Jennifer Whitmore
Wicklow · Social Democrats · Ireland
“The Minister for justice recently brought in reforms for the criminal justice legal aid system. While we all recognise that there is a need for reform within the system, the reforms that the Minister has brought in are ill-considered, not backed up by data or evidence and have led to absolute chaos in the courts system.”
“Hundreds of jurors were recently told that their services were no longer required. Many vulnerable people in the legal system are falling through gaps.”
“A hosepipe ban will come into force in a number of counties on the east coast from tomorrow. I completely understand that because we are seeing record temperatures and are in the middle of dealing with the climate crisis and climate change.”
“In 2024, 1,000 incidents of antisocial behaviour were recorded on Dublin Bus. That was nearly double the figure recorded just a few years earlier. Unfortunately, this is not just limited to Dublin. We are also seeing instances of this in my constituency, Wicklow, on Go-Ahead services.”
“More than 1,000 people died in Spain due to heat-related causes in June of this year alone. By early July, Spain had 14 major forest fires and 50,000 ha of land had been burned. Across Europe, more than 10,000 excess deaths associated with the recent heatwave were recorded in a single week. These warnings have to be taken seriously.”
“As a family member, you wonder if the person is getting care, whether they are being fed properly and whether they are being looked after. There is no visibility. There is a dementia care home in Shankill that a lot of people from my constituency use, St. Joseph's. It is incredible. I visited it recently.”
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“Others have referred to the speed at which this legislation and the previous Bill on LNG are being fast-tracked through the Dáil. There has not been sufficient time for debate or interrogation. Sufficient time has not been allocated to allow all Members to have input and, potentially, to make the legislation stronger and better, which is really what our job is. It is interesting to see how quickly the Government can get certain legislation through the system. I wish there was an equal emphasis by the Government on getting other things delivered. Why are we not seeing similar speed, energy and focus to get additional battery storage up and running or the interconnector to France, which has been delayed, put in place? It has been repeated many times, but we have less offshore wind energy now than we did 20 years ago.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 7, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “ “emergency” means a situation where the State is experiencing a significant and protracted physical disruption of gas supply, or other catastrophic deterioration of the supply situation, and where— (c) all relevant market-based measures have been fully implemented, exhausted, and proven insufficient to meet gas demand, and (d) non-market-based measures must be introduced to safeguard gas supplies to protected customers, in accordance with the criteria for an Emergency Level under Article 11(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938. For the avoidance of doubt, an emergency does not include localised network constraints, or routine seasonal increases in gas demand where physical supply remains available;”.”
“They did not look to see whether they could pull together a plan that would deal with battery storage, alternative fuels and forcing companies to ensure that they had sufficient storage of fuel on site. That is a real flaw and undermines the whole premise of this debate. The information and evidence are not there to support what the Government is trying to do with this Bill. I will get back to the amendment. It is important as part of that that there be a definition of "emergency" on a statutory basis that outlines exactly when this facility can be used. There is a fear that this facility will become a de facto gas intake facility that will end up being run on a commercial basis or, even if it is done on a non-commercial basis, that it will increase our gas usage. I therefore ask that this amendment be considered.”
“It is clearly wrong to rule out of order amendments that have no money message on this basis. It completely undermines the Opposition's ability to improve, or put safeguards into, this legislation. It is really important that we have safeguards in it and that when Deputies are making decisions in here or when the public is making up its mind about this LNG facility, they are doing it on the basis of full and transparent information. I am aware that the Minister has said that there are energy security risks associated with any potential impact on the interconnectors with Scotland and the gas intake from them, but the security reviews conducted did not look holistically at alternatives.”
“I imagine an awful lot of the amendments that go through this House are trying to improve Bills and through that may be in conflict with the Bills' fundamental principles, but I have never seen any amendments being ruled out of order on that basis.”
“I put in an amendment that called for a review of alternatives to how we can meet the energy security needs through batteries, interconnectors or by forcing companies to have alternative fuels on site. I also tabled an amendment on analysing the impact that this was going to have on domestic bills. For some reason, all of these amendments were ruled out of order on the basis that they were in conflict with the principle of the Bill, which is incredible. I question why they were ruled out. A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I have never seen an instance where amendments were ruled out of order - there is no money message here - because they were in conflict with the principle of the Bill as read a Second Time.”
