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 think that the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has made and is making an absolute mess of his portfolio. An example of that is the element of these amendments relating to the aid to civil powers. On 9 April, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, confirmed it was well established in law that the Defence Forces may assist An Garda Síochána in aid to the civil power. That was on 9 April when he was deploying Defence Forces in relation to the fuel protests. Here we are on 13 May and we are bringing in new law to enable him to request the deployment of the Defence Forces "in aid of the civil power". He said six weeks ago that it was already in law, so why are we bringing in these amendments now? It is because the Minister for justice made an absolute hames of it and acted outside his remit in early April. This deserves huge attention.”
“We have known for years that we were going to have this Presidency. The Russian shadow fleet is also being used as a reason to bring this in. Again, the threat and the activity of the Russian shadow fleet is not something that has fallen on us. The Minister's messaging is mixed. She is saying this is both a pre-EU Presidency measure and is also meant to tackle the Russian shadow fleet. We need scrutiny and debate on both of those things, particularly in relation to how we tackle the Russian shadow fleet and other threats in our seas. I believe that the Minister is serious about tackling those threats. I do not believe that she thinks it is proper to be in the Dáil debating a criminal and civil law Bill with amendments that impact her remit as Minister for Defence. I do not think that this is how she wants to do business.”
“I find this totally improper. A couple of months ago, the Minister launched the maritime strategy, a very substantial document. It is the way we should be going. There are a number of issues with it but we should be debating this in the context of a defence amendment Bill. With these amendments, we are amending the Defence Act 1954 in three substantial ways: helping to protect and defend our territorial seas and internal waters and protect the sovereign rights of the State and our exclusive economic zone; making provision for the long-standing role of the Defence Forces in aid of the civil power; and enhancing the protection of military installations. These are substantial things to amend and should be done with proper scrutiny, notwithstanding the EU Presidency. The EU Presidency has not falling upon us by surprise.”
“We await with bated breath the occupied territories Bill being progressed. Will the Taoiseach make it a primary objective of our Presidency of the EU for this country to advocate on behalf of the Palestinian state? Will he place that front and centre with our EU partners? Does the Taoiseach think our underinvestment in Garda resources is going to come back to bite the Government during the course our Presidency? I have a letter from Garda HQ which states that the development of new Garda stations in the Swords and Donabate, which have populations of 60,000 to 20,000, respectively, are not going ahead.”
“A couple of weeks ago, I raised with the Taoiseach the need to repair the swimming pool at Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Club, PSLC. The PSLC is a vital piece of local infrastructure across Fingal and 90% of its users are not-for-profit community pool or non-members of the leisure centre. Fingal County Council has stepped up to the tune of €500,000 towards the overall cost of repair, which is approximately €1 million. The Government has not yet committed funding. There is talk of about €100,000 coming from central government, but we need more. Either way, we need a commitment to ensure that this repair project can begin and end as soon as possible. This is not the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, or the sports capital programme. It would be through the Minister, Dara Calleary's community fund.”
“All the Government says in opposition to this is that people should contact their energy company and draw down their hardship fund. That shows an absolute poverty of ambition and absolutely no ideas. PrepayPower Energy announced last week that electricity prices are going to rise by nearly 10%. We know the other companies are going to follow. We know food prices are increasing week on week, yet the Government has no answers. We are not just looking to shake the magic money tree. We are putting in place a plan, through windfall taxes, to fund what we are asking to do. This is not voodoo economics from us, but a plan for how to raise the money and where to spend it properly. The Government does not care about that because it is listening to who shouts the loudest and sectoral interests.”
“It is an utterly brainless idea when states like Germany, Italy and Lithuania decommissioned nuclear power a long time ago. Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and others are actively winding down nuclear power because they know it is not the power source of the future, but the power source of the past. What is the Irish Government doing? It is going to start a conversation about it. The Government is utterly without ideas. We know what the future is but this is about what we can do now. Food prices are absolutely crippling people. In this mini-budget, we are offering a €100 credit. Yes, it is blunt but at least it will help people right now. We are proposing targeted energy credits for households that are struggling to pay their energy bills.”
