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.”
The complete record
Every one of 707 lines we hold for Duncan Smith, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 15.
“They are big questions. Canada is going to lean into trade agreements like Mercosur and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA. These are trade agreements that have been hugely problematic and in the case of Mercosur have been opposed in this country. He is also leaning into security and investment in security. Canada is the only non-EU country to have partnered up on the SAFE defence spending initiative. It is a €150 billion partnership. Again, as the world is changing rapidly and rupturing rapidly, these are huge questions that smaller nations, whatever about middle nations, are going to have to grapple with. Europe's historic partnership with the US was always built on shared values of democracy and human rights and respect for international law in the system of the United Nations.”
“These are big words, strong words and words we do not use lightly but they are backed up with what we are seeing with our own eyes on the streets of the United States and in countries around the world. Perhaps, we would do well to heed the words of Prime Minister Carney when he said yesterday that we are "in the midst of a rupture, not a transition". While this is regrettable in a way, he said that it leaves the world in a more precarious place than ever and that there is a chance to build something better from the ashes of a partnership with an economic bully that is being led by a tyrant. Prime Minister Carney maybe captured a moment. An awful lot of people outside of politics have listened to what he said and have been taken by it, including the question of move of the middle powers and what the middle powers need to do.”
“To pick up on what Deputy Crowe said, even naming these statements seemed quite difficult. Statements on international development does not quite do it justice. Statements on international conflict would probably be closer to the mark. What or who has motivated these statements today? We know the answer. It is the change in the world that has been brought predominantly and almost exclusively by Donald Trump and his administration. If it was not clear before, it is certainly clear now and will continue to be made clear as a rambling speech is being made in Switzerland as we speak, that the United States is no longer a trusted ally of the European Union. The way in which the current administration is acting in the United States is increasingly imperialistic, autocratic, and indeed, fascist.”
“During Leaders' Questions a number of weeks ago, the Taoiseach told my leader Deputy Bacik he felt the old model of 2:1 in favour of public transport and active travel versus roads was wrong. The Minister of State referenced Local Link but that was brought in by the Green Party. That is going to show no improvement even though it has been brilliant. I have had it in my constituency and it is brilliant, but it will not be invested in and improved under the current Government because all the Government wants to do is invest in more and more roads. We have set out a practical motion that is going to put workers and the climate first. It is going to reduce traffic and ensure our motorways are not car parks anymore and there is instead an element of free flow. It is a balanced, constructive motion responding to what the Taoiseach always says.”
“It is the public service, led by Ministers, that is allowing the culture to shift, when we should be leading in the public sector and ensuring that people can work from home where it is reasonably practicable. This is feeding into the private sector and pulling people back into the office - back onto overcrowded train carriages and buses that are not turning up - when they should be working from home. Dublin is the 11th most congested city in the world, and Galway and Cork also have huge congestion problems. We have a Government that has made a deliberate decision to diminish its investment in active travel and public transport versus its investment in roads. That is what it has done.”
“Government policy remains the right to request, which is ultimately the right to nothing. Deputy Currie misrepresented our Bill, perhaps not deliberately. She took the first line, where we note the current policy, but did not reference what we were calling for, which is to introduce a real right for employees to flexible and remote work where it is reasonably practical. We know that you cannot lay a brick from home, teach at primary school from home or be an outdoor worker for a local authority from home. However, many jobs that are desk-based, predominantly computer-based or office-based can be done, and done effectively and efficiently, from home, with all the subsequent quality of life and climate benefits, and the impact on local economies.”
“Unfortunately, the Government does not have high ambitions. There has been an attempt by the rest of the Opposition and the Government to misrepresent or misunderstand our Bill, our motion and our campaign. We carried out a survey in which 850 workers took part. They were not from Dublin, and it was not a Dublin-based survey. In fact, 840 of those who took part in the survey were from outside Dublin. It was a nationwide campaign. Deputy Dolan made a salient point on how remote working disproportionately and positively impacted rural workers. That is why Members should be supporting our motion and our Bill. The Minister of State herself said that she wanted to maximise the environmental and economic benefits of the right to remote work. She could do that by supporting our Bill.”
“In the week when special school classes were announced for 2026, I need to raise with the Minister the case of River Valley Community National School in Swords. It is not looking for a class in 2026; it is looking for a class now. This is in agreement with the NCSE. The school is a developing school in good but interim accommodation. It is being refused by the Department of education the provision of an autism class right now only because it is in temporary accommodation, even though it has the space. I ask, please, because I will continue to bring this up, will the Department meet the patron body and the principal on site to get this matter over the line? Autistic children are being let down, as are mainstream children and the staff. This can be resolved, please, Minister.”
