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 met Gayle Cullen Doyle a couple of weeks ago in Oliver Bond, and she spoke about the regeneration of the late 1980s and early 1990s. I remember the physical regeneration at the time. I remember the double-glazed windows, central heating and showers going in. Oliver Bond survived for 50 years without basic showering, central heating and all these things we take for granted in the modern day. Along with that, which I did not notice at the time as I was too young, investment and resources went in, with diversion programmes, drug addiction resources and health resources. That all went in at the time. Gayle will tell you - she has told anyone who has visited - that this was a big improvement. It helped turn around the difficulties of the 1980s in terms of the drug epidemic, which I have vivid memories of from that period in my mind's eye.”
“The damage this Government is doing with its housing policy is crippling communities. These are communities that have struggled, survived and thrived at various times over the years, but are now facing great harm from this Government. I will return to the issue of the Oliver Bond flats, an area that is very close to my heart. I spent an awful lot of time growing up there. I would not be here without Oliver Bond. It gave my nana and grandad a home when they needed one, and my dad and his siblings grew up there. There are five generations of people living in Oliver Bond who have, through all those generations, worked to ensure it has thrived and have created a wonderful, warm community. It has received regeneration in the past which has benefited the flats.”
“On homelessness, this Bill would greatly restrict access to social housing that so many individuals require. In the Bill as drafted, there exists no critical provisions for emergency accommodation as recommended by the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is of critical importance that we enable those in urgent need to acquire the social housing they so desperately seek. The focus of the Department of housing should be on taking effective action to meet these problems head on. It is of the utmost importance that this Government supports those in critical need, rather than imposing more restrictive access on individuals with such great needs, which this Bill would ultimately do. The issue of quality, affordable and easy to access housing remains a critical concern for many individuals in society.”
“Additionally, the introduction of this Bill has sparked deep, wide-reaching concerns among numerous human rights groups and other related charities and organisations, as it could restrict critical access to many programmes, such as emergency homelessness services and highly sought-after social housing for society's most vulnerable and at-risk groups. We must not ignore these calls for help. The core of these issues arises from the proposed right to reside and habitual residence conditions as prerequisites to receive public housing. Various front-line groups have cautioned that these measures risk the exclusion of at-risk individuals from the basic emergency shelter they so desperately need. This would effectively create a direct and purposeful pipeline to more homelessness and individuals on the street without proper accommodation.”
“Although the Bill establishes a formal independent statutory appeals process, it does not provide for its operation through a central body rather than through the proposed dedicated appeals officers. Anything but a central body would result in significant deficiencies and be incapable of meeting the gravity of these problems. The use of a central body for decision-making would allow expertise and institutional knowledge to accumulate over time, with the ultimate goal of a holistic and consistent system. These processes must go further in order to ensure the development of an appeals system that works for the benefit of the individuals who are in great need of help.”
“It is of the utmost importance that the handling of infractions of the magnitude of ending an individual's tenancy is done with clarity. Changing or altering contracts or documents without the proper procedure and at a moment's notice leaves room for significant harm. By allowing corrections to statutory documents and declarations in this manner, we are putting at risk the due process that protects tenants and other individuals involved. It is deeply important that should errors arise, whether clerical in nature or otherwise, they are handled and resolved in a manner that allows for the traditional due process for corrections. There is concern about the rigour of the new independent appeals process set out in the Bill. As recommended in the 2024 pre-legislative scrutiny report, this should be entirely independent of local authorities.”
“Many of us have asked colleagues in other constituencies to make representations to housing officials on behalf of families who are forced to move from our constituency - in my case, Dublin Fingal - to the colleague's constituency, whether that be in south Kildare, Meath, Louth or elsewhere, because of unemployment or inability to access private rental accommodation. Those people need to build lives, get their children into schools, etc., but could face losing the six, seven, eight, nine or ten years they have spent on the previous local authority housing list. That should not be allowed to happen. Another concerning element of the Bill is the application of a slip rule to all documentation that accompanies a notice of termination, including other relevant or similar statutory declarations.”
“The new rule is designed to ensure many households will not have access to public housing. An area that demands significant attention and modification is the ability of individuals to move between different local authorities without losing the social housing status they have obtained. A proposal to that effect, introduced in the Social Housing Passport Bill 2026, would have allowed individuals experiencing a variety of different problems and needs to transfer their status to their new local authority. Under current law, if individuals need to relocate to another area, they must reapply and, in effect, start from scratch.”
