Helen McEntee
Meath East · Fine Gael · Ireland
“There are no new missions, so there is only so much we can partake in. In regard to UN requests over the past ten years, in September 2019, we had 14 Defence Forces personnel deployed to a UN mission in Mali as part of a joint operation with the German armed forces.”
“I thank the Deputy for his continued engagement on this matter. It is appreciated and I reaffirm our shared commitment to truth and justice, not least for Private Rooney, but in particular for his family.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I know he is committed to this issue; I am too. I have in recent months spent some time travelling to different barracks and Army bases and meeting with personnel. What I see all over the country is their professionalism, dedication and commitment.”
“I disagree that people are being pushed into the courts. The situation is exactly the opposite. I have said in the Chamber many times since I started taking these questions that the State Claims Agency is there and wants to mediate and work directly with people in order that cases do not go directly to the courts.”
“We are all committed to strengthening recruitment to and supporting retention in the Permanent Defence Force. The military authorities have advised that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,823 personnel on 31 May, the most recent date for which we have a figure available.”
“It is the case that no mission is the same, so it is also a matter for the Defence Forces to assess and scope out the mission and then to decide whether it is a mission we can partake in. A question keeps being asked about what it is we would not be able to be a part of if we were to keep the triple lock.”
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“We have towns and villages that have seen significant growth in recent years, but where the provision of services has not matched it. The Deputy mentioned Kilcock in particular. There are a lot of young families where both parents are working. We need to make sure we provide support for them through childcare so they can continue in their work. As he said, some of Kilcock is in my constituency so I am very aware of the challenges and concerns that parents have. He mentioned that we as a Government and our party, Fine Gael, advocated strongly before coming into government for a State-led childcare scheme that would fill the gaps where we do not have services, where it is not possible for private providers to expand or grow, and where we need to see investment in particular areas with strong growth.”
“I will ask the issue the Deputy has raised to be brought directly to the Minister for justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, to see if something can be done within the family justice strategy. Perhaps something is already in train that he can engage with the Deputy on.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this. For the first time, the most recent family law strategy - which I published two years ago, I think - places a greater emphasis on children, on the impact separation can have on them and, most important, on how we provide supports to young people as they go through the court process with their parents or outside of it where there are experts who engage with them. I have heard a lot of stories, as I am sure the Deputy has, about where engagement with families has not been done appropriately. The family court strategy was always to be a living, breathing document and if changes or adjustments were needed as issues arose, they could be included.”
“While I am not aware of how information is gathered or whether it is held at a national level as opposed to a county level, I will ask the Minister to come back directly to Deputy Nolan to relay whether this is a practice that happens or does not happen at the county level, in particular, or at national level, or if there are plans to do this.”
“My experience and what I saw when I was on the ground in Rafah at the beginning of the year was not inaction by the Egyptian Government or our own officials. It was a preventing of aid or these types of supports by the Israeli Government. I am happy to engage directly with my team on the ground to see what the current situation is. I am happy to engage with the Minister, Mr. Abdelatty, my counterpart in Egypt whom I met there, to see if there is any possibility. My experience is that this decision is taken solely by the Israeli authorities. As we have seen and as I have said a number of times today, they are prohibiting and preventing this type of life-saving treatment from getting in, which is completely unacceptable. I have also been very clear that I will bring forward legislation on the occupied territories Bill in the coming weeks.”
“In the same way that we have adjusted DEIS over the years when the environment, the population and the needs have changed, perhaps we need to take a further look at what is needed now - what further resources are required - and how to incorporate that into current and capital budgets which is important. Twenty new special schools have been opened since 2019-----”
“I concur with everything the Deputy has said. When I spent almost a year in the Department of education last year, special education was one area on which I really wanted to work and make greater progress. There is a greater level of need in special schools but there has also been an increase in need across mainstream schools, if you want to call them that, including special classes within those schools. We need to make sure every penny we spend in current or capital is targeted towards those who need it most. Perhaps there is more we need to do, for example by designating special schools specifically as requiring more and increasing what they receive. They already get greater levels of support in teaching and resources.”
