Gary Gannon
Dublin Central · Social Democrats · Ireland
“I will talk about that in a couple of minutes but before I do I want to come back to some of the things the Minister of State said in his opening speech, particularly the last paragraph.”
“It will create a scenario where vulnerable people will simply not be able to get up their street for potentially three days because there will be a multitude of different providers steaming up these streets, which were never created for such large vehicles.”
“Those things should not be in competition with each other. The remunicipalisation of waste is going to cost money. That is a simple fact, but public services often should operate at a loss.”
“He engaged with the evidence and with stakeholders and came to the same determination, namely, that what we have at present for waste management services, not only in Dublin but nationally, is no longer tolerable. It has led to a system that is clearly not efficient or not suitable for the purpose intended.”
“Does the Tánaiste recognise the scale of the chaos in our criminal justice system at the moment? Thousands of cases have been adjourned. Victims will await justice. Backlogs are building. We now have habeas corpus cases taking place in the High Court. The Minister referenced my flowery language.”
“I want to acknowledge Deputy Sherlock for her work in bringing forward this Bill. We in the Social Democrats will be supporting it. It is a shame that the Minister of State is not willing to engage further than to simply vote it down on the promise that a review will be released in an unspecified time.”
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“For many of the reasons outlined, the Social Democrats will not be able to support the reduction in the accommodation payment for Ukrainians. When the invasion began more than two years ago, Irish people on the whole were incredible in how they answered the call. Many opened up their homes and, in doing so, found friends and members of the community who have come in have contributed and made a huge sense of place in our communities, cities, towns and villages. I understand there have been some comments - not so much objections but rather remarks - made as to whether there is an unfairness built into the scheme and whether it creates a two-tiered system within Ireland.”
“We want an Irish State that believes in neutrality, that does not want to be a little dog barking behind the other, larger dogs of war but stays true to our principles. Every time that is being failed or neglected, the Minister of State will find us here standing up for the values we believe in. Tariffs are of course going to be a threat to Ireland and the broader EU. We should work in unison with our EU partners to try to advance diplomacy. Nobody wins in a tariff war. Trump is bringing this to the table based on ego and being a vile person and we should not neglect to stand up for ourselves. I wonder what our EU counterparts thought of the Government’s St. Patrick’s Day visit when we did not stand up for those principles. I wonder what they thought when the Government allowed Trump to blast all over our EU colleagues.”
“We have been vociferous in saying that because we are pro-EU we should stand up for those agreements and ideals, yet we are being told we are not and that we are like Farage. We are not, actually. We are far from it. We believe in a peace project and one that does not prioritise military spend over basic humanitarian decency, a peace project that means people can be free to be whoever they may be and love whoever they may want. When that is being neglected, we will stand up. We will stand up especially when it is nations like Germany that are arming states like Israel to commit a genocide against the people of Gaza. If we do not scream at the top of our lungs, we neglect what the Minister of State tells us we are against, namely, a European Union project based on peace. That is all we are asking for.”
“If we invest solely in weapons and neglect the lived experience of people in their homes - or even in their bedrooms, when it comes to what we see with the banning of Pride parades and making it a hostile environment for LGBTQ communities - we will not have an EU built on peace. We think we should stand for those ideals and we will not neglect to stand up, advocate and shout, because we are pro-EU. As we are pro-EU, we also believe in the trade agreements that have humanitarian clauses built into them that should be activated. The EU made a trade agreement with the State of Israel. Article 2 of that is a humanitarian clause that states that if it is violated there cannot be trade.”
“Looking at the agenda for the Council, one cannot step away from the fact the game has changed. We obviously understand Russia’s horrendous invasion of Ukraine has changed the game, but we also need to see what our role is in that. There has never been a period in history where an arms build-up of that magnitude, with so much money being invested in rearmament and building weapons, has been done in the name of peace. It does not happen. History repeats itself first as tragedy and then as farce and there are many similarities between what is happening at the moment and what was happening in the build-up to the First World War and the horrors that happened. If we separate ourselves from that, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes. That is all we are saying. The European Union, in its ideals, is a vehicle for peace.”
“I remind the Minister of State it was places in the UK, such as Holyhead in Anglesey, that voted overwhelmingly to remove themselves from the EU precisely because they were not seeing any benefits from it. They were the areas most devastated by poverty and most removed from what we describe as the benefits of that Union. One of the single greatest threats, as we engage in an arms build-up of €800 billion, will be poverty and a sense that people are not feeling the benefits of EU membership. It is therefore okay for us to say that we believe in the European Union and that we also believe those overseeing it, such as Ursula von der Leyen, the EPP and others who are driving it in a direction it was never intended to go, are a threat to the concepts we hold dear in that regard.”
