Duncan Smith
Dublin Fingal East · Labour Party · Ireland
“That is three separate roads that are all in one network and are all closed or heavily restricted because of these works happening at the same time. This is impacting thousands of existing residents, and will do so for a significant period. The works are happening and the homes are being built.”
“We have a very small wastewater treatment plant that has been there for 40 or 50 years and which serviced a much smaller town. It is currently being retrofitted and upgraded, but those works are being delayed.”
“I thank Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, for taking this debate late on a Thursday evening, on the last sitting day of this term. I would like to talk about the town of Swords in north County Dublin.”
“We do not have enough schools and we have a wastewater treatment plant that is absolutely buckling under the pressure. We welcome the houses. There were no mass protests about housing development in Swords. The majority of people who live there moved there, like myself, in the past 20 years and love living there.”
“I know you cannot make an omelette without cracking a few eggs, but there is a disconnect in the planning of these projects that is causing havoc in Swords. We have a massive issue with our bus network, from bus stops to bus services, and again, we do not have a rail link yet.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response, which speaks to the issue I am raising. Again, she will sense the tone in which I am raising it. There is an awful lot happening and being built, but it is the co-ordination of these works that is the problem.”
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“I am sure that the Taoiseach will join all of us in sending our thoughts to the communities of Donabate and Portrane with the breaking news that remains have found in the search for poor Daniel Aruebose. I want to return to what we raised at the Business Committee last Thursday, which is a commitment from the Taoiseach at the earliest possible convenience to have a debate on Gaza, with the measures that are now being discussed in Europe and the fact that a detailed memo was apparently brought to Cabinet this morning. This is the global crisis of our time and we would like and need an urgent debate on Gaza in this House.”
“With reference to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Ireland and the European Union as a whole are agreed that Israeli civilian settlements on occupied lands are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible. What this Bill would do, if passed, is ensure that when workers refuse to handle goods from these illegal settlements, they would be protected from losing their jobs. It is in the spirit of what the Dunnes workers did so courageously in the 1980s and with such a wonderful aim. We need to ensure that workers are protected and that they have a right to conscientious objection when dealing, in the course of their employment, with goods sourced from illegal settlements. This is a basic principle.”
“Section 2 deals with the securities issue by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power. EU Regulation 2017/1129 governs the prospectus that must be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market in the Union. A competent authority within one of the member states must approve the prospectus. In Ireland, the competent authority is the Central Bank. Section 3 deals with the refusal to handle settlement goods, which it states are: ... goods produced in whole or in part within an occupied territory by a member of the civilian population of the occupying power whose presence and activities within the occupied territory are facilitated ... by the occupying power.”
“They are also under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories. The purpose of this Bill is to enable additional and partial discharge of the legal obligations referred to by the ICJ. The Long Title states that the Bill is: ... entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an occupying power within occupied territory; and to provide for related matters.”
“UN Security Council Resolution 2334 of 23 December 2016 calls on all UN members to distinguish between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories it has occupied since 1967. On 30 December 2022, the General Assembly of the United Nations requested the International Court of Justice, ICJ, to provide an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. In its advisory opinion the ICJ confirmed that all states are under an obligation not to recognise as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
“Central to both Bills are the obligations of the State under international law, with particular regard to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, relative to the protection of civilian persons in a time of war. Ireland recognises the State of Israel and maintains diplomatic relations with it. However, Ireland considers that Israel has, since June 1967 and as a matter of international law, occupied territory outside its borders illegally, including the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem - the occupied territories. Ireland recognises the borders of Israel as they stood before 1967, but it also believes that both the Israeli civilian settlements within the occupied territories and the associated economic activity to be unauthorised and unlawful. Ireland's position accords with that of the international community.”
“In that regard, I wish to express special thanks to members of the SIPTU and Connect trade unions and ICTU officials who, through conversations, helped inform the second part of the Bill. The Bill contains provisions that are intended to supplement rather than replace the provisions of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 or the prohibition of goods Bill, the general scheme of which is currently the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny in the Department of Foreign Affairs. The provisions of my Bill are intended to apply generally, but the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is the immediate relevant context.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an occupying power within occupied territory; and to provide for related matters. This is a two-part Bill. The first part is aimed at prohibiting the Central Bank from dealing with war bonds and the second relates to the protection of workers who refuse to handle goods from illegal settlements.”