“That is the time, working with our local councillors and local authorities, to ensure that any new planning is supported with these facilities the Deputy mentioned, or the space and zoning for these facilities. Beyond that, we have a national development plan, which does not just focus on our critical infrastructure alone. Within that plan, funding can be announced by different Departments, whether for sporting agencies, community centres, active travel programmes and various other initiatives that we all we want to see advocated for. Working with the local authorities, it is important that work is put in place first.”
“We all know as local representatives, because first and foremost, we are local representatives, how important it is that when we build new homes, we build new communities as well. It is not just about houses but about shops, community centres, recreational facilities, playing pitches, schools and all of the things we need to build a new community. It is important to get that right when we are developing our county development plans and that the local authorities look at all of these different options. In my county, we are working on a variation of our current county development plan. There will be a process in place for every county to develop a new county development plan.”
“No one wants to hear of somebody of any age, let alone an 80-year-old person, having to go into homeless accommodation. It is important to stress that we have cost rental in place, which we did not have a few years ago. That is helping a lot of people. Without knowing the exact details of this case, perhaps there is an opportunity for the local authority to step in with the tenant in situ scheme. I am not sure but I am happy to take the details of the case and relay them back to the Minister.”
“This is an issue that my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has been actively pursuing. She is engaging in particular with the pharmacy associations. It has been the case that there were different charges being applied in terms of dispensing and the overall blister packs themselves. An unequal approach was being taken, depending on the pharmacy and its approach. The work the Minister is doing is to make sure there is parity and that people are not being charged on the double or triple or beyond what they should be because we know that is not the case through certain pharmacies. I will relay the Deputy's concerns directly to the Minister and ask her to give him a direct update as to where things are at now. I am not sure it is fully resolved but I know she is working to resolve this issue more broadly.”
“I cannot be any clearer in my view that Europe has not been strong enough. We have not responded effectively, and that is why we are where we are now. Ireland has not just woken up to this. At an EU level, we have consistently been advocating for the EU to step up and take a stronger stance. That is why we have been advocating - I have been doing so in the past few weeks - for the EU-Israel Association Agreement to be on the table and that we would ban on trade with the illegal settlements. We have finally agreed to sanction violent settlers but we need to do more. Europe has not been strong enough. I welcome the fact that there has been global condemnation of what we have seen this week but we now need to follow it through with action. That is exactly what I am trying to do. That is what I am prioritising.”
“At the same time, as the Deputy said, this type of money is being allocated through many organisations and associations. If there is a way to put this on a more formal setting, we should absolutely look at this more broadly.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. In the past week or two, we have seen the Go Purple Day but, more broadly, we should be talking all the time about how the number of women in particular coming forward who are victims of domestic and sexual violence is increasing year on year. In one way, I see it as a good thing because women are coming forward but the figures we are seeing are completely alarming. They highlight the fact that this is an epidemic and that we need to do everything we can to support women to get out of this situation. We need to be open to all proposals, including the one the Deputy outlined. The Government has introduced different kinds of supports, such as safe houses, the investment in Cuan and the different funding available through different mechanisms, be it from social protection or housing.”
“I was also concerned by the reports that I saw on the front of newspapers today. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who has informed me that the Department received the accounts for the CIÉ group only just this week and he has not had a copy at this stage. He will obviously read it and will have to take action or respond to what is in the report. I have spoken to the Deputy about this many times. The Government is absolutely determined to make sure that every penny that we spend is spent appropriately.”
“We just talked about what is happening in Gaza and the Middle East and the fact that Europe needs to do more and be stronger. We need to make sure that those types of decisions and that type of focus remain on the agenda during our Presidency. I can assure the Deputy of that. Coming to the final priority area of security, we also need to make sure that we are working together to respond to what are new and emerging challenges we have not seen in the many decades of our membership of the European Union. It is about our physical security and protecting citizens but also our economic security, which is essential if we want to do all the other things I have outlined.”