“As we are pro-EU we wanted to stand for the values of what we understand the EU to be in its original conception, which was as a vehicle for peace. What we dispute is the change happening now where there is an arms build-up. There are very clearly weapons races. The Minister of State criticised my colleague, Deputy Hearne, for his contribution last week on having a war on poverty, but it is for that very reason we are pro-EU.”
“As we are discussing post-EU Council statements I am glad it is the Minister of State who has joined us. Earlier we brought a motion on the triple lock and during his contribution the Minister of State accused me and members of my party of being anti-EU. He went further and almost compared us to Farage. That was an interesting point. I did not see the Minister of State doing any of the kind of rebuilding that members of my party had to do following the far-right protests and agitation in our constituencies. As for our being anti-EU, that simply has not been the case with the Social Democrats from our foundation. Deputies Gibney, Hearne and I all contested European elections on pro-EU platforms because we understand that, as the Minister of State mentioned, it was a vehicle for peace.”
“It needs the consent of the population of an independent republic. If the Government wants to change it all we ask is that it puts it to the people. We are bringing forward a motion on this today which purposely makes no assumptions. We understand the Government wants to initiate a debate but we think it is bigger than the simple majority the Government has; it needs the consent of the people. What are we afraid of in putting this to the people of Ireland?”
“If they back the Government then it should go ahead, that can be the basis of its confidence, but it should not hide behind procedure or pretend that removing the triple lock and all that goes with it is just some minor administrative tweak. It is not. It is a deeply profound shift in how we see ourselves as peacekeepers, not power brokers. The Irish people deserve to be consulted on a change of this magnitude. This is about how we will send people, who will be predominantly working class men and women, into conflict zones. That requires a public consultation and debate. It requires people who did not include it in their manifestos but who nonetheless want to initiate it saying why they believe in this and to hold a plebiscite to get the consent of the people. Neutrality is not an inconvenience. It is a choice that needs to be protected.”
“All the fighter jets in the world that Simon Harris wants to buy will not give us the same protection as the legacy of Fianna Fáil’s own Frank Aiken, for example, when he developed the foundations of who we are on the world stage, but here we go kowtowing and being subservient. When you remove that anchor, where do you drift? We have seen countries chipping away at neutrality until it is unrecognisable, and we will not let that happen here. We will not let it happen without a fight. We want the people to simply have their say, and what is wrong with that? If the Government is confident this is the right path, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, seems confident it is, let the Government put the triple lock to the people. Hold a plebiscite, make the case and let the Irish people weigh the facts, the risk and the principles.”
“We are talking about rewriting the conditions under which Ireland sends its sons and daughters into foreign theatres of conflict. We are talking about undermining the very principle that has kept Irish soldiers respected, protected and truly neutral in the eyes of the world. The triple lock does not make peacekeeping impossible. How could it? We have the longest tradition of peacekeeping under the blue helmet. It makes it accountable. It ensures that every mission we join reflects the values we understand in this Republic - multilateralism, neutrality and humanitarian solidarity - and not the whim of a powerful ally or a strategic alliance that we never voted for. Some in government and most Members of the House will say the UN is not perfect. Abandoning it does not fix it, however; it merely removes your moral anchor.”
“It slows it down for a defence establishment that wants to partake in the arms industry, the likes of which laid the seeds for the First World War and all the horrors that were unleashed into the 20th century and 21th century. The Government wants to do that by simple majority. We saw yesterday what its simple majority achieves. It is hoping the public will not notice but this is a significant move. When you seek to remove the United Nations from the decision to send Irish troops abroad, you do not get to do it by a simple majority. That is not democracy or consultation; it is tyranny of numbers – a rushed job from a Government that knows the people may not back it if it gives them a real choice. We are not talking about some obscure clause in an EU directive.”
“The two parties, however, got into a room together, developed the programme for Government and decided they were going to remove the triple lock without any consultation with the Irish people. That is really what we are here to discuss today. I understand there is a debate; let us have it. Let us have a great national debate on the triple lock and the role it has played in our peacekeeping missions. We are told it is outdated and inconvenient and slows things down but the real question is, for whom does it slow things down? It does not slow things down for the Irish people. It slows things down for a Government that wants to bypass consent.”