“I was surprised to see that is not discussed or mentioned in the Bill the Minister brought forward, despite the fact that in every discussion we have had in this Chamber and committees and any debate, including when the Minister has spoken about it on the radio, the key thing he says is that it will be a State-owned, State-led non-commercial facility. That is the key message he is trying to get across, yet the Bill does not even mention that. There is a major gap here and it brings about a question of trust and transparency and whether the public can really believe the intentions behind this facility. I tabled a number of amendments to the Bill, including one to deal with the fact the operation of the birds and habitats directive was essentially removed from the Bill.”
“What we and the Minister need to try to do is bring a level of transparency to this debate and try to engender a level of trust. Trust has been broken between the public and the Government in this regard. When the Minister has talked about all the different elements of this facility, the key thing he mentioned is that it is to be a strategic, State-led, State-owned, State-run non-commercial facility to be used in limited circumstances. These amendments speak to those limited circumstances. It is important that the Bill be explicit regarding in what circumstances this facility can be utilised. That is why I and others tabled amendments. I will talk about it being a State-owned and State-led facility because that is another very important safeguard.”
“Over the past week or two, we have seen a fast-tracking of the liquefied natural gas, LNG, Bill through the Dáil. This is a big mistake. There are still a lot of questions about the rationale for this particular project. I understand that when the Taoiseach met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, he said, "... I'm hopeful that we'll soon reach a deal to sell American liquefied natural gas - and that’ll bring down your deficit a lot - so I think you have to make this deal with us, you better do something." Did those comments by Donald Trump have any impact on the speed at which the Government is putting through the liquefied natural gas, LNG, facility? Have any of the Taoiseach's Ministers or officials had any conversations with US representatives in relation to an LNG deal with the US?”
“Endometriosis impacts more than 300,000 women in Ireland, with 30,000 of them being very complex cases. This is a condition that is absolutely crippling for any woman who has it. There have been efforts by the Government to bring in a new framework to deal with endometriosis but access is still very difficult. A treatment abroad scheme was set up but a number of countries are not included in it, namely, Greece, Romania, the UK and France. There were plans to look into expanding it to these countries. I also want to raise the fact that in many instances women have to fund this treatment upfront. This would exclude an awful lot of women from accessing the treatment abroad scheme for endometriosis because it is a considerable amount of money. Will the Taoiseach and the Minister look into this?”
“If the Government is so convinced that this LNG facility is the only answer to this energy security risk, it needs to spell it out for people. It should do the analysis and let everybody see it because it is costly and, as I said, not just financially but environmentally.”
“We cannot allow people to feel that they are being left behind by this transition and that the people who are gaining the benefit and are being prioritised by this Government are the big boys and the big players. We want everybody to be able to benefit and to enjoy lower electricity prices and warmer homes. We want them to be energy independent. We want them to be able to drive electric vehicles and have solar panels on their homes. When they do need to access electricity or energy from the grid, we must ensure it is there at an affordable price. Unfortunately, the Government is far away from that at the moment. However, it is not too late. There is now an opportunity to pause things and bring in that review.”
“The benefits from the renewables are not being felt by individuals and that is a problem. We want our citizens, domestic users and small businesses to have faith that when we move to a fossil fuel-free future, they will not be left behind. That is not happening because they are actually being left behind. Not only are they being left behind, they are having to foot the bill. They are footing the bill for data centres. They are going to be footing the €1 billion bill for this LNG facility that is only there to ensure that 250 large energy users can continue to operate if there is problem with the pipeline. Domestic users will be footing that bill. That not only has problems from an equity perspective. It is also a problem from a social and community perspective.”
“We have been far too slow in ensuring that Ireland can exist as an independent energy State. We have relied far too heavily on other countries to do the heavy lifting for us. We have not been innovative enough. We have really been quite lazy when it comes to our energy security and independence, and ensuring that we have an energy system that people in this country can afford. The lived experience of the people at the moment is that that is not the case. Ireland has the highest electricity prices. An official from the Department was in talking about the issue recently. The official was stressing that we have done so well when it comes to our renewable energies. We have but what are we doing with them? We are funnelling them back into these large corporates.”
“I am hugely worried about the disapplication of the birds and habitat directive. As I said, there has been a rowing back on a lot of climate legislation. There has been fear that there would be a similar rowing back on legislation to protect biodiversity. There has certainly been a movement in Europe to do that so I was disappointed to see that also being applied in this Bill. I was also very surprised to see it because during pre-legislative scrutiny, we were told at that stage that we will not be exempting this facility from the habitats directive. That is what we were told in committee. Yet, this Bill disapplies the birds and habitats directive. That again comes back to the lack of trust about what the motives are here. That is another important consideration.”
