John Lahart
Dublin South-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I remember sitting in the back seat of my parents' car as we crossed the Border for the first time, a British soldier talking to my father, seeing his gun and having an awful gut feeling about the idea that a British soldier would be stopping my father's car. I was from Dublin.”
“In the current debate, when we talk about security, defence and how Ireland is going to approach this, I always say Ireland is having a conversation about this for the first time. Nobody needs to pressurise us about this; we will make our decisions about it ourselves in a mature way.”
“However, it would also give a real indication of the challenges that lie ahead of us in order to make that feeling of home for everybody who lives on the island a real possibility. That means there is a huge amount of work to be done.”
“There are real tax implications if they live in the Republic and work in the North, or if they live in the North and work in the Republic. We have not actually established some kind of common area or system that enables people to do that and it is actually hindering economic development and progress. IBEC has said that.”
“It lends itself to a very natural system of federal government where there is a capital in each province determining - not ruling, but representing everybody in those provinces - and maybe a central government made up of representatives of those four provinces.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute briefly on this debate. I was listening to some of it. I echo some of the comments made by Deputy Gogarty about the provocative nature of some of the matters that he raised and the wide range of issues we would need to consider. We do not talk about the North in this House enough.”
The complete record
Every one of 287 lines we hold for John Lahart, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 6.
“More importantly, gardaí had full powers under that legislation to seize a scrambler being driven dangerously in any location where they had reasonable belief that the vehicle might be driven dangerously. It also gave the Garda the powers to enter the curtilage of a dwelling to receive a scrambler after the fact. Why was it given those powers? It was that senior gardaí had issued an instruction to rank-and-file members not to engage in pursuit of scramblers being driven in a dangerous fashion, as that would cause danger to the public, the garda and the person driving the scrambler. It was just dangerous all around. All of these powers we have spoken about were actually granted to the Garda. We have to ask ourselves why the regulations to ban scramblers in public spaces were not being made.”
“There had been a death on the northside of Dublin as well, which motivated me as spokesperson on Dublin at the time to move to introduce legislation. We were not in government but when we came into government, Deputy Paul McAuliffe and I doubled down on that. It is worth reiterating what that legislation involved. It was passed in 2023 by the Government at the time. It made dangerous driving an offence not only in public spaces but everywhere, including in public parks. It also gave An Garda Síochána new powers to seize scramblers being driven dangerously in any location. One month after the Bill was enacted, off-road scramblers were no longer just illegal for use in public places. It was illegal to drive them dangerously anywhere, even on private land.”
“As you have used 20 seconds of my time, a Cheann Comhairle, you might be nice to me at the back end of it. I echo your welcome. The Order of Malta would absolutely take priority if I was in the Chair too. I echo the comments made by all previous speakers and by the Taoiseach and the Minister in recent days. I offer my sympathy to the family of Grace Lynch on their unbearable loss. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems to the public that events like this coax Government and politicians into action. When I first came in here in 2016, we had the scourge of scramblers in my constituency of Dublin South-West not only on streets but particularly in public parks. They destroyed public parks and public pitches and caused accidents to young children, near accidents and near misses.”
“In my constituency, however, while they are a nuisance and a real menace on public roads, it is in public parks that they do most damage, tearing up pitches and amenity space. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that because, at the end of the day, if the Government banned them, there would still be a question of how-----”
“I want to reinforce the message from a previous speaker in relation to scrambler legislation. As the Taoiseach knows, I worked particularly hard in opposition, with his support, to draft a Bill around scrambler legislation between 2016 and 2020. In government, we introduced legislation which senior gardaí in Tallaght in my constituency have described as game-changing. Because senior gardaí were reluctant to engage in pursuit of people on scramblers, we asked them what laws they wanted. As far as we were concerned, we gave them the laws they were looking for, which included confiscation, as was mentioned earlier. I support a ban on scramblers on public roads, which the Taoiseach has spoken about.”
“I do not know what we can do as a society to provide additional short- to medium-term protections for victims of crime in those cases. I know, having brought this to the Minister's attention, that it is something that he will look at. It is a live issue for victims of crime, particularly violent crime. I welcome the Bill and thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to participate in this debate.”
“I have written to him previously about it and I am sure others have done so too. I refer to victims of physical or sexual abuse, often pretty violent abuse, who are terrified when the perpetrators of that abuse are due to be released. I speak of cases where perpetrators have been successfully prosecuted, convicted and have served jail sentences, whether long or short. Sometimes the sentences may seem too lenient but victims are terrified at the prospect of their release. Female constituents in particular have written to me over the years because they were really terrified when they got word that the man who inflicted physical damage on them or a family member was to be released back in to public life in short period of time. They felt exceptionally vulnerable around them.”