“These are working people who are doing everything they can to try to keep a roof over their head. This Government does not do legislation. That is clear from last year. It does task forces and working groups. It does not even do them well. What it does is procrastination and inaction, or, when it can, it does deflection. It is very hard to do deflection on the cost of groceries. The Government can do it on housing when it tries to blame immigrants, but it cannot do it on groceries or utility bills. When is the Government going to take on the big utility companies? When is it going to take on the big conglomerates? When is it going to provide targeted payments to those who need it, those workers who are doing everything right and are being let down by the Government?”
“Has the Minister dealt with anyone who has tried to apply for hardship funds for a utility company? It is an absolute nightmare. None of these measures, unfortunately, are working enough. Why are people stopping me in JC's supermarket asking why I cannot reduce the price of groceries? Why are people turning up to my clinic, Deputy Wall's clinics and my colleagues' clinics with utility bills that they cannot pay? It is just not enough. That is the reality of it. The people who cannot pay their bills this month will not get any comfort from what the Taoiseach said yesterday about the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's affordability group that is being set up. No one is going to get any comfort when they cannot pay their bills this week and are going to have to go to St. Vincent de Paul or their community welfare officer and beg, plead and borrow.”
“Of adults surveyed, 72% are unconvinced that housing affordability will improve. Some 52% of adults also now expect Ireland to face a recession in 2026. This is a damning indictment of the Government's ability to tackle the affordability crisis and to provide hope and confidence to people. The question that has to be asked is whether the Government has just given up. It has no answers for increased grocery prices, no answers for increased insurance costs and no answers for increased utility bills. When is the Government going to step up and provide direct supports for those working people, vulnerable people, who need them? Is it prepared to look at such measures as windfall taxes on the big energy companies and the big supermarket chains to target supports at people struggling to pay their bills?”
“These increases are constantly chipping away at people's disposable income and their sense of financial security. The most recent data we have on motor insurance costs show a rise of 9%. The cost of health insurance has risen by almost 10%. As we know, Irish households are paying more than most in Europe for electricity. People are getting hit in every single direction. The Government is even piling on the direct pain. The cost of third level education rose by €500. Road toll prices are going up. Energy prices go up while the energy support payments are gone. Hope that this Government has any interest in tackling the affordability crisis has all but disappeared. A recent study by Core Research shows the cost of living remains the defining concern in 2026, with 74%, three quarters of the population, not expecting it to ease.”
“The price of two litres of whole milk has increased by 73 cent in the last five years. This impacts everyone who has to go to the supermarket to feed a household. The average price of a pound of butter has increased by 55 cent and that of a kilogram of cheddar cheese by 62 cent in just one year. These price hikes are hitting people really hard, especially now when we know from research that one in five people planned to borrow money just to get through the short but expensive Christmas period. It is not just the everyday costs that are going up. This week, we saw Diageo, a multibillion-euro company, announce that the price of a pint of Guinness will go up by 20 cent. An Post has announced that the price of a stamp is going up by 20 cent. This is just to send a simple letter.”
“The Government has not protected the most vulnerable. In the last hour, the consumer price index came out and it shows families had to pay more for basics like clothing, footwear and education costs over the past year. Inflation may be slowing but prices are still rising. The Minister knows this because under his Government's watch, the price of beef has increased by 44% in the last five years. It has gone up 24% in the last 12 months alone. Butter and milk prices have risen by 45% in the last five years. In the last year, the price of butter has risen by 10% and that of milk by 5%. In real terms, diced beef prices are up €4.10 in the last five years alone. This is the economic cut of beef to make a stew or a casserole and its price is up by that amount.”
“On national security, would the Minister of State agree that the level of disinformation peddled through the algorithms on social media is a risk to our functioning democracy? I know we mentioned Russia and the threat of Russia in terms of cybersecurity. There is a huge and ongoing threat from Russia but there is a comparable threat from China. All we have to do is get briefings from our own National Cyber Security Centre about that. I know the Government had a huge visit to China. That was lauded by the likes of Clare Daly, but China is a threat when it comes to cybersecurity. I want to know at what level are we, as a nation with our EU partners, tackling China in relation to their cybersecurity and other threats?”