“It was incredible for the Minister of State to say our motivation for calling for the introduction of a mini-budget was impatience and that it was because the Government is not bringing in its budgets quickly enough. We do not support the programme for Government. If its first budget is anything to go by, the Government has no interest in helping ordinary workers and families given that it prioritised the hospitality sector. We are proposing this mini-budget because it is pouring down on people out there. We are in the midst of the worst fuel crisis in the history of the planet. What does this Government decide to do to distract people this week? It says we should discuss nuclear power. If anything highlights the poverty of the Government's ambition in this area, it is that.”
“It is inconsistent, inhumane, unethical and downright wrong that Europe is not calling out Israel for the genocide that is being carried out on the people of Palestine, for what it is doing in Lebanon and for its continued expansion of the illegal settlements in the West Bank. Europe will not retain any moral leadership, will fail to bring along allies and will fail to bring along the people of Ireland if it continues to treat Israel in this exceptional manner by excusing these despicable acts that continue. Ireland and the Irish people remain, by and large, positively disposed towards the EU. I think Brexit had a lot to do with that. Without doubt, a lot of EU states stood by us during that process but we cannot take that support for granted. We must be honest and forthright.”
“I note recently, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, was the first non-European leader to attend a meeting of the European Political Community. That is more than merely symbolic. It is an important indication because it is another signal following Prime Minister Carney's speech in February that we cannot follow, and the European Union cannot follow, the United States into isolationism. There is a troubled and uncertain road ahead, but Europe needs to pull together and answer and meet hard challenges and hard questions with honesty and forthrightness. Europe has consistently let itself down in the last number of years in its approach to Israel.”
“We must do so while improving our own security, however, because the charge against Ireland is that we have not taken our own security seriously. It has been a decades-long embarrassment that we have been reliant on Britain, the US and others for our own security. The security threats have changed - the new threats are potential cyberattacks and attacks to undersea cables – so we need a sophisticated approach. It is not the build-up of tanks, jets or troops; it is the build-up of capacity and of sophistication. We need to work with our allies and, in doing so, to be forthright that we not want to join NATO or a common defence union and nor will we ever. It may be a delicate path but it is a path that we must take with clarity. We must not be afraid and we must not hide behind vague definitions of this, that and the other.”
“It might not be a big deal in and of itself – perhaps it was welcomed by some – but when we look at the first 15 months of Trump 2.0 with a wider view and when we examine the wider trend of tariffs, Greenland and a US approach to NATO which impacts a lot of our European Union allies, we realise that Europe now needs to look away from the US, away from the self-appointed leader of the free world and away from isolationism. This is bringing up some difficult questions for Europe and for Ireland, chiefly in the area of security. We hold our military neutrality very dear. I have been at conferences in Europe over the last 18 months. It is clear that many people in Europe want to move towards a common defence union. That is something we must resist and we can resist.”
“That came with concerns - there were issues in relation to the build-up of US military personnel and facilities in mainland Europe - but the US was a dependable economic ally. That is no longer the case. In the last week, the US has announced that it is moving 5,000 troops from Germany. That is something that President Biden had put in train but the notable aspect of the method used by the Trump Administration to carried that out was that there were no negotiations and no forewarning that it was going to happen. Again, we have seen yet another snap decision.”
“I will be sharing time with Deputy O’Donoghue and we will have five minutes each. I will pick up on one of the final points the Minister of State made. He said that 76 years on, Robert Schuman would probably recognise the instability that exists now. I agree with him in that regard. If we look to the east, we can say that what is happening now represents the realisation of the worst fears from back then. Russia has literally rolled tanks into Ukraine, is carrying out proxy attacks, proxy wars and cyberattacks, and is ultimately operating to destabilise Europe. That has been the fear for many decades and it is being realised. We see the unexpected aspect of this rupture when we look to the west. Throughout the European Union's evolution, the United States was a dependable ally of the Union.”
