a trade deal that the Government opposes, which is the Mercosur trade deal. The programme commits to opposing the Mercosur trade deal, so it would seem that it is not the position of the Government that we sign up to a trade deal just because the trading environment is challenging.”
“This is the arbitration Bill and that is what we are dealing with. We are dealing with legislation that in my view takes decisions that would be rightly made by Irish courts in relation to Irish business decisions and seconds them to an international court of a kind over which we have no oversight and no power. That is the fundamental issue. I agree that we are in a challenging trade environment. I believe a great deal more needs to be done. Ireland has been too reliant on a small number of markets. It is important that we go far beyond trade deals to ensure there are trade missions to new markets and supports for Irish businesses in terms of language and so on. I also believe that we have been too reliant on various tax incentives rather than ensuring that our infrastructure was adequate.”
“In addition to their mortgage, they should get a grant, or interest-free loan at the very least, which will also help local tradespeople and contractors to say, "Yes, you go and buy that house that otherwise you would not have the money to make liveable and we will help you make it liveable. We will help you make it a place where you can set up a family." Currently, there is not anything like that. Housing lists need serious reform. There is a lack of transparency and huge issues there where maybe somebody exceeds the limit for a year and comes back in under it, they lose 13 years on this. That is no good.”
“Given the price of housing at the time Government entered office, I would be very worried it will be much beyond that by the time this Government leaves office. I have two suggestions in this regard. First, it seems obvious that if there is a social housing income threshold and there are people earning above that who will not be touched by any realistic commercial mortgages, they need to be considered for social housing. The Government needs to raise the income thresholds. The other issue is some of these people can afford to buy properties that are effectively derelict or shells and so on. It is logical that if those people in that window can afford to buy those properties, they should get specific help with the renovation of them.”
“Many of those people have done everything right. They have gone to get the best jobs they can. They have worked hard, studied, trained, got apprenticeships and are working all the hours they can. They are saving as much as they can yet they are being approved for mortgages that are absolutely laughable and will not buy them anything. Houses in some of the affordable schemes in Cork city cost nearly €400,000. It is just not realistic. These are not affordable housing schemes and nothing in what the Government has outlined has suggested it is going to get to grips with anything that truly resembles an affordable housing scheme. I am more than disappointed. The Government is going to keep on repeating the same mistakes again.”
“The housing plan the Government has outlined doubles down on policies that are not working and is ultimately not going to address the affordability issue. We have policies that are adding fuel to the fire and encouraging inflation in the cost of housing. One of the most frustrating conversations I have in constituency offices is with people who are on an income - a person or a household - between €40,000 and €90,000. That is not to gainsay people below that level because there are huge challenges for people on social housing waiting lists but at least there is an avenue for them, even if the wait is very long and sometimes there are huge issues with that. However, for people who fall into that bracket between €40,000 and €80,000 or €90,000 in Cork city and in large parts of the country, there is nothing for them.”
“Pressure must be brought to bear and ultimately, we must support the people of Sudan, who desire peace, a ceasefire and a political settlement that ensures a civilian government. In the first instance, we must do all we can to force the conflict to a close. Ireland must use its voice, combined with the much larger voices of the EU and USA, to deliver a ceasefire and peace for the people of Sudan.”
“I echo the point made by the Minister that partition is something that we would not wish to see. We need to see a civilian-led political settlement that respects the territorial integrity of Sudan. In the short to medium term the Irish Government must advocate for the depoliticisation of humanitarian assistance, the lifting of restrictions to allow humanitarian aid to reach those most in need, the safe passage of humanitarian workers and the protection of humanitarian space. The attacks on civilians that have been taking place are crimes against humanity and must be condemned profoundly. There is no place for the kinds of scenes that we have seen in El Fasher and Darfur. The influence of those powerful actors, including the UAE, who have been fuelling the conflict, needs to be called out.”
“The Irish Government must continue to call on all external actors directly or indirectly supplying arms and funds to the parties to cease their support immediately and to restrain from any actions that could fuel further violence. There is deep concern at the lack of clarity on the huge numbers of people deemed to be missing. It is believed that the RSF is responsible for terrible atrocities and is currently working to hide and cover them up before international observers can get to El Fasher. Both the SAF and RSF must ensure access for humanitarian aid and international observers. The Government must work with its EU partners and the international community to bring decisive pressure to bear on the warring parties to engage in dialogue and to agree to a sustained cessation of hostilities.”
“While I welcome any efforts that are taking place, it seems that both sides to the conflict have ambitions to control Sudan so realistic peace talks are a considerable distance away. Even if that is the case, we must do whatever we can to push for a ceasefire. If the international community stands up, as it ought to, then the greatest pressure can be brought to bear in that regard. The enormous flow of sophisticated weaponry to the conflict is very dangerous and a matter of huge concern. The takeover of El Fasher was marked by the use of very sophisticated military technology, clearly well funded, including unmanned aerial vehicles for both surveillance and strikes on civilian areas and infrastructure, jamming technology and more.”
“Reports from the UN and humanitarian organisations indicate that the RSF is effectively instrumentalising and manipulating humanitarian aid in an attempt to maintain control. The flow of weapons into Sudan continues with the complicity of the UAE and possibly other countries, such as Russia and neighbouring countries. All of them must stop the flow of weapons that is escalating and adding fuel to the fire of this conflict. Whatever leverage Ireland has must be used. Ireland, the EU and the United States all have strong connections and ties to the UAE and every pressure must be put on that country to try to stop the flow of weapons that is adding fuel to the fire. Realistically, it seems that we are a long way off peace talks, unfortunately.”
“I have been raising concerns for a number of weeks and months in the Dáil with the Tánaiste and former Minister for foreign affairs, Deputy Simon Harris, about the situation in El Fasher and the inability to get humanitarian aid into the city and our concerns for the civilian population. Unfortunately, the situation since I first began to raise it got far worse as El Fasher fell and the RSF carried out these appalling crimes against humanity. We can no longer avert our eyes from what is happening in Sudan. This is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than a year and a half of siege warfare made El Fasher one of the most horrific places to live in the world in a war that the UN has labelled as the worst humanitarian crisis.”
“Widespread human rights violations are contributing to the severity of the protection crisis in Sudan. Woman and children, in particular, are bearing the brunt of the conflict and have been significantly impacted by the use of conflict-related, sexual and gender-based violence. Women and children are being targeted in a way that is vicious and deeply traumatic. Some of the stories coming out of Darfur and El Fasher have been truly appalling and blood chilling. In addition to the significant food insecurity and displacement, children are at heightened risk of recruitment, trafficking, child marriage and family separation. The OCHA estimates that 10 million children are out of school as of 31 October.”
“I cannot imagine what it must be like for the Sudanese community here in Ireland, across the world and in other parts of Sudan trying to establish what has happened to their loved ones and wondering if they are safe. In many instances, it has been unmitigated indiscriminative killing. It remains the world's worst humanitarian and displacement crisis because of the ongoing conflict. A total of 21 million people - 45% of the population - are currently facing acute food insecurity. Famine has been confirmed in areas of North Darfur, including in El Fasher, Kadugli and South Kordofan. The intensifying violence and associated issues of concern across Sudan means that the true scale of the food insecurity crisis and the potential famine is likely far worse than reported.”