“It seems we are still grappling with a world where a former ally to Europe, the United States, is now acting if not like an enemy, then as a country that cannot be considered a trusted ally any more. The EU cannot continue to stay silent, particularly as Greenland is next in President Trump's crosshairs. How much discussion has taken place about Greenland and what will happen with troops if the sovereign territory of Greenland is taken over by the United States? This is a key question for Ireland: are we prepared to abolish the 1959 agreement and ban US military planes once and for all from landing in Shannon Airport if the US takes Greenland by force or supplantation, which is of course EU territory in relation to Denmark?”
“I wanted to ask as well about our ability to track the Russian "sanction busting" shadow fleet. With the turmoil in Venezuela, what is happening in Iran, the threats President Trump is now making towards Cuba and what seems impending in relation to Greenland, the North Atlantic theatre in which Ireland is physically based is a centre of this instability. We need to be sure Ireland has the ability to monitor our own borders and our exclusive economic zone. The invasion of Venezuela and capture of Maduro, as illegitimate a president as he was, has obviously further shaken the international order. What level of discussions are taking place with EU leaders on this situation? Is the Government frustrated by the EU's constant monitoring of situations with little or no actions to actually back them up?”
“I understand that the embassy insisted it had complied with the 1959 agreement, but we are not sure or do not have confirmation that it did. Indeed, the Minister has not said that our State granted permission for those flyovers, as per the agreement. As the Minister of State knows, we have been far behind the ball on our own security for far too long. Our radar capabilities are non-existent, although the Government is making moves on that. I do not dispute that in any way. However, we needed to put out a call for assistance from European allies for the visit of President Zelenskyy recently. There are significant questions still hanging over what happened in relation to the drones that hovered just over the Irish Sea upon President Zelenskyy's approach, which raises huge concerns.”
“It is what we are saying privately versus what we are saying publicly. One of the Government's own MEPs is even backing the deal in direct opposition to his own Government. What does that say about the coherence of Irish policy when it comes to the European Council? How trusted will we be, especially as we are in the midst of an international security crisis? On security, I need to touch on our own airspace and how it is being used by the United States. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, confirmed that the US Embassy was contacted after it emerged that two US aircraft had flown over Irish sovereign airspace while tracking a ship in the North Atlantic that had attempted to collect oil from Venezuela last month.”
“One of the areas we are quite concerned about is our reputation for being coherent and trusted within the European Union. To be clear, the Labour Party has been consistently opposed to the Mercosur deal on the basis of its impact on climate and the potential impact on workers' rights. The European Trade Union Confederation has been very strong on this for a number of years. Unfortunately, our Government has been anything but coherent in terms of its own approach. The Taoiseach himself stated that progress was being made towards a deal. He was speaking in the context of the farming and agricultural element of it. It then all fell down, to a point where some commentators said Ireland had lost a good and valuable ear on the floor that matters in Brussels. It is not so much the position but the incoherence.”
“Uisce Éireann is not doing that. I have a list of issues where local authorities have identified a problem and Uisce Éireann has said they are wrong and it is not that problem but instead another one which cannot be resolved. A large multinational stakeholder is saying something else. When we get to the root of the issue, and spend lots of time and waste lots of energy, it turns out the local authority worker with expertise has been right every single time. We need to listen to the council workers who have the expertise, change the culture in Uisce Éireann and make it accountable to the Irish citizen and taxpayer and this House.”
“I know because it carried out such visits with me in that wastewater treatment plan in previous years. What has changed? In Knocksedan Demesne, an estate in Swords where a new phase is being built, we cannot get the houses connected. I contacted Uisce Éireann on 21 March 2025 and did not receive a full answer until 30 October 2025 to a question regarding new houses being connected, which is apparently a key priority of the Government. The issue has still not been resolved as of 14 January 2026. I received a response in October because there are good people in Uisce Éireann who are trying to work hard and resolve issues, but the culture has shifted to a point where it is not meeting the needs of the citizen. Regarding culture, can we listen to local authority water services workers who have the expertise on the ground?”
“I thank Deputy Collins for initiating this debate. He has pushed hard for it over the past number of weeks in the Business Committee. A number of things about Uisce Éireann need to change and change utterly. One is the culture of the organisation, which has shifted hugely in the past four years, and I will outline two examples to illustrate that. One relates to my constituency and the Swords wastewater treatment plant. There have been a number of major issues which have affected many residents. In late 2024, I requested a site visit at the wastewater treatment plant with the management of the plant, local authority workers and key people from the community. I received a response three months later stating that Uisce Éireann does not do site visits. That is absolute nonsense. How do I know?”