“The Minister of State can shake his head and look as bewildered as he likes but here is the simple fact: the Government has no mandate to remove the triple lock. I accept the Minister of State’s party won more seats than we did in the general election but here is what its manifesto said: “Continue to protect and promote ... neutrality including sensible reform of the ‘Triple Lock’ legislation.” Removing the triple lock is not sensible reform. That is another mistruth Fianna Fáil has told the Irish people. Fine Gael, admittedly, has talked for as long as it has been in existence about removing the triple lock. The Taoiseach challenged Fine Gael on it on many occasions but its own manifesto has nothing about removing the triple lock.”
“How many schools in the country are struggling to keep the lights on? How much do they need and how fast can we get to them? Will the Minister of State please come down to meet some schools in the north inner city? Let us have a conversation and demonstrate the type of urgency that not only the children in the schools in the north inner city deserve, but all kids deserve. There are basic needs that are not being met here.”
“We can have all the debates we have to have but surely we can agree that children should be able to be taught in an environment that is warm and that the people we task with overseeing that building should not have to, on a day-to-day basis, worry about simply keeping the lights on. If we are neglecting that responsibility, I do not think schools can wait until the start of a budgetary process in the summer where a budget would be delivered in November and the income will be spent next year. By that point, we will have already lost about half a dozen kids within that scenario due to the type of care that needs to be given. We are taking school leaders away so then they have to kind of scrimp, save, beg, borrow, get on to their TDs and get us in to the Dáil just to ask to keep the lights on.”
“Laurence O'Toole's and from Rutland National School which demonstrates all their costs coming in, all the money they avail of and all the money going out. I do not want to read it into the record but the Minister of State will clearly see there is a very significant difference between what is coming in and what is going out. Rutland National School in the heart of Dublin 1, in the north inner city, is dealing with all sorts of really complex generational needs. It still provides a sanctuary and it is struggling just to keep the lights on. We have a basic duty here.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I assure him my office contacted his office about a week ago regarding that offer. We talked about not wanting to pre-empt any future budget negotiations and in parliamentary form that is absolutely fine. However, if I can pre-empt what happens in the absence of schools being adequately resourced and funded, it is that children are left behind. I will also compound that by saying it will not just be all children who will be left behind; it will be the most vulnerable children who are left behind. Some of the schools we are talking about are amazing places. They deal with complex needs that are generational and difficult. School principals are being cut to the bone. The Minister of State spoke about ensuring schools are availing of all available moneys. I can give him a document from St.”
“Every time I hear a Minister talk about the inner city task force, all the great work it has done and the €50-odd million that has been spent in six years, my mind goes back to those schools that are struggling so hard to meet such a demand. That is without even going into the provision of special education, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and all those other issues – this is just about the functioning of the building.”
“People cannot learn in that environment and teachers cannot teach a vulnerable person in that environment, yet it is what we dealing with all the time. We are at a crisis point about whether schools are able to keep the doors open and the lights on and create an environment that is warm in every sense of the word. Budgets are being stretched to the max. Principals and school leaders are being asked to do a variety of different jobs every single day that take them away from what their first role should be, namely, ensuring the welfare of the students who attend the schools and the staff we ask to teach within them. I would like the Minister of State to come down and listen to school leaders in the north inner city. This is a community that is often discussed.”
“The school has a huge number of glass windows because they make for a sunny environment and allow the children to see outside, and for other reasons. The school does not have any money to pay for the cleaning of the windows. That is the example of one school and I wrote to the Minister of State about four different ones. Schools are terrified about unexplained bills coming through the door. There are substandard facilities. St. Laurence O'Toole’s Specialist School, just off the North Strand, has been in a temporary building for the best part of 30 years. It deals with young people who are the most vulnerable. These are young people who did not have a good experience in more traditional schools. While the school staff are incredible, the building they are in demonstrates the respect the State has for them.”
“Rutland National School is in the heart of Dublin 1, right in the north inner city. It is an amazing place full of the most decent people who do incredible work every single day. It has received more money from the Department of Social Protection for hot meals than it does from the Department of Education to run the school. Some 50% of the school’s capitation grant goes on insurance and as we know, Allianz is the only insurer in that market. The rest is used for electricity and heat. That is the capitation grant gone. Cleaning and caretaking wages are being paid from the DEIS grant, which is supposed to deliver equality for children. Its being used to pay the bills is therefore a compounding of inequality. That DEIS grant should be ring-fenced for the purpose for which it was developed.”