“The current Government, in its programme for Government, has a commitment to ensure "a transgender healthcare service that is based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion." This commitment is almost meaningless compared to the commitment in 2020. We are not making progress in this area for the trans community. The trans and intersex Pride march in Dublin and Cork at the weekend demonstrated that. We are actually going backwards. This Government's own messaging is going backwards. That is why we in the Labour Party are today tabling a trans healthcare motion on the Order Paper, which my colleague will talk about in more detail, to bring the Government back to where it should be going.”
“Speaking to members of the community who were around in the first Pride and subsequent Prides, the movement was rooted in protest, demonstration and anger. We are here tonight in that spirit with regard to transgender healthcare. I want to read two things. My colleague, Deputy Wall, referred to how we were bottom of the list in Europe with regard to transgender healthcare. In the 2020 programme for Government, the Government's commitment was to: Create and implement a general health policy for Trans people, based on a best-practice model for care, in line with the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) and deliver a framework for the development of National Gender Clinics and Multidisciplinary Teams for children and adults. That was good and was going in the right direction.”
“We are getting it wrong and we are not doing enough. I ask the Minister to withdraw her amendment and support the motion that has been put forward. It is a really good motion, it makes sense and it is achievable.”
“It is about waiting lists being cut and women not being long on waiting lists. It is taking them, on average, seven years - if they can get on a waiting list - because of the delays in diagnosis. The countermotion the Government has put forward does not answer the very good motion that has been put forward by Sinn Féin. It is angering. There are women in the Gallery who have been crying almost non-stop since this debate started. The issue is finally having a proper airing on the floor of the house, but the answers they are looking for from the Government they are not getting. This is not a usual motion. This is not a usual Tuesday evening. When we describe any healthcare issue in this country and within that description is the line "women are travelling abroad for healthcare", we know we are getting it wrong.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for this really detailed, strong motion that has been presented tonight, and I thank our party's spokesperson, Marie Sherlock, for sharing time. As a former party spokesperson on health, nothing has struck me more than the cases of women who have come to me to explain to me the pain, the silencing, the suffering and the exclusion they have felt as women in this country suffering from endometriosis. This motion from Sinn Féin says everything that needs to be said because it focuses on diagnosis. The calls in the motion are clear, they make sense and they are step by step. They include imaging, protocols, resourcing, awareness training and training for healthcare professionals. It is about cutting the time of diagnosis, those years of being silenced and all the pain. Then we get the countermotion.”
“Unfortunately, they are being denied that. We will probably bring other Bills and amendments forward where we can to improve the situation of aircraft noise and aviation in general.”
“It is outrageous this Bill is being opposed at this Stage and does not even have a chance to go to Committee Stage. The Government is scared of Committee Stage because it knows from its own history it is a flawed setup and should not be the way to monitor aircraft noise, with all the complex outcomes. It is a disgrace. The Government and the Minister of State are running away from a debate they know they cannot win and they know they are unsolid ground. We as public representatives will have to continue to fight this in this Chamber, in committees and at public meetings. I acknowledge all the public representatives here, as I did at the start, for all the work they do in all the forms they have the opportunity to do it. They should have the opportunity to debate this Bill and amend it if they so wish on Committee Stage.”
“Fianna Fáil submitted an amendment to call for a five-year review on the setting up of ANCA, which would have meant a review in 2023 or 2024. We would already have had the review if Fianna Fáil got its way. Fianna Fáil is all over the shop on this issue. The Labour Party and Sinn Féin do not want ANCA and nor does Deputy Toole seem to want it - Opposition, Opposition, and Opposition-ish - do not want it. Fingal County Council did not want it. It said on record it did not have the competencies. If you ask the DAA, it would not say it wants it either. Fianna Fáil did not want it and the Minister apparently did not want it. Who wants it? Why is it there? Is it because former Minister Shane Ross wanted it for some bizarre reason? I advise the Minister to through the debate and amendments from 2018 - his own party's amendments.”
“These are people who represent the airport, have employees as our constituents and understand the economic importance of the airport yet still also understand a balanced approach to noise and understand the problem. We put forward an approach in the EPA. Sinn Féin's preferred option would be the IAA, which was the CAR. Either would be a much better approach than Fingal County Council. I advise the Minister of State never to come to a Thursday evening debate and say a Bill did not have pre-legislative scrutiny and therefore should not go any further. That is a nonsense. That option is not open to us, as Deputy O'Reilly said. The Bill we are trying to amend had pre-legislative scrutiny in 2018 and 2019. It did not convince Fianna Fáil. It may not have opposed it but did not support it either.”