“It is not mentioned at all. I am sure the Minister of State will understand that it sets off alarms. It says to me that this process cannot be trusted. Now, when the Department or anyone makes any statements or comes forward with any advice, solutions or evidence, I and others are going to be questioning it because there is a fear that it is not being transparent. That is why the energy security, as the Department is looking at all the other measures, is also important. We want a transparent process. We want to ensure that the people who will be footing the bill for this €1 billion know why this has gone in and know that the Government looked at all these other measures and decided they were not going to work. It must be transparent. It is important that the Government gets that done. I would like to make a similar point.”
“I do not know whether that is the case or not. The one thing I have repeatedly raised with the Minister, and on which I have repeatedly received assurances from him, is that the LNG facility will be State-owned, State-led and not commercial, and that there will be sufficient guardrails in place to make sure that is the case. I have had this back and forth with the Minister many times, as I did at committee. It has always been promised that it would be the case. I am worried as to why it was not mentioned in the Bill. The primary purpose of this LNG facility is to act as a risk-mitigation measure in a very limited fashion that can only be done by the State, run and managed by the State, and is not to increase our gas usage. That usage is to be very controlled. If that is the purpose of the facility, this why is that not stated in the Bill?”
“We will be debating them when appropriate, but I ask that the Minister of State give serious consideration to looking at all the different pieces of the jigsaw and seeing whether there is a way that the various elements can be brought together to ensure we are energy resilient. The other issue I want to raise with the Minister of State is one that very much surprised me. There is a general lack of trust in the Department and Government in this regard. I certainly was very sceptical and I was concerned that this legislation was a way of allowing for commercial LNG facilities to begin operating. When there was a pulling back on the fracked gas policy and when the Minister did not really engage on the planning issues in Shannon, my sense was that this was really a Trojan Horse to allow a commercial facility to operate.”
“I have spoken about demand management, battery storage, fast-tracking our interconnectors, district heating to provide heating to people, alternative fuels and requiring large corporates to have more alternative fuels on site. These have not been examined robustly enough. When I read through the energy security reports, it appears that the Government essentially got the answers it wanted from the questions put in the reviews. It is really important that the Government stall now. This is a major piece of infrastructure and it is costly. It will cost us €1 billion at least and it will be in place for many years. It will also be costly from an environmental perspective. The Minister of State needs to re-examine that. The Social Democrats have tabled amendments reflecting these views.”
“At some stage, we do have to start considering bringing our enterprise, climate and energy policies all together, because at the moment we are seeing far too much siloing of the issues. The Government is in a position now where it is acknowledging there is a big problem, that we are at risk and that we need to come up with a solution. There are alternatives to what is being proposed. I really do not believe there has been enough examination of the alternatives. In the event that we lose connection with Scotland for a gas pipeline, which is highly unlikely but would be very problematic, what are the alternatives to the LNG facility? I really do not believe that has been given enough consideration.”
“At some stage, a tough decision is going to have to be made where we say we cannot afford to allow the continued incredible growth of large energy users like data centres, because that will ultimately make us more vulnerable when it comes to energy security. They are reliant on gas and they are pushing up our energy prices. They are the reason that we now apparently need the €1 billion LNG facility. It is not to meet the needs of individual households or businesses, or people in hospitals or schools. It is not to meet those needs. The LNG facility is to ensure that if there is a problem with the interconnector or the gas line from Scotland, energy for the approximately 250 large corporates will be available.”
“We had the Arklow Bank but that has been decommissioned. We have had delays in respect of our interconnectors. As I have raised repeatedly, I do not believe the Government has done enough when it comes to solar energy to make households resilient and to support people in this regard. I do not believe the Government has focused enough on battery storage and its potential. Over the past number of weeks, we have heard from some experts at meetings of the climate committee on the huge potential of, and the technological advances that have been made when it comes to, battery storage. Yet we have not had a Government that has focused on all those issues. Indeed, we have had a Government that has closed its eyes to the issue of demand management.”