“I am not sure the average citizen has any notion of what community service involves but I support the Minister in that regard. The DNA analysis in missing person cases provision is also welcome. I want to highlight the Bill's provision enabling the use of advanced DNA identification in missing person cases. Forensic Science Ireland believes that these enhanced techniques will improve the likelihood of resolving both current and historical cases. I come now to what I would call the housekeeping elements of the Bill, one of which relates to outdoor seating for licensed premises. I welcome the regularising of that which will mean that the courts are not taken up with such matters every six months or every year. I would like to make a suggestion to the Minister now, although I do not think he can include it in this Bill.”
“It is also about putting people in jail for what are petty crimes. Clearly such crimes do have an impact and a price has to be paid for them. However, as a society, we probably do not know enough about community service. In my time as a county councillor I was familiar with some community service activities that took place and were implemented by the Courts Service in conjunction with local authorities. These included the cleaning of signage and similar activities. It might be helpful to publish a list of community service activities to make people more aware. That said, I do not want to create a situation where people walking down a street who see road signs being cleaned know that the people cleaning them are prisoners.”
“Ireland is one of the very few EU states where prison officers cannot currently use incapacitant spray and the Bill removes that legal anomaly. This is not just to protect prison officers but also to protect other prisoners from aggressive and violent behaviour by some of their fellow inmates. It is a practical and proportionate measure that aligns us with international norms, while keeping the safety of both staff and those in custody at the forefront. On prison overcrowding and community sanctions, the Minister has gestured towards this a number of times in previous speeches. I agree that for what we would call petty or minor crimes, which are still crimes and which have impacted individuals, we should not be locking people up. It is not just about overcrowding, which is what motivates him.”
“That is such a positive development. Victims will not have to choose between the privacy of whatever record of their counselling sessions has been kept and the pursuit of justice. As I understand it, a judge will examine the records, the victim will always have legal representation and the court will decide what, if anything, should be shared and under what strict conditions. I will move on to a number of other issues, one of which has been well covered, namely the practice known as sex for rent. I want to address that deeply disturbing practice and welcome the fact that the Minister is doing his utmost legally to ensure that it is prevented by criminalising two specific actions in this Bill. I support him in legalising the use of incapacitant spray by prison officers.”
“The intention was a good one, to strike a fair balance between an accused person's right to a fair trial and a complainant's right to privacy. The intention was that a judge, following a proper hearing, would decide whether any part of those records was relevant and ought to be disclosed but in practice, perhaps that is not what was happening. Victims have sometimes felt compelled to waive their right to a judicial hearing, fearing that asserting their privacy might somehow be interpreted as obstructing justice, jeopardising the prosecution, or causing delay. As a result their counselling records, which are sometimes the most intimate words they have ever spoken, have been handed over routinely. This was never the intention of the Oireachtas. The Bill fixes any fundamental flaws by requiring a disclosure hearing in every single case.”
“It is not to write down word for word - almost in evidence or to record in evidence - with a view to this coming before a court. It is doing your best as a psychotherapist in the role to respond and to hear the key things that particular client has experienced. I know the sacredness of that therapeutic space and it is not exclusive to therapy. The previous speaker referred to other professionals who have what could be considered a sacred or secretive space in which people convey information on the basis that this information will not ever be betrayed. The law, as the Minister said, governing disclosure of these records was significantly reformed almost ten years ago with the introduction of the Criminal Evidence Act.”
“It is from that perspective that I strongly welcome several elements of this Bill, particularly those dealing with sexual offences, privacy and exploitation. Without getting into too much detail, I want to make a passing comment about the notes of a psychotherapist because they can differ from time to time. In my experience, it is not a diary of every single word a client comes to tell you. You do not record in writing every single word. That is not your responsibility and not why they have come to you. It is your response, how you contain what they are saying, how you respond and how you perceive the impact that this particular experience has had on them, what their needs are as a victim of that particular experience. They are two very brief things I see as the role of a psychotherapist.”
“Before coming into parliamentary political life, I practised for a decade as a psychotherapist and I sat with people in moments where they felt broken, ashamed, frightened or unsure of their place in the world. I probably experienced many of those feelings myself. Many of those who came through my door had experienced some kind of trauma, sometimes sexual trauma, coercion or other kinds of emotional impact in their lives. I learned this trauma often happens in silence but the impacts echo through every part of a person's life. That experience has stayed with me and has also, in part, shaped my understanding of the justice system and the need for trauma-informed practices, as well as the immense courage required for victims to come forward.”
“Is it perfect and is it likely to be perfect? Probably not, and future Ministers for justice will have to come back and do more work and respond to the needs of society as they evolve. However, it responds to real challenges we face at present in our justice system and delivers on important commitments in the programme for Government. People voted for parties on the basis of what we committed to in the programme for Government. That is why Deputy O'Callaghan is the Minister for justice. It also speaks to something deeper, which is how we as legislators seek to do our best to uphold the dignity, safety and justice for people in our society who often find themselves at their most vulnerable. It also seeks to address the practical requirements around things as normal as licensing laws to try to clarify some of the issues in that regard.”