“I fundamentally disagree with the assertions of the Minister of State on the provisions of this Bill. I thank Deputies O'Reilly, Graves, O'Rourke, Pa Daly and Toole for contributing to the debate. These Deputies do not just contribute to the debates when the lights and cameras are on. They have been at every committee and public meetings for years on this issue. There is no other issue that unites politicians in north County Dublin more than the issue of the airport and the various related matters. In the recent development plan - Deputy Graves might correct me if I am wrong - there was one motion that was supported by every single member of the council. It was 40 votes to zero in relation to aircraft noise. That included members of the Minister of State's party and every single party. There is no other issue like it.”
“I hope the Government will support this pro-health, pro-community Bill and that we can move towards having a more modern, sophisticated and health-based approach to aircraft and aviation noise.”
“O’Leary and others in the aviation industry when they try to force their all planes, any planes, all day, any night approach to Dublin Airport. There is a lot of strong local opinion and experience on this issue. The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, will have received many of the same emails that I and my colleagues in the Chamber have received. The setting-up of ANCA and its functioning over the past five years have never persuaded local residents that it is the right setup for the monitoring aircraft noise. I reiterate that this Bill is not designed to solve the many problems. Rather, it is just to put right a structural mistake made by the former Minister, Mr. Shane Ross, when he put the responsibility for aircraft noise under Fingal County Council.”
“We saw how he approached the previous Minister for Transport with a view that insulting and bullying would cow him into certain actions, with a focus then on the passenger cap and disregarding any and all resident concerns, without due understanding, - deliberately, I believe - to what has taken place in Fingal regarding public consultation, planned take-off and landing routes and noise insulation schemes. At the end of the day, the people living here are airport people. They work in the airport and want it to thrive. They want the airport to operate in an honest, open and transparent manner and for it to engage with residents in such a way. I hope that the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien, who shares my constituency, will not give in to such transparent tactics from Mr.”
“In those circumstances, it can be called into question whether true functional separation can be achieved without the competent authority and the local residents via their elected members on the council, of which the competent authority continues to serve as chief executive. While that might sound convoluted, it points to the fact that we believe, and have always believed, that this has not been a sound structure for the monitoring of aircraft noise. I listened to Michael O’Leary on Newstalk today telling my constituents to “suck it up” when it comes to aircraft noise. Why does Mr. O’Leary, with his vast wealth, not buy a property right under one of the unexpected and uninsulated flight paths and put his money where his mouth is?”
“At the same time, however, he or she remains chief executive of a body whose principal statutory function is to provide a forum for the democratic representation of the local community and to provide that civic leadership for that community. In summary, the function of acting as a competent authority is vested in an individual whose principal existing statutory function is to advise and assist elected representatives of such local authority, while the council’s own statutory remit is to provide a forum for the democratic representation of the local community around the airport.”
“It may be argued that by vesting the functions of aircraft noise with the chief executive of the county council rather than with the elected members, the Act has achieved a functional separation, which is an EU legal term. Functional separation has been achieved in the electricity and gas sectors, for example, when certain functions assigned to an undertaking are spun off into an independently operated entity, even though common ownership is preserved. True functional separation, however, requires a proper separation of functions. It is not achieved if notionally separated entities have mixed or overlapping functions. In this case, the chief executive of Fingal County Council has been given a noise regulation function under the 2019 Act which he or she must perform without direction from the elected members of the council.”
“The fact of the matter is that, now, we have poor air pollution and particulate matter landing and resting on the homes of people in south Swords and all over north County Dublin. It is having a real impact on people’s health. An agency such as the EPA is best placed to provide that monitoring service. The reason for this is that Fingal County Council is ultimately a unit of local government that represents the interests of the residents living in the vicinity of the airport. One of the principal functions of local government, as set out in section 63 of the Local Government Act 2001, is to provide a forum for the democratic representation of the local community and to provide civic leadership for that community.”