“Individuals in our society who urgently require the support of public housing and emergency accommodation must have clearer pathways to accessing those rights. They must not be presented with further hurdles and complications. The Minister has assured us the Bill will not have such an impact on those requiring public housing but significant concern remains about what its ultimate outcome will be. A critical element of concern is the requirement that the habitual residency condition apply to every member of a household applying for social housing. Any of us who deal with social housing applicants know very many applicants will fall foul of this new rule and that it has been designed for just that reason. The habitual residency condition should only apply to one member of a household, not the entire household.”
“It is long overdue for the Government to enact some changes to ensure that the implementation and enforcement of relevant Department circulars is put on a statutory footing. In doing so, the Bill takes some steps that are tentatively welcome but significant concerns remain that the legislation may make it increasingly difficult for those who should be entitled to access social housing to do so by increasing and complicating the criteria they have to meet. The Bill suggests an unreality in which the existing situation is in any way easy. It already is a complication and an absolute ordeal for many families just to get onto the list, never mind the journey towards getting an allocation.”
“We have done the figures on the ground I can understand why the Minister may not want to meet, but it is impossible to defend the Government's inability to deliver proper infrastructure where new homes are getting built. It just is not good enough. The Minister's colleague, a former Minister for housing, Deputy O'Brien, knows the area very well and was involved in assisting with the houses there. He is also aware of the school places issue. Will the Minister please contact the Minister for education on our behalf in order that we can provide assistance and assurance to the parents of Portmarnock that this Government is not giving up on them?”
“I want to raise school places in my constituency, specifically in Portmarnock. It is two months to the day since I stood in this Chamber and requested an urgent meeting with the Minister for Education and Youth on the severe deficit of school places in Portmarnock. I have had no official response to that meeting request and I have followed up with the Department a number of times. It is not good enough. It is not what the parents and the children deserve. The parliamentary questions I have tabled are getting the same copy and paste answer with duplication of applications being given as a reason and that this problem will work out itself, when we know that they will not.”
“We have the facts. We have the moral justification. I urge the Minister to please open herself to include services on Committee Stage, to strengthen this Bill and make it all that it can be.”
“While the CSO has not published the data specifically on trade in services with the illegal settlements, the direction of travel is clear and tallies with other research. Physical goods like dates and olives are only a fraction of the economic relationship. The Government's legal advice excuse just does not wash. Frankly, it is insulting that it continues the pantomime about it when we all know the Government has been spooked by potential economic scare impacts, ignoring the work of the foreign affairs committee and all the experts. Even when we had IBEC in, when we tried to pin down anyone who may have been pro diminishing or diluting this Bill, they could not give us any facts or numbers for potential job losses or economic impact. They just do not have it because all they can rely on is scare tactics and scare economics.”
“We have put them on the floor of this Dáil so often, but they cannot lose meaning and impact. A total of 18,000 children have been killed in this conflict since 7 October. We spent the last two days talking about two football games. That is 18,000 children who will never get to see a football game or a sporting event of any sort. It is 18,000 children whose lives have been taken away by this criminal regime. We know that this Bill will do very little to save lives, but it will send a strong message. The stronger this Bill is, the stronger the message it will send, which is why services matter so much. That is where the real sanctions lie. As a modern open economy, 70% of Ireland's trade with the wider world is in services and just 30% is in goods. The same is true of Ireland's trade with Israel.”
“We have been confident and strident in our view that Israel is acting as a criminal, rogue and genocidal state, and we need to pull every single lever that we possibly can. Every piece of legislation that we bring in should be as strong as possible. I am keeping my temper as even as possible because we have delivered many emotional speeches in this Dáil, but we are now at the meat of the issue in terms of this Bill. I imagine this is going to go to Committee Stage and we are going to do everything we can to get services added to strengthen the Bill. I urge Government Members to return to the spirit of the summer of 2025 in the foreign affairs committee and to open their minds and hearts to the Palestinian people and look to change this Bill. We have the figures on the deaths, the genocide and the killings.”
“This legislation that has come through, unfortunately, is lacking, as I have laid out. The Government could not even lead from the front when it came to the football game, which has been debated yesterday and today. It is always found wanting when it comes down to the crunch. That is not to say the Government has not done things that are important. The recognition of the State of Palestine is important, and I acknowledge that there is work being done with other nations in Europe in terms of sanctions. However, in dealing with this Bill and its potential, we cannot help but feel the Government is leaving stuff behind and leaving out services due to pressure from the outside. We talk about Israel in this Chamber so often and we get accused by Israelis and supporters of Israel of all sorts.”