“That in itself is a very stark illustration that the Government is not taking this seriously enough. The LNG facility has not just come upon us in the last week or two, the last month or two or, indeed, the last year. This discussion is happening because the current and previous Governments have failed to come to grips with our energy security and to put in place measures that will assist us to become energy independent. This LNG facility is a sort of emergency solution because all the hard work has not been done. We have seen delay after delay regarding much of the major infrastructure we would need in order to deal with our emissions, but also to have a very strong renewable energy system. We have less offshore wind energy now than 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, we were a world leader in offshore wind.”
“That is not just to ensure that, as a country, we can adapt to the climate change that we are experiencing but also to do everything it can to stop it from getting worse and to work internationally in that regard. Unfortunately, what we have seen from this Government is a rowing back when it comes to climate action and climate-action ambition. We have seen a repeated failure to meet targets, and even a failure to lay out the list of policies that would meet our 51% legal reduction target. Not once has the climate action plan specified enough policies to meet our targets. This is not even about implementing them. I am referring to the Government setting out what policies we need. Never once has the current or previous Government spelt out enough policies.”
“The incredible weather we are seeing across Europe and its significance are not going to be lost on anybody. France has recorded its hottest day, at 44.3°C. Tragically, at least 18 heat-related deaths have been seen in France and dozens of people have drowned as they tried to cool off. The UK had its hottest June day on record this month, at 36.1°C. We have seen red heat warnings issued across Europe. Indeed, here in Ireland it would appear we are seeing our hottest day on record. It is clear that climate change is not something that is coming. It is not something that is going to be presented to us in the future. Climate change is here. Days like today really need to be warning signs for the Government because it has a very big job to do.”
“Plug-in solar represents a huge opportunity to enable renters and those who live in apartments or in heritage homes to access the benefits of solar power and to make savings on their bills. The UK is powering ahead with this and I hope Ireland will follow suit. I have raised this repeatedly with the Minister and I know he is open to this. I understand the ESB is looking at it. I ask that the Taoiseach actually put a timeline on it because the Department has been looking at this for two years and we really cannot have any delays. This really needs to be fast-tracked. The benefits are huge and we are obviously in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. I ask that the Taoiseach speed up progress on this.”
“In 2024, 59% of Ireland’s existing treatment plants failed to consistently meet the standards set out in their EPA licence. Nearly half of these, that is approximately 120 instances, were due to poor operational management, things like pumps not working and maintenance not happening on equipment. In fact, the EPA has prosecuted Uisce Éireann 35 times for failing to properly treat wastewater. Can the Taoiseach tell me why Uisce Éireann gave 47 of its best-paid employees an average of €21,000 in bonus payments for good performance in 2024, while at the same time there were 120 instances of someone, somewhere not doing his or her job when it came to treating our water and ensuring and protecting our water supply?”
“Because we are coming into the start of a new school year and a new college year, I ask that the Minister try to find that funding for just four months of the year to get this running. It is ready to go. Literally, the bus is sitting there. I ask the Minister to try to find that funding to bridge that gap.”
“I do acknowledge that the Minister is trying to give a realistic date. I think that has been part of the problem: that people have been waiting week by week for this service to be rolled out. The difficulty, however, is that I was told in May last year that this service was funded, that the money was there for it. It was tendered and it was contracted. There is a bus sitting in Clonshaugh in Dublin empty, not running, waiting to be used on this service. Four drivers have been hired for this service. Everything is ready to go, and I do not understand how that funding is no longer there. I know the Minister is saying that he is trying to stabilise funding this year and next year and that new services will come in but this service was promised.”
“I thank the Minister but that response just is not good enough. It just does not cut it. This service was to start last September. People have been relying on it. They have been making life decisions - dropping out of college, not able to get jobs in other parts - because they are relying on this service to go from, say, Roundwood to Bray. They were told it would happen in September. I am glad to hear the Minister say that it should happen from next January but what people need is an actual date. We have some members of the Government saying that an announcement was to be made last week and the NTA says there is no funding for this. There is a complete lack of clarity. This service needs to start at least in September because people in those areas cannot get to college or get to many of the schools they need to get to.”
“Can the Minister give me an update on the Local Link 199 service and when it is due to start? It was actually meant to start last September. A bus has been purchased for it. Drivers are in place. The community really needs this bus service up and running. There is very much a lack of clarity because the Government says one thing and the NTA says the other. Can we have a start date for this service this morning?”