“The continued delays and the recurring nature of this issue risks undermining the integrity of the C and A scheme in general. Given the unique restrictions places on the Defence Forces personnel, I have to say in the strongest terms, it is absolutely essential that this mechanism operates without interruption and with the confidence of all parties. I will bring this up at every Oral Question session having been making continued representations to the Minister and I will work with the representative bodies as well to ensure that this matter is resolves at the earliest opportunity.”
“Why has the conciliation and arbitration scheme for the Permanent Defence Force has been without an adjudicator since June last year? This is the only place Defence Forces members can have grievances addressed. This process is being held up because of the lack of an appointment. I would like an update please.”
“That is a difficult thing politically because success is measured on things that do not happen and that we do not see, rather than being able to point to something like a children's hospital. As controversial as it has been, at the end of it, we will have a hospital. It is different in defence and therefore requires a degree of political leadership. There is a real possibility that, come the end of this decade, Ireland could find itself sandwiched between Europe and a US that is becoming increasingly hostile to Europe. Who knows where the UK could be in terms of its politics? These threats are real. They are unseen, but they are something we need a sophisticated approach to.”
“Defence and security experts are clear that we are not at a major risk of a kinetic attack but that our infrastructure is under constant threat. It is important to ensure that the debate is taking place in that space. Last week, Dr. Paul Davis from the DCU Business School appeared before the defence committee on the topic of defence procurement and raised how defence procurement needs to be looked at differently. There is already a degree of exceptionalism to it, but we must look at it from outside the general procurement system in the context not of what delivers value for money today, but of what keeps us safe into the future in scenarios that we hope never arise.”
“It is a part of it, but it is not the full story. We have neglected them. There has been some change and some increased investment, but I believe we need more. We need a lot more.”
“Successive Governments, for decades, have underinvested in our Defence Forces. Beyond that, wider politics needs to take some responsibility. We have used our commitment to military neutrality as a reason not to invest in our Defence Forces and our national security. We do need, at this time, a greater degree of sophistication in terms of how we discuss this. I hold our military neutrality very dear. I do not ever want to see Ireland join NATO, a common defence union through the EU or any other composition that would tie our hands in terms of military deployment. I also want to see us invest in our national security and ensure that we are sovereign in that. The triple lock is a part of that discussion, but it is not the full discussion. Again, there needs to be an approach on all sides of the House in relation to that.”
“I ask the Minister to comment on the fact that Ireland remains stubbornly at the bottom of the EU table for defence and security expenditure, and what plans she has to ensure that Ireland does not remain at the bottom and continues to improve its investment in this area.”
“There is an increase in recruitment but we will have a problem with retention unless this pay and pensions issue is resolved for cadets. I urge the Minister to put every pressure on to get this resolved as soon as possible.”
“Certainly, we are trending away from the recruitment and retention crisis that we have seen in the Defence Forces. We are not quite there yet and still have a bit to go. In terms of cadet pay, the long-term impacts of it and why it needs to be resolved, it can become financially illogical to become a cadet. Under the single pension scheme, earnings are averaged across an entire career meaning that paying cadets the existing poverty-level wage does lasting damage to their pension entitlements. It is not as enticing an offer to young people as it could be if we get through this process as quickly, as expeditiously and as beneficially as possible for the cadets. These young cadets will have dependants in the future and an increasing amount of responsibilities, like most people, as they go through life.”
“In fact, in their first year, cadets earn 47% less than their enlisted counterparts. This can have knock-on impacts for their pension entitlements. I know there is a process under way but we need a timeline. I accept the Minister's bona fides but we need to see real progress on this for the cadets.”
“Those improvements in accommodation and other physical places, such as barracks, etc., are welcome. I and Deputy Ó Laoghaire have just come from the Joint Committee on Defence and National Security, and that came up and was complimented. It simply is not enough to talk about action when it comes to pay. I accept the Minister's bona fides in terms of wanting to improve this but it is worth putting on record that cadet pay remains the lowest in the Defence Forces at just €503 per week compared to €550 for a recruit. It rises to €627 after 12 weeks. Cadets remain on this pay for the entirety of their first year while recruits can move to a weekly salary of €814 after six months. They are paid significantly less than enlisted recruits despite being in full-time training for commission leadership and bearing far greater responsibility.”