“My colleague Councillor Corina Johnson and I are pleading with the Taoiseach to get the relevant Ministers around the table and up to Portrane and to please deliver emergency measures to protect the community.”
“I have been ringing alarm bells for several years in relation to coastal erosion in Portrane. Last week during Storm Bram, some families lost 5 m of garden in just a four-hour period. They simply cannot wait around any longer for the planning process, working groups or task forces. They are at risk of losing their homes and they need help. We are looking at potentially hundreds of families being homeless without a swift response from Government. This Dáil term, I contacted the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who knows the issue well and Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Moran, who in the past has been a good friend to Portrane, but we have seen no action. Any permanent solution is a minimum of three years away.”
“I will repeat as often as I can that we need to see that published and we need to ensure we can agree a strategy that works for militarily neutral Ireland in the face of hybrid and other warfare threats.”
“If the Minister does not have the answer now, I would like her to come back on the question relating to when air traffic control in Dublin Airport was informed about this. According to my sources, I understand it was not informed about this and has led to some disquiet about different organisations talking to each other. We have fixed rules regarding drone activity and no-fly zones and for the major airspace to not have been made aware of that is quite concerning. That is not to overstate this because it was a successful visit, but we are trying to hold Government to account and find gaps that need to be improved, not just for the EU Presidency but for our overall security architecture. Again, underpinning all of this is the lack of a national security strategy.”
“A lot of this has been well aired over the past couple of weeks but I have a number of questions. Will the Minister clarify if this is being treated as an act of hybrid warfare? Was air traffic control in Dublin Airport made aware in real time, or as close to real time, of the incident, and if not, why not? When was it made aware and what protocols underpin engagement with air traffic control in Dublin? Are there plans to release some form of footage relating to this to counter false narratives out there up to and including people doubting whether this actually happened? I, for one, believe it happened and believe this is a threat. However, I have concerns that without footage being released in some fashion that those false narratives could take hold and undermine us moving towards a more credible security strategy.”
“We have deep concerns about the response to the flu outbreak. Accidents and emergency departments are under pressure. We have run out of nasal flu vaccines for infants. We would like to get a response from the Government before we go into the Christmas break, which we expect to be peak flu season.”
“Whatever about the next one to ten years, in the next 40 years there will be some serious challenges for this country and State and we do not need to have our hands tied behind our backs. We, in the Labour Party, solemnly believe that the investor court system as set out in CETA would mean us having at least one hand tied behind our back.”
“Every vote in support of this Bill will bring ultimately bring potential harm on the State and it does not have to be that way. We do not need an independent investment court or arbitration system. I ask the Minister to look again and withdraw this, to go about it a different way and to trust our court system. We can have good and growing trade with Canada. We can be good partners and improve things. We do not need to hand over to the big multinationals or big mining companies any more influence than they already have. It will ultimately cost this country hundreds of millions of euro down through the years. I know the Minister of State will have seen the Future Forty document that was released last month.”
“If any organisation, individual or conglomerate is aggrieved by any action, they can take it to the court system of the EU, Ireland, Canada or wherever best fits. In 2014, the then German economics Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote in an open letter to the then European Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht, stating that investment arbitration was unnecessary between countries with well developed legal systems. Nothing has changed during those 11 years.”
“Why have we not asked this question of Canada, which we are saying is bringing this up bilaterally with us all the time and is asking when are we bringing in the investor court? Are we asking Canada why it has allowed the investor court system to be removed from the renegotiated North America Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, in 2020? It is gone between Canada, the United States and Mexico. It does not have it anymore yet it wants to have it with the EU. It does to make any logical sense. The Government can save face here. It can amend or withdraw this Bill. We can go about it a different way. We have a trusted Judiciary here. The EU has a trusted judicial framework. Canada has a trusted judicial framework.”
“Just by saying it does not mean it will happen. We have seen a 98% increase in trade with Canada since the provisions of this trade deal have been implemented. Again, I am not for just taking the good and throwing out the bad and just doing what suits Ireland. However, in my time in this House, this is beyond anything that has the potential to harm the State and the Government of the day. If I was a Government backbencher, I would not have been bringing up the presidential election or anything like over the past couple of weeks, I would have been bringing up this Bill. What are we doing for the future of Ireland and its people? How much are we going to put the State on the hook to big companies?”