“We have an opportunity to do things, and this is one of them, but, unfortunately, what has been put before us in the Chamber today is not as strong as it should be. People want leadership from the Government. They are crying out for it and they deserve that leadership because it is how they feel in towns and villages all over this country. I am struck when the Taoiseach gets up at Leaders' Questions and tells the Chamber that he has met with the Palestinian ambassador or some other official and that they are thankful to the Irish Government, as if that is full support for everything we are doing. Of course they would be thankful, because they are seeking any form of support they can get in a world that has turned its back on them. However, the Government cannot argue seriously that it is the champion of this legislation.”
“What does it say about our courage of convictions if the only thing we can do in response to war crimes is pass a watered down version of a Bill that has become totemic not just for Senator Black or for those of us in opposition but also for the Government, since the Government parties included it in their election manifestos and their programme for Government? Israel is committing and has committed huge atrocities, war crimes and genocide. There is no longer any debate about that. Every day that passes, every day the West turns its head away and pretends that what is happening is not happening, allows Israel to get away with it. There will be more families who will have lost loved ones today, more children who will die just because they were born in the wrong part of the world.”
“The threats from ambassadors and members of Congress in written form have had an impact. We have seen a capitulation in terms of this Bill, with the removal of services and accusations that the Opposition are dealing in fantasy economics. The truth, however, is that the only one dealing in anything of the sort is the Government in terms of its cowardice in overly bending the knee to the United States and the Israeli lobby. No matter how this is spun, the simple truth remains: a euro flowing into the settlements from trade in physical products provides the same support and recognition as a euro flowing into trade in services.”
“These are important points, and I know that they were made because I was at every committee hearing last summer. I worked with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers, along with everyone in opposition, to unanimously recommend that both goods and services be included in the final Bill. Now those same backbenchers are going to support a Bill that goes against the recommendations of that committee. It is absolutely ludicrous and it shows, if there was any doubt, where the real power lies in this country. It is not with the majority of people who, poll after poll, have demonstrated support for this Bill to include both goods and services. There is a disproportionate amount of power with American multinationals and the Trump Administration, whose finger has been very clearly put on the scale.”
“It is not the Bill we discussed and recommended through pre-legislative scrutiny last summer with unanimous agreement. It does not include both goods and services. The Minister, as Minister for justice previously, would have stated on a number of occasions how Fine Gael is the party of law and order. That is a tagline Fine Gael members have attached to their party over many years. However, Fine Gael is ignoring international law when it comes to this Bill because the ICJ and international law make no distinction between trade in goods and trade in services. In committee, the Minister's own Department of foreign affairs legal advisers accepted that a ban on goods alone would be only "partially compliant" and would move us "towards compliance" with international law.”
“I acknowledge the presence and work of Senator Frances Black. It requires some degree of fortitude to deliver a Bill from the Opposition or as Independents in the Seanad and to see it through to this point, eight years later, in the Dáil. I offer my heartfelt commendation to the Senator on getting the Bill this far, although it is clear that this is not the Bill she wrote. She is, however, the impetus and the source behind it. I also acknowledge to the Minister that two Thursdays ago in the Dáil, I accused her of mothballing the occupied territories Bill. I did not believe she was going to bring this Bill to the floor, and she has done, so I apologise for that and say to her "fair play" for bringing it forward. What I am not surprised about is that the Bill that has found its way to the floor is not the Bill we wanted to see.”
“The majority of Irish football players do not want this game to go ahead. The majority of the FAI general assembly do not want this game to go ahead. Together in this Chamber, we have an opportunity with these two matches to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza, and southern Lebanon and to say "No", that we will support our FAI and our footballers through whatever sanctions will be imposed on them and that we will look for support from other European nations and nations beyond Europe to stand up to Israel in football and in other sports. The FAI's decision to move this to a neutral venue is an answer to a question nobody asked. This game should not take place in a neutral venue. It should just not take place. We need to stop the game.”