“The Deputy is right that it is about trying to get that balance. In every decision we take we have to think of our core European values, our fundamental principles and why we do what we do. It is to make life better for all of the people that we represent, our citizens in Ireland and across the EU. We have seen a lot of backsliding in certain countries. Elections are taking place at the moment and I am concerned about some of the outcomes of the elections where we have heard very clear not just rhetoric but pronouncements from potential incoming governments, as happened previously in Hungary over the years. We are lucky that in Ireland the overall support for the EU has remained strong but there are many reasons not to be complacent.”
“We will have 22 informal ministerial meetings and about 370 associated and official events that are linked to that. All of this means people coming to Dublin and rest of Ireland, investing in our cities and seeing what we have to offer. Through these meetings there is a chance to show them culturally who we are and what we stand for. The engagement the Deputy mentioned is happening with Dublin City Council and with businesses around the city. I appreciate we need to do more in that regard.”
“A key priority for us is to ensure our farmers and those in our agriculture community get a strong CAP budget and that we have money for many other areas as well, including Northern Ireland and the peace process. We will also be focused on ways in which we can support young people through Horizon funding and the Erasmus programme. The Minister, Deputy Patrick O’Donovan, is bringing forward ideas on how we can provide a safer space online for young people. At the beginning of our Presidency, Commissioner Von der Leyen will set out a number of options that Europe will move on to try to make the online space safer for young people. These are some of the practical things we will be doing during the Presidency and much more. Beyond that, as the Deputy said, thousands of people will come to Ireland.”
“We are introducing measures that will quite literally make it easier for businesses to set up in Ireland, which can then set up in France and do the same kind of business there without having to jump through hoops. We want to make it easier for more finance to be available to business and industry. We want to make sure that we have a strategic plan for the really important sectors, such as pharma, medical devices and life sciences in particular, which is crucial to our economy. We are looking to see how we can have a more strategic plan for the sector in the time ahead where we remove what is sometimes arduous regulation without reducing our standards. We need to make sure that innovation is not stifled and that we allow it to grow. Importantly we will be negotiating the overall figure for the next budget.”
“All of this matters for people. This is also about showing that we can share and steer the really big matters that Europe is facing and the opportunities that come with. We set out three priority areas that we want to focus on: competitiveness, security and values. The Deputy homed in on many of the areas under competitiveness. We want to make sure that not just Ireland but Europe as a whole remains competitive because it is good for business, good for consumers and good for the economy. It means we can reinvest in our society in all the areas we want to invest in. The Deputy mentioned various different measures and it is really important to make it relevant to people. What are we talking about when we say competitiveness?”
“The Presidency offers three key opportunities and three key priorities for me. I also acknowledge the role Garret FitzGerald played not only in this country, but also when it comes to our position and the benefits that we have seen from the European Union over many years. This Presidency offers an opportunity to restate that. I grew up in a time where I have only known the European Union with the ability to live, to work, to study and to travel across the EU. We sometimes take that for granted. We have an opportunity to engage with students in our schools and universities to highlight the benefits we have seen from the European Union, including everything from the significant investment in our infrastructure to CAP funding to the fact that we now have plugs that everybody can use in the same way in all countries.”
“This has been a priority over the past number of years, particularly post the economic crash from 2011 or so. We need to continue to look at ways in which we can support people back into the workplace, into different types of work while recognising and acknowledging that there are some people who simply cannot and how do we support them at a time when they need it.”
“What we need to do is build on what we have and always try to improve the system. When we live in a country where our economy is growing strong because of the people the Deputy mentioned who have contributed to it for many years, we need to ensure that we are reinvesting in those people, our communities and our economy and, in particular, targeting those who need our help the most. I have no doubt that the proposal the Deputy has put forward could be the first step of a process. Everything starts with a process and it is about engaging with the right people and making sure that anything we provide is targeted. It is also about making sure that where there are opportunities for people to work perhaps in different fields or in a different area that might be less pressurised and might still provide them with some form of income, we do that.”