“Despite all that and the day-to-day concerns schools have to ensure every single child who comes in is looked after in the incredible way they are, including to ensure every child has a place they feel comfortable in and can learn in, there is the general fear a school feels when it receives an unexpected bill in the post. That could be a €6,000 electricity bill, for example. Then the school leader has to worry about whether the lights can even be kept on. That is a reality that has come into the public consciousness in the last couple of weeks due to a school in Killinarden, but it is a reality also facing schools in the north inner city. I have written to the Minister of State’s office asking for a meeting. I will use one school as an example, having sought permission from its principal this morning.”
“This is my first time speaking since yesterday and despite the lowering of standards we are seeing from the Government, nothing will stop me coming in here and speaking on behalf of my community. I want to speak to the Minister of State about funding for schools in the north inner city. Schools in the north inner city, like most schools around the country, are at the coalface of many of the issues we hear being talked about. They are dealing with issues of poverty. There are issues of generational trauma and there is a school community there who are providing a sanctuary and have done for many years.”
“What we in the Social Democrats will propose next week is to stay true to who we are as people. If the Government wants to remove the triple lock, it should put the question to the people and have a plebiscite. If the Government has conviction, stands over this principle and believes this would make us better, then put it to the people. Let us stand up for democratic norms while eroding parliamentary ones.”
“In the years since the Second World War, conflict has been ever present - pick whichever conflict you want - but we have had the institutions that were built out of the concept of "never again". We are removing ourselves from them, though. The triple lock was an agreement that the then Government made with the Irish people to say, "Do not worry, you may not trust getting involved in any military alliances, but the triple lock will be there as an assurance". Now, it is being taken away. It did not feature in anyone's programme for Government before the election. It used to be well on record in the Minister of State's manifesto but we are not just talking about him. We are talking about the Government he is a part of.”
“When it comes to our triple lock, we are told we have to remove it because we do not want Russia having any say where we send our peacekeeping troops, but we see no hypocrisy in the fact that Donald Trump’s America gets to influence very specifically our foreign policy when it comes to the occupied territories Bill. That is clearly what is happening. Approximately five months ago, I was in a committee room with the Taoiseach, who was then the Tánaiste, as he told us that the first item on the agenda of the new Government, if elected, would be to progress the occupied territories Bill. It is clearly nowhere. It is not actually coming. The idea of who we are is being diminished. There are clouds gathering. The world seems different. As many other Deputies have said, the world is changing. But is it?”
“Obviously, diplomacy has gaming built into it but I am not sure we are playing it very well in the way we are approaching it. We did not used to be like this. There was a time when we were stronger, held more and were better. To use a Fianna Fáil example, Frank Aiken was, for me, someone in the UN who demonstrated the very best of what Ireland could be when we believe in multilateralism and see ourselves as more than the small nation that can simply join other military alliances. We built proud traditions, the foundations of which are being pulled apart by the same people who claim to carry the legacy. It is a bit pathetic. There is a hypocrisy that is unimaginable.”
“We had to stand in a room while the leader of the free world, who himself has been found guilty of sexual assault, belittled those we call our partners in the European Union. He effectively called us shysters and that we were somehow underhanded in our engagement. We sat there and nodded and got clapped on the head. That was seen as a success. He then platformed another rapist and we had to sit there and look silently as well. Apparently, that was a success. That very same day we woke up and were told that our EU partners were being hit with tariffs of substantial amounts and we said nothing. The next day we were told that Irish alcohol imports would be hit with massive tariffs and still it was considered a success. Is that the standard now? If it is, I think we can be better than that. We can be more than that.”
“We will not be a military power, despite the fact that the Tánaiste wishes to purchase six jets at some point. Even those six jets will not keep us safe from what the Government fears might happen. They would only allow it to play war games in an area in which we have no role or space. What we are good at, and what we have always been good at, is being people who can actually act in the name of peace and be the people who stand through it even when it is difficult to talk about peace. That does not seem to be what is happening, however. Apparently, we were given a lesson in diplomacy last week when the Taoiseach went to the White House. I accept the general consensus that it was somehow a success. While I make no judgment of him for making the visit, I doubt our barometers of success in that regard.”
“There seems to be a general sense of eagerness from those who sit opposite me to involve ourselves in this kind of rush to arms, as if that will ever be our space in the world. There is a fantasy beginning to develop that Ireland will somehow be a military power.”