“If we bring in improved workers' rights legislation, we will have companies that could potentially sue the Irish State for protecting workers, putting money in workers' pockets and improving their terms and conditions. This is why the Government has waived pre-legislative scrutiny and is doing everything it can to get this through without public scrutiny or public attention. Even its name, the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025 does not attract the kind of interest that is needed. However, when we spell out what this has the potential to do in respect of climate action, workers' rights, public health regulations and climate legislation, it will have a chilling impact. I know the Minister said in her contribution that this amendment Bill will remove the chilling effect of the investor courts. It absolutely will not.”
“Again, this is not scaremongering but it is something that could logically happen through an investor court system. In fact, it is the very reason an investor courts system is set up. It is to protect the interests of big businesses, big conglomerates and multinational organisations. It is not to protect the interests of the citizens of this country. It is not to protect the interests of the Irish Government. There is no rationale for any Government to bring this in because, ultimately, it will be the Government, on behalf of the people, which will be sued by these companies and conglomerates for tens of millions of euro in lost profits.”
“Mining companies will be able to sue countries which bring in progressive legislation that will improve our climate and that could impact their profit margins. It could have an unbelievable impact on our housing system, something that has not been discussed much up to this point. There are huge Canadian financial interests in our housing system as it stands through REITs, pension funds and other fund investments. It seems something of a fantasy but I hope it will come to pass that one day we have a Government that invests properly in affordable housing and we can bring rents down. However, we could be in the crazy situation where we could have an investment fund that has invested tens of millions of euro in housing in this country sue the Irish State for bringing rents down.”
“We do not need detailed codes of conduct. We should not need to explicitly put this down in a Bill for a parallel judicial system, which is set up purely to benefit the big multinationals, the big mining companies and the fossil fuel companies. This is not left-wing or Opposition scaremongering. These are the facts of the investor court system throughout the world. We interrogated who is pushing this and who it benefits. It will benefit big Canadian mining companies which are the same as any other mining companies all over the world. They want to dig holes in the ground, extract natural resources and sell them. It will not benefit environmental groups. They will not be able to sue mining companies for unquantifiable damages to the environment.”
“The amendment in this Bill, which seeks to speak to the Costello judgment, may be constitutional, although I would imagine that will be tested, but it does not make it right. It certainly does not provide comfort when, in the Minister’s statement, the reforms include standing two-tier tribunals established under each agreement as opposed to the ad hoc establishment of ISDS panels; and cases randomly allocated so that the disputing parties do not know in advance which tribunal members will decide their case. That is not the issue with the investor court system. It is not about the individual tribunal members; it is the system itself. The reforms also include strict rules on qualifications and independence for members of the tribunal. We have strict rules on the qualifications and independence of members of our own Judiciary.”
“They evolved in the post-Second World War era as the British colonies started to get their independence. Britain and other large powers did not trust the judiciary of a new or nascent state and developed these investor court systems. It is very uncomfortable looking back through a historical lens at the whys and wherefores of how the system got up and running. We can at least understand on an intellectual level, if a country had a very young judicial system that had not fully bedded in, why such a system could perhaps be put in place. However, there is no reason whatsoever in this day and age that the European Union, of which Ireland is a component member, and a state such as Canada - modern liberal democracies with trusted, separate judiciaries - would need an investor court system. There is no argument for it whatsoever.”
“The witnesses were fantastic. They were academically and intellectually strong. There was a rigour and a depth of analysis there that this Parliament deserved to hear, and that this Bill needed. The fact we are here on Second Stage discussing it, knowing that this is going to be more or less rammed through, is severely damaging for our democracy. We in the Labour Party are not against trade or trade agreements, not at all. We are multilateralists. We know that Ireland benefits from good, progressive trade deals. We see jobs flow into the country and trade flowing, with opportunities and further interconnectedness across the globe. What we do not agree with are these investor court systems. Let us have a look at them. What are they? Where do they come from?”
“I am glad to have the opportunity to speak. It beggars belief that we did not have pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill, considering that it arose out of a Supreme Court judgment, which essentially struck down the investor court element of the CETA agreement. I do not think we need pre-legislative scrutiny of every Bill that comes before the House, although we should have it for most, but we certainly should have had it for this Bill, of that there is no doubt. It begs the question of why we did not. It seems the Government is running away from scrutiny. I was present last Thursday, as was Deputy Ó Laoghaire, at the event in Europe House on Balfe Street organised by Lynn Boylan, MEP, which was a de facto pre-legislative scrutiny hearing. It was really good. It should have taken place in a committee room on this campus.”