“The world is changing, and national defence is becoming more important by the day. The Government is slow-walking change, though, to the pay and conditions of our Defence Forces, particularly for our cadets. It is simply unacceptable. The question I want to ask the Minister today is about the timeline for the increase of cadet pay in the Defence Forces.”
“In the world that exists today without the bigger powers or without institutions like the European Union being fully behind them, it is very difficult to see how they will have an impact. We in Ireland have to do what we have been doing for the past four years and three or four months - standing shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine. We must do that. I hope this convention comes into force and that Russia signs up to it. I hope Russia pays compensation to Ukraine. I do not think that will happen but that should not be a reason not support this and push it has hard as we can through the United Nations, the EU and any bilaterals we have.”
“While we are unsure as to what the outcome will be in terms of the US, Israel or Iran, there is one winner early on from that conflict and that is Vladimir Putin, for whom Trump has "temporarily" lifted sanctions on Russian oil. That "temporary" lifting of sanctions has been extended by Trump and there is a sense in Kyiv that Trump is closer to Moscow than he is to Kyiv in how he is operating his international policy and affairs, insomuch as anyone can account for them. All of us present here in the Chamber have spoken how the old order has been absolutely obliterated and it is uncertain as to where we are at. The instruments that are being proposed are laudable. We need them and we need them to work.”
“As despicable as the Iranian regime is and has been for many years, the US and Israel launched a war for which they have no logical outcome and which is causing death and destruction. While there is an uneasy peace at the moment, there is long-term economic damage. There is no sense that Ireland, the international community or Europe will act in such a way as to tackle the United States and Israel for their actions of unprovoked war and their actions of roguery the way we are with Russia, and rightly so with Russia. There is an inconsistency in our own approach, not withstanding historic cultural links, contemporary economic links and all of the other things we have with the United States. What is being done is wrong.”
“That is according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. There is no doubt in our minds that the actions Russia has carried out have resulted in death and destruction and damage to and destruction of infrastructure, schools and hospitals. It continues. As we heard in the Minister's statement, April of this year was the most destructive month of the entire conflict when it comes to long-range missile attacks upon Ukraine. While no conflict is black and white, this conflict is as close as we can get in the modern world. However, there is another conflict that is taking place which we also view as quite black and white, namely the US and Israel's war upon Iran. In any general terms, it was unprovoked.”
“For those of us who support a proper, international rules-based approach to conflict resolution, accountability, justice and resolution, it is instruments like this which we need to put our full support behind. For Ireland, we have demonstrated real solidarity with Ukraine. It has been somewhat easy for us on a number of levels. For many decades, Russia, or formerly the Soviet Union, has been either a very real threat to Europe or, at best, an uneasy and not too trusted ally at times. However, for the past decade or so, and as we have seen in the Ukraine war of the past four and a bit years, Russia has become a very real threat and enemy to the stability of Europe. Ukraine has suffered up to 600,000 casualties, with as many as 140,000 deaths as a result of Russia's invasion and war of aggression.”
“We, in the Labour Party, also welcome the International Claims Commission for Ukraine being established and the Irish support for the same. In a world where the international rules-based order is unravelling and disintegrating, it is instruments such as this that we need to support and hold firm with, along with many others. Of course, as stated by the Minister, the success of this instrument will be reliant upon the Russians themselves signing up and the Russians themselves funding the compensation as it is calculated towards Ukraine. At this point in time, that seems quite fanciful but given where we are in the world, it is these instruments which we need to bring forward that we need to support.”
“Now that Ireland is lamentably at the top of the list in terms of the highest cost of electricity, and people are pinned to their absolute collar, there has to be an emergency debate and discussion for a mini-budget this week. We cannot agree to the Order of Business on those grounds.”