“There were approximately 150 parents there and each one of them was terrified of what would become of their child’s development because they could not access therapeutic services such as occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. I think about the fear I see when people come to meet me looking for basic access to housing or the fear that the son or daughter of an older parent will have when they bring them into the accident and emergency department and find out that it is overcrowded and they will be there for the best part of 12 to 14 hours. There is genuine fear everywhere, but today there will be an assembly of powers to talk about how to address one particular fear, namely, how we purchase weapons of war for the purpose of annihilation.”
“When I woke up this morning and the radio came on, the very first story talked about the European Council meeting happening today, which has rearmament on a scale that has not been seen for approximately 80 to 90 years as its first item on the agenda. We talked about the fact that our Taoiseach will be going and that loans will be provided so that European powers can buy military equipment, bombs and systems of obliteration. I almost had to look over my head to ensure jets were not passing by as they spoke. People can clearly sense there is fear, that the world is changing and that things are getting darker. There is fear everywhere. The last time I saw real fear was at a community meeting on Seán McDermott Street last week on special education provision.”
“In May 2024, the Government the Minister was part of formed the city centre task force for Dublin with an aim of restoring our beautiful city to what it can be. In September, that report was delivered to Government by the overseer of the report, David McRedmond. In November, the report was released to great fanfare and much PR. It features in the programme for Government. Whenever I ask, however, or whenever a question is raised in Dublin City Council, for example, seeking an update, we are told no funding stream has yet been allocated. The Minister walks the same streets I do and understands the need for investment. He is the Minister for Finance. When can we see a funding stream allocated to the city centre task force for Dublin so that we can bring our city back to what it should be?”
“I do not doubt for a second that the inner city task force received money where services have been cut. However, I cannot point to lots of successes. Drug dealing is still on the rise as is violent crime. The city centre task force, which I heard the Minister mention on the radio, has-----”
“The Minister asked who could have foreseen that a person could have been attacked in Stoneybatter at 3 o'clock on a Sunday. I had to step back and remember all the public meetings I attended in Stoneybatter over the last six months when communities were mobilising and saying somebody would be attacked. Inevitably, somebody was attacked. There are conditions which create not only a sense but a reality of unsafety in this city. Those conditions create places where people are more likely to get attacked than other places in the city. We have to understand the factors which cause this. For example, we have to understand the mental health crisis and try to legislate and act around that. In the brief time I have left, I would like to speak about the inner city task force, which the Minister mentioned.”
“The reliability of crime statistics does not give us a full understanding of what is happening in our communities. The PULSE system, which is supposed to be the backbone of Garda crime recording, has been under scrutiny for its inconsistencies, errors and gaps. When crimes are reported and not officially recorded, as in so many cases, it not only misleads the public but also creates a false sense of security. The Garda faces immense pressures but the State cannot fail to provide the means by which it can actively log incidents. This is necessary to ensure we do not distort the picture of crime in the country. There are other areas in which I have been disappointed in recent months. After the terrible incident happened in Stoneybatter in my constituency, I raised it in the Dáil.”
“In other jurisdictions there has been profiling based on race and other aspects so if we are going to increase the use of stop and search, why not increase oversight alongside it? Then it would absolutely have my support. The same goes for facial recognition technology. These are great powers. Inevitably, we cannot stand in the way of what is already going to happen but surely good oversight of something like facial recognition is what we need. When that comes forward and the legislation comes through, the Minister needs to make sure we have the oversight mechanisms alongside them. These are most important conversations. There are already concerns about Garda data logging and crime recording procedures. Those issues have been well discussed in the Chamber.”
“I understand calls for that from the public and I understand why it might be seen as a simple solution. I appreciate that where it is in effect now, it is having some results. However, I cannot support a policy that is not backed by data and where there is no effective oversight by a secondary organisation rather than those we are asking to do it. Someone who was stopped on the street and found to have a knife in their bag could understand why they were stopped - that is where the approach is working well - but a young person who was stopped on the street and was not found to have a knife might have just cause in asking why they had been stopped. If they were stopped again the following day, they might ask what was going on.”
“Regardless of how great the job is or how much it might bring honour to a person and their family, I do not think we can expect anyone who is on that type of wage and is asked to do the type of work we ask our gardaí to do to wake up in the morning and be excited about bills coming through their door which they will not be able to pay. We all know that - it is the fundamental reason we are struggling to bring gardaí into the service and so many younger gardaí are leaving the force. If we had a Garda retention officer, I am confident that is what would be captured. We can cheerlead, but we cannot deny the reality that people cannot afford to live in the areas we are asking them to police. A number of people have raised issues around stop and search, and have said we need to advance stop and search.”