“I am proud of being Irish for many reasons but I am proud of the stances we as individuals, as communities and as governments over the years of different combinations and hues have taken against despotic regimes, international crimes and apartheid regimes. I am ashamed that we are not doing that the way we should right now. If this all washes through our Parliament over the next number of months, all we may have to show is a couple of things - a recognition of the State of Palestine, which is not unimportant, and a watered down version of the occupied territories Bill. That is not good enough. That does not reflect what the Irish people believe and what the Irish people want. More specifically, speaking about football, the majority of Irish football fans do not want this game to go ahead.”
“It is an abhorrent and criminal state that is carrying out the worst atrocities on a number of fronts at this moment, and has been at an intense rate for the last two and a half years at least. That is not going back any further but we can if we want because its crimes go back many decades. The Taoiseach accuses us of moralising on this issue. Yes, it is the moral issue. It is a moral issue. It is immoral to play these games. It is immoral to welcome Israel and stand shoulder to shoulder and compete with Israel in international sporting competition. The higher that sporting competition is and the higher the profile and the more accepted it is, such as the global game of soccer, the more immoral it becomes and the stronger the stance we have to take.”
“It is not a normal state. It is obliterating the international rules and international law. It is committing genocide. It is carrying out illegal ongoing occupations in the West Bank. It is continuing to launch invasions and ethnic cleansing up through Lebanon. We saw today more killings taking place in the city of Tyre. We do not bat an eyelid when there are sanctions against Russia in the sporting world, and rightly so. In times gone by, we did not bat an eyelid in terms of sanctioning South Africa, and rightly so, but why this exceptionalism? Why do we in Europe, in the global north, in the western world or whatever you want to call it continue to embrace Israel as a normal state in our neighbourhood when it is anything but?”
“It adds a layer of understanding to the individual. When we combine that with patriotism and with our country, it is an expression of who we are. Therefore, when people ask why we are so exercised about these two games against Israel going ahead, it is because it is an expression of who we are. We are not a country that in any way wants to endorse, celebrate or stand shoulder to shoulder and engage in regular sporting competition with a state that commits genocide. That is it. It is not easy, and it will have some consequences. What are the consequences? It is losing some points. There may be some financial consequences. We may have to answer to some people in UEFA. We should be leading the charge to UEFA in terms of garnering support for others to stand should to shoulder and say "No, we do not accept this from the State of Israel".”
“I thank and commend Sinn Féin and Deputy Byrne, in particular, on bringing this motion forward. There is another motion being brought forward tomorrow by the Social Democrats and I am thankful it is being brought forward as well. Football is like no other sport. It is the world's game. It is the global game. It cuts through class, identity and borders like no other. It unites people. It has a long history of expression and political expression, whether it is the troops in the fields of Flanders in 1914 or the numerous examples of boycotting or expelling countries for gross violations of human rights or apartheid, such as South Africa. It is a part of who we are. When you tell someone which football team you support, it identifies you in a way that is outside of your friends, family and community.”
“We are reeling from the report of the Kenneally commission, which was released this morning. There are a number of serious outcomes from that. Will the Taoiseach give serious consideration to a debate on one particular aspect, the absence of an offence of misconduct in public offence, an issue outlined in the commission's report? It is not the only thing to come out of the report but is an issue of ethics in public office that this Government has been dragging its heels on.”
“We need to ensure that we have policies that allow people to live and raise families for the next 90 years in the Oliver Bond flats and other complexes in other areas of the city because without that, there is no Dublin.”
“This Government does not get it. I know this is away from the point of simply looking at extending outdoor dining, which we all accept is a good thing, but it means nothing if the Government does not put on a permanent footing real regeneration and real investment in our communities. We will be supporting this motion. We cannot come in here every six months and have the same conversations. The weather outside is good today and people are outside dining, but they also dine outside in overcast weather and even rainy weather. It is where we are now. It is the modern culture of our cities and large towns, but we need much more to sustain that and for it to thrive.”
“It goes right down to the very basics of urban regeneration and investment. It is more than what is at the bottom of an excel spreadsheet in terms of the number of units. It is not about units; it is about homes and communities. It is about communities that have sustained this city through good times and bad so that all of us who either originally come from the inner city who are now living in the suburbs but feel the call and the pull of home into the city can come here, be around our people and enjoy outdoor dining. It is about being able to go into individual distinct shops and not being surrounded by betting shops, fast-food outlets and vape shops but by shops that represent our city. Workers who live in our city, whether they were born in our city or have come here to work, should be able live and thrive in Dublin city centre.”