“The point the Deputy has made is one we all support and I have not doubt the Minister for Social Protection will do so in the upcoming budget. More generally, when it comes to our overall taxation measures, we should look at how we can support people who are at their most vulnerable and not in a position to go back to work because of health or other reasons but who want to be able to get on with the rest of their lives.”
“They do not want to be seen with a heading or a bracket over them for the rest of their lives. The Deputy has made a proposal with potential changes that we could put in place to support people who cannot work, who are in long-term unemployment and where it does not look like returning to work is a possible avenue for them, where we seek to align the supports they get more in line with where they were in their previous career. Again, I think of an example in my own constituency, albeit not the same in terms of an illness. Workers in Tara Mines were on a particular salary and were laid off for an indefinite period. The Government came together to support them to try to put in place a mechanism that filled much of the gap between their previous salary and what they were getting from the State.”
“We have made good progress when it comes to supporting people who are self-employed, where before there was no ability to support them if they were suddenly not able to work. That is through a new contributory process introduced in recent years. We now have extended statutory sick leave in a number of formats. It is an area in which we always need to strive to do more. From the situation the Deputy has outlined, I am thinking in particular of somebody I knew myself, who sadly, has passed away. For this person, even things like getting home insurance because of a long-term illness became such a challenge, even with a partner working. The Government is moving to try to address this. We want to make sure that if people are in remission or on the mend, they are able to get on with their lives, because that is what people want to do.”
“The Government that I have been a part of - not just now but in previous years - has always strived and focused on looking at how we can support those who need our help most, how we can support those who are not in a position to work first and foremost perhaps because of illness, a disability or other factors in their lives and how we can ensure that those who work for most of their lives and contribute at the higher or lower rate of tax but through no fault of their own find themselves in a situation where they cannot work and provide for themselves or their family are provided with the support they are entitled to. As the Deputy said, we have, I believe, made good progress in recent years.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. While I know he is specifically talking about somebody with cancer or a long-term illness and the implications for them and their families long term, this could apply to a number of different scenarios for people. As a country, how we treat those who are at their most vulnerable is a testament to who we are. It is a sign of who we are as a Government, as a society and as a community.”
“We need to press not just the votes that I have spoken about on the EU-Israel association agreement, the banning of trade, the sanctions we approved last week, but also the need for greater levels of humanitarian access. At every single Council meeting I attend we get an update from the Commission saying that not enough aid is getting in. We are seeing figures being put out that do not reflect the fact that half of the trucks going in do not have food but only products that can be sold that people cannot afford. There is so much we need to do at a European level to keep this on the agenda. I am absolutely determined to do so and I assure the Deputy that this matter will be kept on the agenda during Ireland's Presidency.”
“I will work closely with Kaja Kallas, who is the High Representative and who chairs the meeting but who I will be working closely with throughout the Presidency, to ensure that the situation in the Middle East, in Gaza and in the West Bank, is firmly on the agenda and that a number of actions will be taken. Ireland will have to be a neutral arbiter as we are for any of the files or Councils that we chair and that happen throughout our Presidency. I assure Deputy O'Gorman, as has been the case in my discussions with Kaja Kallas, that we will have this particular issue firmly on the agenda. There are a number of things I believe we need to do more on.”
“I have always said that I believe moving on our legislation would be better if done in tandem, and I have not changed that position. That is why I am working with colleagues from the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia and other countries who are also progressing their own legislation, so we do this collectively and send a very strong message. The way in which we show not just dissatisfaction with the way in which the Israeli Government has been acting, but that it is something Europe will not tolerate is by imposing greater sanctions that will impact their economy overall. If we suspend the trade elements of the EU-Israeli Association Agreement it will, essentially, impact Israel's overall economy by billions of euro. I believe that is the strongest response we can take at this time.”