“I and other Deputies in the Chamber today have attended a number of presentations by the forum group in Fingal and Meath whose members have given strong testimony regarding the impact on their health, backing up the World Health Organization’s assessment. Aircraft noise can increase cardiovascular disease. People are 20% more likely to experience cardiovascular disease in areas of high aircraft noise. There are also issues of noise pollution and particulate matter in air pollution, which are caused by aircraft. While we are always told by the aviation industry that aircraft will be running on biofuels in a few years’ time and that they will make no noise and be practically gliders, that is absolute nonsense. We have been hearing that for years.”
“Since the aircraft noise competent authority, ANCA, was set up under the auspices of Fingal County Council, I must make it clear that there are absolutely no issues when it comes to the probity or professionalism of any of the officials. This Bill is not being brought because of any concern about probity or professionalism. Rather, it relates to the fact that, structurally, we still believe, as we always have, that setting up aircraft noise monitoring under the auspices of a local authority is an unsound option. It is not the preferred option to tackle the issue of aircraft noise, which, as we know from a 2018 WHO report, has an impact not only on the mental and emotional well-being of people but on their physical health too.”
“This Bill is about transferring the function for regulating aircraft noise from Fingal County Council to the EPA. It is in response to the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019, which the Labour Party opposed at the time. This is a long-standing position of the Labour Party. We believe the function of aircraft noise monitoring should be within the EPA. That is our preferred option. This position goes back to Councillor Peter Coyle from the Howth-Malahide ward almost 20 years and it has been supported by our party and others ever since, including the current Fingal representation of Councillors Brian McDonagh, James Humphreys, Brendan Ryan and Corina Johnston, as well as Deputy Robert O’Donoghue.”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am delighted to have the opportunity to move this Bill on Second Stage. To be clear, this Bill will not solve the many issues impacting negatively the daily lives of residents in north County Dublin and east County Meath, including aircraft noise, night-time flights and the passenger cap. Members of the Government who were in opposition when this Bill was introduced supported it at the time. It would transfer the functions for regulating aircraft noise from the aircraft noise competent authority, ANCA, under the auspices of Fingal County Council, to the Environmental Protection Agency, recognising, as should be the case, the physical and mental health impacts aircraft noise has on individuals.”
“I ask the Tánaiste to take up this issue of the GAA children, as well any other groups that are coming down the track, to ensure every possible effort is being made to allow them to visit this country.”
“On the same issue, if the roles were reversed and a GAA club in Greystones, Swords or anywhere else were trying to go somewhere and the mentors who were travelling with them were falling foul of this, we would be rightly asking questions and, indeed, be outraged. We know this is not a normal case either. There have been many political representations made on this. We also have something else coming down the tracks with the Lajee Center in Bethlehem sending dancers over who may be subject to the same situation. The Tánaiste has spoken about breaking down silos. We have limited methods and ways of showing solidarity with Palestinians at the moment. This is one of them.”
“We also believe that, morally, it is the right thing to do. It sends the right message as a health policy - that we as a State will do everything in our power to support people to take part in national screening programmes. We commend this Bill to the House.”
“For those of us in Dublin, the distance can be quite short and we may only need to take a morning off work. Some people who live in more remote parts of the country will need to take a day off work in order to take part in a screening programme. This is an investment for each employer to ensure that their employees are getting checked through national programmes as early as possible. If there is an anomaly or, God forbid, they do have cancer, it can be caught early and treated early. The earlier the treatment, the less invasive it is and the healthier people can remain, which means they can remain in work longer and be able to engage in every other part of their lives. We believe that makes sense. It is something that would not have too much of a cost impact on employers or on the Exchequer.”
“The Irish Cancer Society estimates that approximately 40,000 people get cancer in Ireland each year and approximately 30% of all deaths per year are from cancer. We know through our own history with screening programmes and, unfortunately, the scandals that have brought screening programmes to the fore of people's minds, that the earlier people get checked, the greater their chance of survival. We are now in a situation where we have increasing trust in our screening programmes - trust that has been hard won after the scandals that have occurred, in particular in regard to CervicalCheck. However, we need to progress more. We must do everything we can to reduce every barrier in people's way to ensure that they can take up national screening programmes. Some screening checks involve a geographic distance.”
“We know that those types of employment come with fewer safeguards, entitlements and protections. The take-up of trade union membership is also lower in these groups. We call on the Government to introduce this Bill. I look forward to working with our current health spokesperson, Deputy Sherlock, who is sitting next to me, and our workers' rights spokesperson, Senator Cosgrove. I wrote this Bill at the end of the last Dáil term but I did not get a chance to introduce it when I was health spokesperson and chair of the Oireachtas cross-party group on cancer. We believe this would be an easy win for the Government. We will work with the Minister for Health and the Minister for enterprise in order to get this through.”