“When we talk about communities and the cherry on top of outdoor dining it is all wonderful, but it means nothing if we do not have the people to actually live, work and thrive in these areas. What I see with the motion on the 2021 legislation is an example of how the Government does not have joined-up policy in relation to thriving communities in our large towns and cities. We knew this instantly. Deputy Gannon would have also spoken on similar motions at six-month intervals. We have seen this as a positive over the past number of years, yet the Government has failed to put it on a permanent footing. It also speaks to the fact that this Government does not understand how to deliver and sustain thriving communities in our city centres or indeed in our large town centres.”
“In the wonderful weather we are having today, I cycled down to the Oliver Bond flat complex and spent a number of hours there with residents. The complex is very close to my heart. My father and his brother and sister were raised there by my nana and granddad. This is the largest flat complex in the country and is in need of positive regeneration. There are an awful lot of discussions about the mould, the damp and the conditions of the apartments but what is lost in the discussion is the fact that this is a community of people who live in the centre of our city. We need to ensure that these communities continue to thrive and continue to raise families in these flat complexes. These families have kept that flat complex and many others like it going, on both sides of the river, between the canals, for more than 90 years.”
“In Dublin, we have seen some small steps being taken, but that feeling is not yet there. We have seen some good positives in relation to the pedestrianisation of Capel Street but we have also seen the closure of really important and distinctive shops there such as Mr. Middleton's gardening shop just off Capel Street and Mr. Brenfer's darts shop. These were important shops that added to the character and characteristics of the city. In Dublin, my city, we are seeing small shops being squeezed out because Government policy seems to drive the provision and development of hotels, short-term lets, and is reefing the heart out of the city and removing communities and people who live there and replacing them with a transient tourist population and that is having an impact on businesses.”
“There is still a lack of clarity and direction in relation to this matter. That is why we need to put it on a firm footing. We need to recognise and accept this positive cultural shift that we have seen around our country. We need to look at the positives of pedestrianisation and converting units from shops into apartments and improving public transport so that people living farther out from cities do not see the lack of public transport options as a barrier to travelling and enjoying these options, either in our cities or towns. In capital cities across Europe, there are places and spaces that have been built for communities. I refer, for example, to Las Ramblas in Barcelona. These are spaces designed for people to simply spend time with each other, have a drink, have a bite to eat or to just be.”
“The Labour Party will be supporting this motion, as it has supported similar motions at six-month intervals going back to 2021, to allow continued outdoor seating and socialising in our towns and cities. It was born out of a necessity during the Covid period but it has ushered in and accelerated a positive culture of dining and drinking in this country. I have seen at first hand the impacts of good policy when it comes to outside dining in my constituency. In Malahide, the pedestrianisation of New Street, where I have a clinic every week, has allowed businesses to thrive. It is a vibrant space for people to socialise and consume food and drink outdoors. However, we have also seen the frustration when bad policy decisions are made about outside dining, such as what we saw with Drury Street a number of weeks ago.”
“The Taoiseach is making a charge of some kind of economic illiteracy in opposition in terms of the implications of the occupied territories Bill when he knows that during pre-legislative scrutiny last summer we had a number of chapters interrogating the economic impact of the occupied territories Bill. Still, there was cross-party Government and Opposition consensus on that committee to bring forward the occupied territories Bill with goods and services yet the Government is bringing forward this watered-down, unacceptable Bill.”
“I ask for the Government to follow what it did in the Autumn in relation to the flotilla. We have 12 Irish citizens kidnapped, including the President's sister and Luke McMenamin, from my own constituency. This Government provided time in the past to have a debate on the flotilla. We need to do it again. Some 12 citizens and maybe three more, have been kidnapped by the Israeli state. That is not acceptable.”
“I am beyond frustrated. I am enraged and angered and so let down. The one thing that we could have done in the short lifetime of this Government was to bring Senator Black's Bill, or at least the spirit of that Bill, into some form of legislation. This Government has abandoned it.”
“There are measures that we can take. Sadaka launched a document this week, "Beyond Words", the most aptly named document because words is all that we have given from this Chamber and from this Government to the people of Palestine. We have not delivered any action. Sadaka sets out, in a fantastic document, well-referenced actions that we can take without having to go through collective EU sanctions because that, in essence, is a cop-out. We know the veto powers of the EU. EU states will not support any actions against Israel but we can do things here in terms of sanctions, visas, military and civilian flights, and dual-use technologies. We can do that now. We can support this Bill. This is a strong, robust Bill. It is the kind of Bill that meets, in so far as we can, the devastation that has been caused by Israel. We must support it.”