“We have, for many months, been very clear in ensuring this remains on the agenda for the Foreign Affairs Council and advocating for a consensus, a joined up approach and response to what has been happening in Gaza, in the West Bank and more recently the actions we have seen around the death penalty, the public executions and prosecutions as well as the interception this week. The best way we can show we are serious is by voting to suspend the trade elements of the EU-Israeli Association Agreement. It is by putting a new proposal on the table that would ban trade with the illegal occupied territories. We know it is illegal. Europe has accepted the international ruling in this regard. We need to be strong and we need to collectively respond to this ruling and then move on our own legislation as well.”
“When they arrive in the airport, they will be met by our ambassador in Istanbul. I hope before then we will have direct contact but, if not, we will have direct contact with our citizens then. I hope to get more information to the Houses beyond that. The only way in which we can respond to this effectively is by making sure Europe uses its voice and takes action in response to what we have seen today, what we have seen in recent weeks and what we have seen in recent months. I stress again that the approach from Ireland has always been to try to build a consensus. I am not just saying it now because of what has happened this week.”
“I thank the Deputy. The footage we saw yesterday speaks to the Deputy's point. One thinks one cannot be shocked further when it comes to the actions of the Israeli Government but then we see further footage that shocks again and again. While we do not have a direct report as to whether or not any of our Irish citizens have been physically harmed, because the Israeli Government has not let us to have direct contact with them, the very fact we saw an Irish woman in that video being forcibly shoved to the ground and all of the citizens being detained with their hands bound behind their back and faces on the ground in itself is treatment which is absolutely appalling. Of course, my priority is to understand as soon as possible whether or not there has been any further serious harm done to our citizens and, indeed, any other citizens.”
“However, we are talking about the occupied territories and it has been made very clear through international law, and the EU has agreed with this, that the occupied territories are illegal and so trade with them is illegal. That is why we are bringing forward this legislation and that is why we have not supported other legislation because trade, as a whole, is an EU competency. However, I am determined, working with other countries, to try to build that consensus, so we will reach an agreement and we will be strong in our response to what we have seen, not just today, but the myriad of decisions we have seen taken by the Israeli Government that, essentially, have led to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.”
“I thank Deputy Nash. The commitments I have made here do not depend on each other. If we do not reach a consensus on a European level, that will not prevent me and the Government from brining forward the occupied territories Bill legislation and enacting it. Any legislation needs to be brought to Government beforehand, so I am not going to get into the details of it but I have been very clear. I have had engagement with the Attorney General to look at the overall legalities of what is being proposed and what is being asked by Deputies and what is within our legal remit, based on the fact that, as Deputy Nash knows, trade is an EU competency.”
“That is in tandem with the work I will continue to do at an EU level to try to build that consensus and make sure the EU is stronger in its response because, to date, it has not been and I think we all accept that.”
“I am now asking and pushing for a vote at the next Foreign Affairs Council, specifically on the suspension of the trade elements of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This is an agreement that gives preferential treatment to Israel. If this element was suspended, it would impact the Israeli economy by billions of euro. It would send a very strong signal that we are serious, not just in our words but in pushing back on the atrocious actions that have been taken by the Israeli Government, many of which are in breach of international law. On the occupied territories Bill, I have given a very clear commitment today that I will bring forward the legislation. I will not just bring it forward but will enact it. I look forward to working with colleagues across the House to make sure we can enact it as soon as possible.”
“I condemn the actions but that is not enough. We now need to show what we mean by our actions. I have been building a consensus and working to put more actions on the table that we can vote on and show that we are serious at an EU level. That came to pass last week when a proposal from the Commission that had been on the table last year was reintroduced at the request of myself and my Spanish and Slovenian colleagues. It proposed to impose sanctions on violent settlers in the West Bank and those in the Israeli Government who support them as well as the leaders of Hamas who have carried out atrocities in recent years. That proposal was agreed, passed and will come into effect.”