“We need to know how many we can have and at what cost. How many can we afford from price, energy demand and climate perspectives? I so wish the previous Government had taken the opportunity to pause back in 2021. If it had done so, we would be in a much better position now. If a tree was not planted 20 years ago, the next best time to plant it is now. I ask the Minister of State to take a really close look at this now and do the analysis. This is a risk we cannot afford to take.”
“It is quite stark from both cost and demand perspectives. The motion states 80% of the energy will have to be from renewable sources, but there is six years before that has to be hit. Even the fact that 20% does not have to be from renewable sources is crazy when we are trying to move away from fossil fuels. If a target is to be in place, it should be 100%. There are data centres currently operating now which are claiming they are essentially 100% renewable because they are buying credits from Germany in relation to biomethane. There are all of these loops built into this system which will cause us problems down the road. There will be difficulties with it. In 2021, the Social Democrats asked for a moratorium on data centres. We called for one because we said it is really important to get our facts right on this.”
“The PR6 at the ESB – the €18 billion or €19 billion that has been put into the grid by the ESB – is not to support the grid for future data centre development; it is only to support and keep the grid robust for existing data centre development. Anything additional we put on it is going to cause problems. Professor Hannah Daly, a professor in sustainable energy at UCC, was in Leinster House last week and she has written a blog post on data centres and the risks. I do not know if the Minister of State has read it, but I would certainly advise her to take a look at it. Particularly in her role, it will be really important that she get independent advice in relation to the impact. Professor Daly states the CRU estimates there is potentially 5.8 GW to come on stream. She goes through all the risks.”
“We heard this as recently as last week, when Friends of the Environment gave a presentation with a really in-depth analysis that showed that household bills have gone up by €360, primarily in the time between 2022 and 2024. That was purely based on the additional demand put on by data centres. We also have the costs of keeping our grid updated and robust because, obviously, a number of years ago there were major issues with grid security. We were looking at the potential for blackouts and brownouts. As a result, we had to spend a lot of money bringing in temporary generators. That was primarily because we saw this huge increase in data centres and our grid was not able to cope.”
“That is why we have all of those discussions about just transition and the importance of that. That language has fallen off the table and I am sort of happy about it to be honest, because most ordinary people have no idea what just transition is. Ultimately, when the Government is doing its policies it needs to make sure people are not being left behind. If we use, for example, how people are experiencing and being impacted by the proliferation of data centres, in their real lives the way people are being impacted is through pricing. People have seen their electricity prices go up. There are a whole lot of other elements to it as well; I understand that. However, data centres are absolutely increasing prices. The demand placed on our electricity grid on the markets is pushing up prices.”
“The reason that divide is happening is because a huge number of people feel they are being left behind and there is a focus on the big players - the big corporates and businesses - and they are the ones benefiting from high energy prices and any of the climate measures. A lot of people are feeling very left behind. When they go to blame someone or point the finger because they cannot afford electricity or food or there is no bus to bring them to work, unfortunately we have elements, very bad actors in some areas, who will point to climate change and say it is the reason, that it is a made-up issue and Government is using it to essentially leave them behind. Climate action is not just about the environment or living more sustainably; there is such an important element of social cohesion that needs to be dealt with.”
“If the Government gives the impression that all of these actions are happening and all of this momentum and change is happening and it is not actually happening, there is a huge risk from a climate and environmental perspective. This is such an important area because there is also a huge level of risk when it comes to social cohesion. We have seen that in Ireland to a small degree, but when we look at the UK, the US or other countries in Europe, there is a real divide in some societies and climate action is being blamed and utilised as the scapegoat for that divide, and it is not.”
“I congratulate the Minister of State on her new role and wish her the best in it. I thank the Labour Party for this very important and extensive motion. Any time we get to debate energy, climate action and the cost of living in this Dáil Chamber it is very worthwhile. I have just read through the amendment the Government has tabled. I understand the normal process is that the speechwriters do the speeches but I ask the Minister State to cast a critical eye over it because the amount of spin in the document is incredible. The one thing we need to be with the public is honest when it comes to not only the risks of climate change but also the level of climate action.”
“In the past number of days, however, I have received an email from the NTA that states: We require funding to operate this service. No funding is available. Unfortunately, a precise date for commencement cannot be provided at this time. They are two very different statements. People – myself included - are frustrated at mixed messaging coming from the Government and the NTA. The communities in Wicklow who rely on the route deserve answers. They deserve clarity and a single message from the Government as to when the service is going to start because they are making life decisions based on that service, such as whether to go to college or where to get a job. They deserve transparency and the truth.”