“It is a bottom-up process where ordinary people may express their views on the law, gaps in the law and concerns about perhaps particular laws that need to be amended or some laws that are not actually in place at all and need to be put in place. They become part of a programme for Government. In the case of justice, it is the role and responsibility of the Minister for justice to do their best to implement those laws. I regard this as an omnibus Bill, where the Minister is trying to successfully bring several issues the Government parties made commitments on in its programme for Government. It is his role to bring those before this House and to enact them. In that sense, it is democracy at work and I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on what I believe is a significant and far-reaching Bill.”
“I am grateful and welcome the opportunity to comment on the Bill. To remind people how we get to a stage like this in a democracy, people bring forward ideas, concerns or observations regarding how our criminal law system operates. In a political party like mine, Fianna Fáil, we try to take these on board and prepare position papers on them and put those out to expert and stakeholder groups to get their views on them. They then eventually form part of a party political manifesto. Those expert stakeholders will also make their views known to other parties and in this case, they form part of a programme for Government.”
“More than 200,000 people are employed by American companies here. Little Ireland is the fifth largest foreign direct investor in the USA. It is a relationship we have to cultivate and ensure is maintained, while at the same time standing shoulder to shoulder with our European Union partners. To repeat what I said at the beginning, Ireland needs mature leadership now more than ever, calm engagement and dialogue, no drama, and none of the soundbites that are easy to throw from the Opposition benches. It needs mature, considered leadership.”
“Every country has confidential information it has to protect, and it can trust in that kind of source and structure to ensure people will not abuse that kind of information. Regarding our trade with the USA, we are in a delicate situation. Some $1 billion worth of trade comes across the Atlantic every six hours into the European Union. Much of that travels through our country through data and services. The need to pivot and not be completely reliant on the US is something the previous speaker adverted to in the case of Canada. We do not want to have all our eggs in the US basket either but we have a unique relationship with the United States of America. There are 900 US companies based here, with a number of very significant companies headquartered here. Some 300,000 people are employed by Irish companies in America.”
“We will have investment in perpetuity if we can show the rest of the world that we are prepared to invest in our security and in protecting our neutral status. We must be prepared to defend and protect our neutrality. That means adult conversations. There are structures in place in other countries such as the UK. They may call it the privy council, where a prime minister can call in the leaders of the opposition parties to show them latest intelligence they are privy to have from the highest reliable sources in the country. It is what they have been told and is what is informing their policy. If the opposition parties were sitting in that chair, it is what they would be informed of too. This is confidential information.”
“Never before have we more needed adults in the room than at this time in our history, and in what the Taoiseach has described as uncharted territory. We also need to not lose sight during this debate, which I welcome, that the greatest threat to the Union we are part of is Russia. Military neutrality has been raised here and I am a stout defender at every opportunity I get internationally as chair of the foreign affairs and trade committee, or here at home talking to anybody prepared to listen in any forum. I support military neutrality, but never before has it become more obvious to me that Ireland needs to be in a position to protect its neutrality, to defend itself, and particularly to offer itself as a country that is in a position to protect the quite considerable business assets that other countries invest here.”
“The Minister is very clear in his reply that neither he nor the NTA is a party to the commercial or contractual arrangements but it is impossible for a taxi driver in Dublin to avoid using the apps now. Otherwise, they will just disappear as taxi drivers, so perhaps the NTA needs to get involved in that. The big piece that is exercising taxi drivers is that this was not negotiated. This has been foisted on them. That is why they are going to be outside the gates at 4.30 p.m. and blocking Dublin Airport as well, creating a bit of a fuss to bring this to the attention of the public.”
“In other words, the taxi driver cannot claim that but the answer the Minister of State has given seems to suggest the opposite. However, it is only referring to Uber. It is not referring to Freenow, for example, another app that is very widely used. The NTA needs to move very quickly. Another part of the ministerial response states, with reference to the Uber taxi fixed price option, that the Minister understands that the customer is now provided with a maximum guaranteed price upfront. That seems to be the case with one of the apps and while obviously I am in favour of value for money for customers, taxi drivers also need to make a living. Customers are guaranteed a maximum price upfront, and that is fine, but as taxi drivers point out, it does not take into account delays in the journey or other issues.”