“There are four national screening programmes: BreastCheck, CervicalCheck, BowelScreen and Diabetic RetinaScreen. BowelScreen is a home check so the practicalities of this Bill would not apply to it, but it would apply to the other three. This is not to say that we are failing in terms of take-up. BreastCheck, for example, exceeds the 70% take-up, which is the standard for screening programmes. However, more can always be done. A very important piece of research was conducted for the HSE by Sophie Mulcahy Symmons at the end of 2023 on the take-up of national screening programmes. It indicated, among other things, that people in lower socioeconomic groups are less likely to take up a national screening programme appointment. The majority of people in lower socioeconomic groups are likely to be in vulnerable, insecure or low-paid employment.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for a period of paid leave in order to enable employees to participate in health screening programmes; for that purpose to amend the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997; to extend the protection against unfair dismissals conferred by the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015; to provide for the consequential amendment of certain other Acts; and to provide for related matters. I thank Edel O'Shea, a constituent of mine, who worked with me on the Bill, and the Irish Cancer Society, which, as ever, is fantastic in providing data and detail on all things related to cancer services, cancer treatment and cancer screening in this country. The Bill is simple. It would stop workers having to take annual leave for hospital appointments for national screening programmes.”
“While I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic, it is utterly depressing that we, here on the western edge of Europe, remain commentators on what is the biggest tragedy on the globe at the moment, namely, the regional conflict in the Middle East. This is being most acutely felt by the civilians of Gaza, who face death, slaughter and genocide on a daily basis. It must end. There needs to be a road to a true, viable, Palestinian state and long-term sanctions need to be imposed on the State of Israel. It cannot be allowed to continue to act outside of international norms.”
“Ireland was the first signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and it can continue to play a role in striving towards a nuclear-weapon free world. The instability in the Middle East has many causes but the biggest impediment is the State of Israel. It operates outside so many international conventions, treaties and norms. It is inflicting a continuous genocide on the people of Gaza. It kills in cold blood Gazans who are queueing for aid. It launches unprovoked attacks on states such as Iran, and the Iranians are no angels either. I am sure that Iran will continue to fund and arm its proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.”
“The probability of further conflict, instability, missiles and death and destruction in the medium to long term is quite likely. We have huge concerns about a ceasefire in Gaza, because we have no commitments that real aid will be delivered by trusted organisations that know how to deliver it. We are not seeing any plans for a high-level recommitment to a long-term peace strategy for Palestine and a road to statehood for the Palestinian people. This is Irish foreign policy and the belief of the Irish people. I think it is the belief of the large majority of people in Europe, even if many of our partner governments in the European Union have been too staunchly supportive of Israel. When it comes to nuclear disarmament, Ireland has proud role in promoting it.”
“It has been a contentious relationship over many years but at least the country is in the regime. Israel is not in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty regime. The country has had nuclear weapons since the 1960s and is outside any weapons inspection programme. It acts as a law unto itself, not just regarding nuclear weapons, but in all aspects of international policy and relations. The successful agreement with Iran allowed the IAEA huge amounts of access to ensure Iran was co-operating. This has now ended and now we hear that Iran will not be co-operating with the IAEA. This is hugely disappointing and hugely concerning for the long-term stability of the Middle East. We also hear from leaked intelligence reports that the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities was not as complete as President Trump would like us to believe.”
“We know that there was a successful plan, orchestrated by the former US President, Barack Obama. This was the joint comprehensive plan of action between Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. It was successful between 2015 and 2018 in getting rid of all the medium-enriched uranium in Iran and reducing the low-enriched uranium to negligible amounts. Then, in 2018, in what is the greatest foreign policy blunder of the past ten years, President Donald Trump, in his first term, abandoned the plan. This allowed Iran to renew its nuclear programme. Iran has remained inside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty regime, albeit not totally transparently and not always allowing weapons inspectors in.”