“The school feels let down by the Department and the parents feel let down by the school. Ultimately these girls will be let down if they are not allowed take part in transition year and are obliged to go straight to senior cycle.”
“I raise with the Tánaiste Loreto College in Swords, a State school that was not included in the roll-out of 105 new projects to progress to tender or construction earlier this year. This omission is not without its immediate consequences. Existing students and staff will continue to work and learn in overcrowded conditions. Most pertinently, up to 16 girls will be unable to take part in transition year during the upcoming academic year. Transition year is crucial in the context of people's educational and personal development. I know that from personal experience many years ago. Every opportunity must be taken to support this school, these families and these girls. Will the Department make direct contact with the school with a view to resolving this crisis and finding a solution?”
“We do not believe in an investor court system. We are not scaremongering; we are basing it on evidence of a system that is rooted in a mid-20th century system where the rich global north was exploiting the poor global south and did not trust their judiciary systems so they set up the ISDS system, which ultimately became the ICS. The corporates have codified and formalised that and have put enough pressure on the EU, Canada and everyone else to ensure that this system must be included in trade deals. It is a system that is fundamentally wrong especially when we have modern, trusted, transparent judiciaries like we have in this country. That is where we are coming from.”
“We did not have much time to debate this even on Committee Stage. The Minister of State accused us of putting forward hypotheticals to scaremonger even though we are basing them on a number of cases that have taken place internationally. He has constantly told us that X, Y and Z have to happen, ultimately this is really rare and probably will not happen anyway so what is the big worry but this is going to happen. The ICS will come in under this and we will be vulnerable. It is a risk we do not have to take because we have a modern, trusted Judiciary that is well capable of determining cases if a company feels the State has acted with a degree of malevolence to impact its ability to make profits. There is a system for a grievance to be taken against the State, should a company want to do so. That is the system in which we believe.”
“What is more is that investors will be able to simply step outside of the jurisdiction without going to the lengths of arguing whether there are any legitimate limitations as the enforceability of their claims and that is why we are proposing the deletion of subsection 4(2) with this amendment.”
“I move amendment No. 11: In page 4, to delete lines 3 to 13. This amendment would delete subsection (2) of the new section 25A, to be inserted to the Arbitration Act 2010 under section 4 of the Bill. The purpose of the amendment is to allow us time to consider whether subsection (4)(2) of the new section 25A is compatible with agreements such as CETA. If CETA or any other international agreement like it was to be ratified by Ireland and all other member states, it would then become EU law. We cannot then rely on our own constitutional protections as Article 29.4 makes clear. This subsection therefore does not make sense. It is asking us to rely on a constitutional protection that ultimately will not be there.”
“He is saying we are saying black is white but we can throw that right back at him because we have the examples and we are highlighting a valid threat from what is an outdated, outmoded system that is not needed between two modern trading blocs. It is absolutely unbelievable.”
“We can point to examples within Europe where a German energy company sued the Netherlands for its decarbonisation policy and the impact that was having on its business. We can also point to the fact that there is a threat here because Canadian pensions funds are heavily in the Irish energy system, not just in renewables but in oil and gas in Corrib and Whitegate. The Canadians are heavily invested in the Irish energy sector in fossil fuels. That is not to take into account hypotheticals that could come with regard to our housing system if that changed towards a more public system and Canadian pension funds had investments in private housing, which some of them do. The Minister of State accuses us of scaremongering even though we have seen the investor court system in action being used by Canadian mining companies and others.”
“It is worth clarifying that we know the difference between an ISDS system and an investor court system. There is not much of a difference. The investor court system really formalises the previous ISDS system, but in effect they do the same thing. We have had this at committee. It was an absolute disgrace that we did not have pre-legislative scrutiny on this. It was remiss of me to not commend Lynn Boylan on the briefing she arranged a couple of months ago, as referred to by Deputy Ó Laoghaire, which Deputy Gibney and others were present at. That should have taken place in a committee room as part of pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill. The Minister of State keeps saying that we are scaremongering when we can point to examples of where Canadian companies have sued states.”