“Huge work has been done over the last decade especially to bring a sense of cohesion and foster better relationships. However, to continue that kind of approach the gardaí need resourcing. We can all be cheerleaders for more gardaí. The Minister has said we should look to get more people from our constituencies into the force, but he will understand that a garda on probation will have a salary of €32,000 to €33,000. That goes up over a decade to over €50,000. They cannot live in the city they are being asked to police on that wage.”
“That has to be confronted, rather than marching in like Humpty Dumpty after an issue has arisen to say that someone must do something about it. It is not about talking tough, but about a constructive plan and a co-ordinated sense of what we are looking to achieve and how we go about doing that. Only through that kind of approach will we achieve the outcome we all desire, namely a reduction in violence. We can talk tough about increased sentences - I appreciate that among the public and those who have experienced crime there may well be a sense for retribution and justice alone – but as legislators in this Chamber, we should look to see what reduces crime. We ask much of the gardaí who serve on our streets. We agree that there is a collective sense among all of us that we need more gardaí. That was not always the case.”
“It is no individual failure but there is a sense of a State which has been structurally violent in its oppression. I see young people acting out, which manifests in ways that many Deputies have spoken about today. I think of the old quote from, I think, Frankenstein : when all good to me be lost, “Evil thenceforth became my good”. I do not see the necessary type of desire, drive and love for the city. We all recognise there will not be a uniquely policing solution to the issues we face. Not only must it be holistic, but it must come with a collective approach and from different angles because what makes my city unsafe - I am sure this is the case for cities the length and breadth of the country, as many Deputies have spoken about - is not only individuals but also the conditions.”
“It is a rare privilege in any walk of life to be able to walk to work. I enjoy that luxury, which is one not many have, four or five times a week in this city. Many of us come to the Chamber from different directions of the city. I sometimes wonder if we come from different Dublins. When I leave my house in the morning, I start in Mountjoy Street and move on to Dorset Street down through Parnell Street, cutting through Moore Street up around the GPO and across O’Connell Bridge. I see a Dublin that I adore and have known since childhood, but it seems somewhat broken and something is amiss. I see the type of instances that make my city feel unsafe, which is the reason we are here today. I see huge levels of dereliction and people in the throes of addiction.”
“It is nice to see Government Members of all descriptions having their voices heard and their mandate upheld today. I was led to believe that did not happen. My question to the Taoiseach concerns the funding for his Department's task force for Dublin city centre. It is eight months since it was announced and we are several months into the Government's term. Has the Department identified a funding stream for the task force?”
“We know what happens with Michael Lowry behind closed doors because we have reams and reams of a tribunal report, a report that uses words such as "insidious" and "profoundly corrupt". Do you know what word it does not use? It does not say "altruistic". There is nothing about making deals and expecting nothing in return. The Taoiseach must step back from the precipice because we are heading into uncharted waters as regards how we conduct business in this Parliament and he is bringing us there.”
“I watched the Taoiseach on "The Late Late Show" on Friday evening when, in his rush to defend the unjustifiable, he made a comparison between the deal he struck behind closed doors with Michael Lowry and the deal made between one of his predecessors and Tony Gregory in 1982. I will be very clear: the Gregory deal of 1982 was published. It was there for all to see. The public knew exactly what was going on. The Taoiseach should not compare it to the shoddy little deals he has made with Michael Lowry.”
“We asked for specifics. The Tánaiste knows well that we hear a lot about UN Security Council vetoes. The reality is that it has only happened once, more than 20 years ago. The law was clarified in 2006 to help to address that specific situation. It is in the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006. It has not stopped Irish peacekeepers from participating in missions. The UN needs reform but we should be working on that from the inside instead of abandoning it as a requirement. I again ask the Tánaiste to remove the Government from this ridiculous policy of changing the nature of our parliamentary democracy. More importantly, be truthful with the Irish people about the triple lock and what exactly the Government plans to replace it with. The Tánaiste did not give me that answer.”
“The facts speak for themselves. The Government's credibility has been shattered. We speak of mandates. Each of us stood before the electorate a mere two months ago. Had that electorate known that the Tánaiste would be making grubby little deals that change the nature by which the Government would be able to correct its own homework, I doubt anybody would buy into it. That is what we are talking about. On the triple lock, I do not think the Tánaiste can answer a simple question.”