“Even though there is supposed to be a ceasefire, hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed. We are seeing a continued lack of aid and a blockading of aid getting to innocent civilians who are starving and who need this humanitarian aid. We are seeing a significant expansion in settler violence. Hundreds of thousands of people - not small villages or towns - are being displaced. We are seeing the death penalty being reintroduced and very public celebration of public trials and executions, all of which are completely against international law and completely intolerable for each and every one of us in this Chamber. Over the past few months, I have been building on the work that was done last year to try to build a consensus on how we can respond effectively at an EU level because I agree with the Deputy. Our words are not enough.”
“I thank the Deputy. I fully agree with him and everybody in this House, in that I am equally appalled by the actions of the Israeli Government in the detention of our citizens and many others in international waters but in particular the footage we saw yesterday that clearly shows that people were not treated with basic human dignity or respect. As I said to the Deputy's colleague earlier, if this is the way that European citizens are being treated, we can only imagine the way in which many other citizens have been treated. I also agree with the Deputy that this is not just the first action by any one minister. The comments by Prime Minister Netanyahu really are hollow because this is just another action to add to a series of actions. We see ongoing conflict in Gaza.”
“-----and we have a target of 74,000 homes that we want to retrofit this year. That is on top of the hundreds of thousands of people who have had their homes retrofitted and who are now seeing an overall and long-term reduction in the costs of their energy bills. If we look at the ESRI report published in April, it said that the most effective supports-----”
“The Deputy is talking about €178 million. Some €750 million has been provided in the past month and a half alone. That is on top of the additional fuel allowance that we have provided, and on top of the retrofitting-----”
“Does the Deputy not understand that in the past month and a half alone, the Government has provided €750 million directly to homeowners, to people who get into their cars every day and go to work and to businesses that transport food and all of the commodities around the country and bring our children to school? That €750 million has not come nowhere. That is from our taxpayers, our Exchequer and this Government. That decision was taken, and it is not on its own. It is on top of the direct supports that we have provided.”
“-----but we made a decision last year that we needed to respond directly and that is what we have done. The fuel allowance, which supports over 400,000 people who are directly and most impacted by the increases in the cost of fuel, has been extended so a further 50,000 households have benefitted from that payment, and it has been extended by four weeks to take into consideration the situation that people are in. That is not to say that we will not do more. We have another budget coming up and acknowledge the stress the people are under, and we will continue to provide direct supports as well as trying to adjust the overall long-term costs that people are facing.”
“In my role as Minister for foreign affairs, my priority at a European level is to engage with our partners in the Middle East, the US and beyond to bring this conflict to an end because that is the first point in making sure that we can de-escalate the situation and see costs reducing overall for people in the immediate term. In the immediate term, we have introduced measures to support homeowners. The €750 million that we are providing directly to homeowners is on top of measures that have been introduced since last year. Excise is already zero rated on home heating oil. It is not possible to reduce it further-----”
“In relation to the overall crisis and the scenario that many people find themselves in, we all want to do everything we can to ensure we reduce the cost price and reduce energy prices for people, but also that we make energy more affordable in the long term. We all know that a number of different factors have impacted on the cost of energy, fuel and electricity, not least the conflict in the Middle East and the escalating conflict in Iran in recent weeks. This is on top of the conflict that has been happening in Ukraine.”
“The most appropriate way in which we can respond to this is by making sure the proposal that has been on the table since last year, by the Commission, to suspend the trade element of the EU-Israel association agreement is voted on and that Europe sends a very strong message that we do not accept this kind of behaviour, but also that there is movement when it comes to the banning of trade with the illegal settlements. From my perspective, I can confirm that I will bring forward the occupied territories Bill in the coming weeks, irrespective of whether we reach a consensus at a European level, and we will enact that legislation, as I have committed to do as Minister for foreign affairs and as the Government has committed to do in our programme for Government.”
“The illegal detention, the way in which our citizens have been detained - we all saw the footage and are horrified by it - and also the fact that we have not had direct contact with our citizens are completely unacceptable. Not only have I condemned this and engaged and written directly to the Israeli authorities, but I am working to build a consensus within the EU to make sure that this is not just words and condemnation, but that we respond appropriately.”