“filed a $250 million Canadian dollar damages claim against Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, over Quebec's moratorium on fracking. These claims have a regulatory chilling effect on governments, leaving them hamstrung. That is what a Canadian mining company has done under the previous NAFTA agreement when an investor court system has been in place. Now we are going to walk headlong into the same system, putting our State's economic, social and environmental security at risk. This is at the heart of our opposition to this and at the heart of our opposition to the amendment.”
“The first question that needs to be answered is why EU and Canadian investors would not trust their own local court system. This was well aired on Committee Stage and has had huge interest from academics, politicians and civil society questioning, without a proper answer, why the investor court system remains so implacably defended by this Government. We have discussed this at length during the Bill's passage but we know from experience that investor court state claims have the effect of inhibiting the ability of domestic governments to pass legislation addressing public concerns such as health, environmental protection, labour rights and human rights. Examples like this were seen in Canada in 2013 when Lone Pine Resources Inc.”
“We recognise the importance of an outward-looking Ireland trading with the world, particularly in the midst of global uncertainty as we have seen in recent years in the face of tariffs, war and other major disruptions. Trade agreements with the wider world are, of course, important but we need to recognise that CETA has been successfully implemented on a provisional basis for years now without the investor court. It is worth noting at the outset, in the short time we have for the debate this evening, that Canada has agreed to remove the investor court system from the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico. Investor courts are an outdated system and are not needed between modern trading blocs and modern states. It is a one-way system. States cannot sue companies in investor state arbitrations.”
“This amendment will delete section 2. Section 2 inserts a number of references to the new section 25A which would be inserted into the Arbitration Act 2010 under section 4 of this Bill. A separate amendment to delete that subsection itself has, unfortunately, been ruled out of order. The new section 25A provides that awards made pursuant to Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, and the Chile-EU Advanced Framework Agreement would be enforceable in Ireland in the same manner as a judgment or order of the High Court. We in the Labour Party have been clear throughout the passage of this Bill through the Oireachtas, and indeed before, that we were opposed to trade agreements that include investor court systems, which have a massive potential to undermine social and environmental regulations.”
“They have pulled themselves up without structured help from the State to provide the best offering of sport in this country. They need further support.”
“Those in that community have always been the poor men and poor women of Irish sport in the context of structured funding. An independent audit completed last year found that youth football facilities in Ireland lag well behind those in another countries. Of youth facilities in the 100 countries surveyed, those here were ranked 51st by FIFA, football's world governing body. Only 4% of our clubs here have a full-time head of coaching. This compares with 46% in associations of equivalent rank. No League of Ireland club has a minimum of four full-time academy coaches. In the aforementioned FIFA-ranked countries, the figure is 36%. I ask the Minister of State to work with the FAI, grassroots clubs and the League of Ireland.”
“The League of Ireland needs the support of Government, a change in the funding model and real commitment. What was really revealing was the response of the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, a few weeks ago to the scenes in Oriel Park. Funding, such as it is, for the League of Ireland and football in this country seems to be hung and swung over the heads of those in the football community by this Government. They have to meet a bar that is so high that even a slight digression will result in the withholding of funding and support. That is just not on. It is unsustainable and proves to the football community in this country that it does not have the full support of the State. It is a feeling the football community has had forever.”
“However, there is still a bright future ahead for our men’s team. There is a huge, bright future for our women’s team. Luckily - I say luckily because it is not as a result of support from the State - we have the most vibrant and exciting offering in all sport on this island, namely the League of Ireland, which runs right through the summer. Again, it is hampered from investing in itself by the rules of funding and schemes such as the large scale sports infrastructure fund, LSIF, which is very difficult for a League of Ireland club to avail of in relation to upfront funding costs. We need to invest in our stadiums in order to harness, attract and increase the numbers of people, some 1.1 million, who came through the turnstiles last year.”