“We are not recruiting or attracting enough gardaí. As a result, our communities and people are not feeling safe or protected. That is a real issue that the Government has not got a handle on despite the amount of money we have in the coffers. I ask the Tánaiste again to properly recommit to a training fund and to pension reform, and to prioritise those towns and villages all over this country that need proper Garda resources invested in their communities.”
“The capital plan that has been drafted does not seem to be rooted in the reality of how towns are growing. My colleague Deputy Conor Sheehan talked about the Garda station and Garda needs in Castletroy. Every Member in this House will say the same. There needs to be a commitment to the reality. I did not mention investment, because we have had no shortage of money; it is a shortage of delivery. There has been some creativity in how the figures for recruits into Templemore have been published over the last couple of years, with recruitment classes starting very late in the year, where in essence they were beginning in the following year. All this has been revealed through parliamentary questions from our justice spokesperson, Deputy Alan Kelly, and other Members in our party. Fundamentally, two things are happening here.”
“Will this Government commit to significantly increasing the number of new Garda stations being built around the country, prioritising large towns that have unfit-for-purpose stations, such as my own, Swords, and for really rapidly growing towns such as Donabate and many others throughout the country?”
“This situation is now beyond urgent and we need to see this Government make big changes to ensure greater recruitment and retention of gardaí and investment in Garda stations. The Government needs to look at increasing the training allowance, at pension reform and at building more stations. Will the Tánaiste increase the Garda training allowance to really incentivise new recruits? Will he reform the pension for our uniformed service members, including our gardaí who were hired post 2013, who upon retirement will receive no support from the State for possibly ten years?”
“Figures show that 129 of 567 stations had a reduction in the number of gardaí assigned to them in the last year, and one in ten stations is without any designated garda. Overall numbers in An Garda Síochána have actually grown, by a paltry increase of 193. However, if you dig into the detail, the number of front-line gardaí has actually decreased, from just over 12,000 to 11,928, a net decrease. Warning lights are being flashed for the Government. At its conference this year, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors stated that we could lose 30% to 50% of our force due to upcoming retirements. Fine Gael has always identified itself as the party of law and order, yet the Tánaiste's party has stood over this lack of delivery for nearly a decade. The Tánaiste was one of the Ministers responsible for this portfolio, lest we forget.”
“In my town of Swords, the third largest town in Ireland, we have a Garda station that is only fit for a village. The town of Donabate, just up the road, which is served by Swords Garda station and will be 20,000 people strong in a couple of years, has no Garda station or plans for a Garda station. This is not unusual throughout the country. My colleagues and I are screaming out for more resources throughout the country, particularly in rural Ireland, where we are being gaslit by the Minister about Garda resources. In a response earlier this year, the justice Minister said that 56 stations in this country were not closed but were simply unstaffed. That is absolute nonsense. If the door is not open and there are no opening hours for people to go in and meet and talk to gardaí, that station is, in effect, closed. Here is the reality.”
“We had that regular Thursday pantomime at the end of the first part of Leaders' Questions. I want to focus on an issue that is important to the Labour Party, which is Garda resources and Garda recruitment. Specifically, I want to raise with the Tánaiste the lack of new Garda stations and the Government's continued lack of meeting Garda recruitment figures. According to a reply to a parliamentary question I submitted earlier this year, since 2017, only two new Garda stations have been delivered in the country, despite the population increasing by nearly 1 million citizens. One of those stations is on O'Connell Street in the centre of Dublin. The other was a replacement of the divisional headquarters in Wexford. There has been only one new Garda station in eight years. It is simply unacceptable.”
“One of my core beliefs is that the role of a properly functioning Labour Party in any part of the world is to stand up for the vulnerable in society, those who are marginalised and do not have a voice, be they workers or members of the trans community. We have to do that. The truth of the matter is that trans people need a voice in this Chamber and they need action from the Government. They need a healthcare system that is going to deliver for them. I want to acknowledge the work that others in this Chamber are doing. The Chief Whip, Deputy Butler, informed us yesterday that she could not be here today and while we may not agree on all of the minutiae of the issue, she is an important voice in the Government. It must be acknowledged that attacks on her from people in this Chamber have been absolutely disgraceful.”