“This new legislation not only marks a significant regression: it also does so by imposing capital punishment on de facto ethnic or national grounds and by diluting basic legal safeguards. It is the worst of the worst. This is where the State is at. Where are we this week? We have boycotted the Eurovision. That is the right thing to do but it is a very, very small measure. That competition is still going ahead. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people are going to watch it and the vast majority of European nations are still taking part. We have a football match coming up in the autumn. That cannot happen. That has to stop. We have to go belt and braces on sanctioning Israel. There is no other state in my lifetime or in any of our lifetimes that has acted with such impunity, so illegally or so grotesquely in carrying out genocide.”
“There is no other state that is as roguish, illegal or horrific as the Israeli state has been over the past number of years, if not decades. A new law was brought in by the Knesset in March, which the Minister referenced in her speech, permitting hanging and the death penalty. Israel has not carried out a judicial death sentence since 1962. It has carried out many killings, as we know, but it has not carried out a judicial death sentence since 1962. The United Nations is absolutely appalled by this law. I have not seen such strong language in a UN document. It states: ...the Knesset approved a bill ... Israel has not carried out executions nor imposed death sentences since 1962.”
“It carried across the water and across the continent to the Palestinian people. They knew that this Bill, if it was passed, would probably not save one life but it was a tangible symbol. Other states in Europe have gone ahead of us and actually delivered, including Spain and Slovenia. We are becoming a laggard in our support for Palestine. What is the threshold for action against Israel? More than 75,000 people have died in Gaza in the past three years, 2,800 have died in Lebanon since March and more than 1,000 have died in the West Bank with the continued expansion of the illegal settlements. What is the threshold? Is it because Israel is a white, western economy that it is getting away with this exceptionalism? If it was any other ethnicity or any other place in the world, it would be sanctioned beyond existence at this point.”
“Co-ordination at an EU level is important but we have an opportunity to do things domestically on our own. The Bill, introduced by Senator Black eight years ago is that measure but the Government is not supporting it. I have no doubt that the Minister has mothballed that legislation. I am enraged that we are in this situation. I recall the honeyed words of the Tánaiste when he was Minister for foreign affairs and sitting in that very seat. He took to his feet in the debate over the flotilla and said that not only would he progress the occupied territories Bill, but he would do so by November 2025. That is what he said on the Dáil record. He made a promise, a promise that has been broken. That promise was in the programme for Government and was made to the people of Ireland before the last election.”
“I am sorry but I do not believe that the Minister is committed to progressing the occupied territories Bill; I just do not. She said, quite rightly, that it was June 2025 when it went through pre-legislative scrutiny. It is now May 2026 and there is no sign of it. Deputy Boyd Barrett, Deputy Gibney and I, and others, ask every Thursday at the Oireachtas Business Committee about the occupied territories Bill but there is no answer. We get silence or "we do not know". We know where the Government's emphasis lies because the Minister betrayed it in her speech, copies of which were sent around. It actually states where the "clip starts", which presumably is an instruction to her social media team, and where the "clip ends". The emphasis from this speech, which will go out, is on co-ordination at EU level.”
“They should be in a Bill separate from the one in the Minister, Deputy McEntee's name. We find this improper and we cannot support it.”
“The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is trying to get the trust of the people and bring them along. I want to see us transformed in terms of our national security. I want to see us in a state where we can defend ourselves and have proper intelligence, proper surveillance and a proper ability to monitor our waters. However, the Minister loses the trust of the people on that journey when she brings in amendments such as this. It looks like it is mission creep and that she is trying to do it under the table and under the radar. That is not how it should be. There is no way a Minister for Defence should be happy that such substantial amendments to our Defence Forces would be brought in in this manner. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has a lot to answer for. He should be here. These amendments should not be on the clár.”
“At a time when the Minister for Defence is transforming our Defence Forces with the amount of funding that is going in and when national security is a huge conversation that is taking place, not just in committee rooms here, but in homes and on doorsteps all over the country, we should be having grown-up and sophisticated debates about national security through our defence committee and in the Dáil properly, not with late, ham-fisted amendments put through in a criminal and civil law amendment Bill. It is totally improper. It is not how we should be doing business on matters of such huge national significance. The people are being asked to come on a journey with us in national security. We have issues in relation to the deployment of troops and the triple lock, which is under threat.”