“I raise the Local Link 199 bus route. It was approved last year. I was told by the NTA in May last year that it was funded. It went out to tender last summer. The company that won the tender bought a bus and hired four drivers. It was meant to start in September but it has not yet started. I held a public meeting last week on this. This bus is to go from Laragh to Glendalough, Roundwood and Bray. Some 150 people turned up to the meeting. It is a big issue. My major concern is the lack of transparency and information about why this route has not started. The Tánaiste, whom I was hoping would be here today to answer, has been telling constituents that the firm date for that service should be available this week and that the service is financed.”
“What came of the committee meeting was that the Government has not really looked at those alternatives. I ask the Minister to consider those alternatives.”
“I think everybody agrees that we are an energy insecure country and that we do rely on external actors. That is very clear from the different energy shocks we have experienced in recent years. It is important that we shore up our energy security. The question is whether we require a strategic LNG facility to do it or if there is an alternative way to provide that energy security. The former Minister, Eamon Ryan, based on the advice he received from the Department previously, is of the opinion that there is an alternative way to do that and this would be by using alternative fuels, battery storage and interconnector systems to provide energy security in the event that there were some catastrophic interruption to the gas pipelines coming into Ireland. That is a very unlikely event but it is a high-risk one.”
“However, it is important to be cognisant of what he has said. Has the Minister looked at his recommendations? This area moves quickly and technology moves quickly. It is an opportune time to review the policy.”
“I thank the Minister for the update. As he knows, we had pre-legislative scrutiny at the committee and concerns were raised at that point. I want to refer to an article written by the previous Minister for the environment, Eamon Ryan, shortly after the start of this Dáil term when he was no longer a Member of the Oireachtas or a Minister. He was very clear that we do not require a floating LNG facility. As a former Minister, he was aware of the many details, discussions and reports that went through the Department, on which the Minister is also relying. He outlined a number of ways we could still secure our energy supply without relying on this LNG facility. I wish he had realised this when he first brought the plan forward. The strategic LNG facility was his proposal at the very start. I wish this work had been done at that point.”
“Will the Taoiseach commit to a full review of the enforcement capacity of the NPWS and ensure there is transparency about the staffing of national parks in all regions?”
“I will start again. The Irish Times reported yesterday on figures that my colleague, Deputy Liam Quaide, obtained showing that reports of wildlife crime to the National Parks and Wildlife Service nearly doubled in five years, from 301 incidents in 2021 to 581 last year. These are serious offences and include illegal hedgerow removal, habitat destruction and unauthorised drainage, yet prosecutions collapsed to just 17 in 2024. That is one prosecution for every 34 reported crimes. Three entire counties had zero prosecutions in five years. Yet, when Deputy Quaide sought answers from the NPWS on its staffing capacity, the Minister of State refused to provide them. Without enforcement our wildlife laws are not worth the paper they are written on.”
“Second, we ask that it supports sporting organisations. What is so difficult for this Government to do that? Why is it so difficult? I ask the Minister of State to lead.”
“Sport was not above politics when the former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, supported the boycott of apartheid and sporting organisations at that time. It was not above politics when the Government at the time removed the visas from the Yugoslavian players. It was not above politics when, during the previous Government, Ministers supported the boycott of Russia. Yet, all of a sudden, when it comes to Israel, sport is above politics. The Government cannot take or make a decision on it. It cannot have a statement or opinion on it. Where is the Government’s moral compass? That is what this comes down to. Where is its backbone, because previous Governments had courage when it came to this? Our motions asks for two things. First, we ask the Government to advocate at a national and international level for a boycott.”
“Some 75,000 people have been murdered, 23,000 of whom were children. A total of 260 journalists and 565 footballers have been murdered. Both our Taoiseach and Tánaiste have said it is a genocide. Yet, it is business as usual for Israel. It gets to pretend that it is a normal state. It is far from normal, however. It is a murderous regime that is conducting a genocide. Yet, it still gets to access European trading markets and European funds. The Israeli football team will now get to represent its country in a stadium, with its flag flying and its national anthem being sung, and the Irish Government thinks it is okay to send our players out representing Ireland to play against it. We hear repeatedly that sport is above politics. That is one of the Government’s mantras when it comes to this issue.”