“We hear that Israel provides aid to the people of Gaza, but we know that it does not. Anyone listening to "Morning Ireland" this morning would have heard exactly the meagre rations people have to try to eke out survival in Gaza. Israel has spread complete chaos in the Middle East in the past 20 months. The renewed conflict with Iran is just the latest example of a state that is completely out of control. To be clear, there is no good guy or bad guy when it comes to Iran and Israel, but Israel did start by launching missiles into Iran, even though all intelligence reports indicated that Iran was still some years away from developing a nuclear weapons programme. We know that Iran has been less than transparent about its nuclear weapons programme. It is clear to me that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.”
“Israel is conducting a siege and a bombing campaign, backed by the United States, which has made unfettered access impossible. Nowhere is the failure of the IDF-controlled aid system more stark than in the ongoing killing of civilians. Reading about the slaughter taking place in the queues for aid is something that I cannot get out of my head. I do not think many of us can. We have seen this throughout history, where the most vulnerable are lined up in condensed settings, set upon by psychopaths, and killed in cold blood. Israel must never be allowed to forget this and the country must be brought to justice for it. What we have seen in Gaza is not a humanitarian response; it is an illusion of one. We hear from IDF spokespersons that the IDF does not target civilians, but we know that it does.”
“It will be a hugely concerning and worrying departure if this template is used for any future conflicts. We will have the weaponisation of medicines, basic foodstuffs and aid. We in Ireland hold aid very dear. I am proud of the fact that Ireland is one of the few countries that have not cut aid. Many European countries have cut aid or have put increased restrictions on aid, or in the case of the United States, have stopped aid. Ireland has increased aid, which we, the Irish people, are very proud of. The fundamental principle of humanitarian aid is that it must be neutral, impartial and based solely on need. International humanitarian law mandates unfettered access to civilians in conflict zones. Israel is stopping this unfettered access.”
“I remember studying the proliferation of private security and military companies. The Iraq war was when we had an explosion in the number of these private security companies, which emerged as a big economy in the 1990s. Obviously they have existed for centuries. The Iraq war was when the proliferation of these companies exploded. What has changed now is that these private security companies have become systemic in the provision of aid. This is a departure that none of us ever contemplated. None of us who study private security companies and their role in active warfare and logistical support ever contemplated that these companies would, in such a big way, replace the United Nations, the World Food Programme and other trusted aid agencies and multilateral organisations that provide aid to people.”
“They are just giving voice - one voice, their voice - to the suffering of the people of Gaza and if media and journalistic bodies continue down the route of following these artists around and picking apart every little thing they say or do, it will result in less coverage being applied to the conflict, war and genocide in Gaza. While this is happening, we are not focusing on the 30 people in Gaza that were killed in a café by Israel or the more than 400 people murdered in cold blood queuing for aid in the last weeks. Our focus needs to be absolutely steadfast. The people of Gaza and the Palestinians have faced unending devastation from the Israeli Government. It is another disgrace that Israel and the United States have created their own private body to control aid distribution in Gaza.”
“This is another element of Ireland's commitment to the Palestinian people and the people of Gaza, of which we are proud, that is being destroyed by the bombs of Israel. The coverage of Gaza and the war in Gaza has been subject to much criticism. I do not necessarily agree with all the criticism that has been heaped on various news organisations in this respect. I have, however, been disquieted by what has happened to the arts community, including Kneecap and Bob Vylan and what happened at Glastonbury. Moving to try to silence artists and how they express themselves, whatever our own opinions may be and whether or not we agree with what they say, is a dangerous space to be in. As Kneecap said, this is not the issue.”
“I welcome that the Tánaiste has used that language consistently, including in his statement today, that Israel has committed a genocide. When we use that language the people and the regime that commit genocide must face consequences down the line. Cities in Gaza have been flattened, hospitals and schools targeted and destroyed and access to food, water and medical supplies cut off. It is not just access. The infrastructure to deliver water has been destroyed, as we in the foreign affairs committee were briefed on a couple of weeks ago. It will take many years to rebuild that. Ireland helped with funding and expertise to build that infrastructure in Gaza over the last number of years.”
“We have not seen real action from the big powers such as the United States or from the United Kingdom or Germany, the countries that are arming, and have been arming, the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, during this war and for decades previously. We have seen some shifts in those countries and Israel may have felt that. Perhaps this is what caused Israel to become concerned again about the Iranian nuclear programme as a way of trying to convince its traditional allies that Israel is somehow on the side of good, democracy and righteousness in the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we know is that 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF and thousands more continue to be starved by the Israeli blockade. We must always be clear that Israel has committed a genocide on the people of Gaza.”