“The piece of the reply that the Minister of State did not reach states that the Minister for Transport issued a letter to the NTA on 19 November last asking it to clarify the regulatory position on the Uber fixed price fare for the information of taxi operators and public representatives alike. We await that clarification because the taxi drivers who have been in touch with me and with colleagues across the House and who have come to my clinics do not recognise the part of the reply which asserts that there is a maximum price that cannot be exceeded. Their interpretation of this is that if a price of €23 for a journey is sent through the app as a guesstimate, that is what the customer will pay, even if the journey is delayed or diverted, resulting in an increase in the fare.”
“Taxi drivers feel that is a kind of divide and rule approach. Under this model, Uber pays the lower of the metered fare or the company's preset fixed price. This means that if there are delays, diversions or traffic issues, the driver loses income even though the meter reflects the legally regulated fare. That is the bones of it.”
“If I order a taxi, I pay a €3 fee between the time of ordering and the time it takes for the taxi to come to my house. That into account the distance the taxi driver has to travel to arrive. I may cancel. There is time and fuel used. Through this app, the taxi driver gets €3 before the pick-up. However, now the customer can choose not to pay the €3 fee. They can choose a discount to discount the fare by that €3. This is not part of the deal that was negotiated between the NTA and taxi drivers. We can give out sometimes about the cost of them but we all know traditionally that a taxi fare is about time, distance and pick-up cost. What the taxi drivers are justifiably exercised about is that the new system was introduced, if it can be called a system, without the agreement of taxi drivers. It has caused widespread anger within the industry.”
“If he or she wants to go from Rathfarnham to Leinster House, Freenow offers them a guesstimate of how much that will cost, which is useful because passengers the know roughly how much it will cost. They also know that if there is congestion or something like that it is going to cost more than that. Uber wants to move to an accurate fee. If I order a taxi from Knocklyon to Croke Park, it will outline a fare and come what may, it wants me to pay that fare. It means that if the taxi is delayed in traffic or if there are some other circumstances that cause a delay, the taxi driver is not getting paid for that They want to dictate the fare and circumvent the existing agreement that has been arrived at between the NTA and taxi drivers. At the moment, Freenow has a taxi saver.”
“The National Transport Authority, NTA, reviews fares for taxis every two years roughly. Those fares are reviewed and a new fare is brought up relating to the type of car, the cost of the car and those kinds of issues. The NTA arrives at a figure and the taxi meter is recalibrated accordingly. The taxi drivers pay a fee for that. I welcome the apps we all have access to now, including Freenow and Uber, particularly in cities and urban areas. They provide security, a certain amount of predictability and certainty, identification for the drivers and security for vulnerable users and women, especially younger women passengers. They know who their driver is. There is a record kept of the journey. Freenow guesstimates a fare. A person orders a taxi.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her presence. I raised this issue with the Minister for Transport last night. I understand that at short notice he cannot be here, but I would be very much obliged if the Minister of State can convey the importance of this issue, which I know he is aware of. There is going to be industrial action by taxi drivers or as close as they can get to it today either outside at Merrion Square and at the airport on an issue they feel strongly about. I support them on this. I hate to see Dublin city disrupted. I hate to see people who are going about their work, trying to their travel and get home after a busy day disrupted in this way. It is a pity that it has had to escalate this quickly without them being met. The issue is a just issue.”
“It has been proposed that there be a review of and greater emphasis on monitoring and accountability. I am not talking here about the Ukrainians living in the State. I refer to those seeking international protection and who must remain on site until they attain that. The site is not a prison but it is a holding centre for people in that sense. There have been calls for a focus on social cohesion within the site and off-site and on residents' well-being. There is a mix. I volunteered there for a little while. What I did was a microcosm of what other volunteers in south County Dublin did. However, I was there just as things started to get a little more complex and it was not just Ukrainians being housed there. I wrote a little paper on what I saw, which I will forward to the Minister of State. My time is up.”
“ft of accommodation. The convention centre is over 250,000 sq. ft in size and the hotel has 750 beds. It is a big operation. One of the things we need to do now we own a significant portion of this facility is sit down and review how it is governed and managed from security right down to welfare. Concerns have arisen regarding security and access control. One of the suggestions made to me is that we need tighter control of access points and consideration of enhanced security measures such as the use of drug detection dogs. There are claims of open drug dealing on the site. Use of facial recognition technology has also been suggested. That is standard practice in some other IPAS centres and involves a swipe in-swipe out system. It does not contravene anybody's rights; it just protects the place properly.”
“Some of the concerns may be groundless but I will outline them in any case. There is concern that the current staff lack appropriate training in essential areas, including conflict resolution, Children First and child protection protocols, trauma-informed practices, human trafficking awareness and general social care and protection standards. Question marks have been raised around accountability structures reaching down to security staff. The Citywest complex, as the Minister of State knows well, hosts at least three distinct centres. There is what we would have known as the golf hotel, with 300 or 400 rooms. I understand it is still housing refugees but it is separate from the Citywest facility. The Citywest hotel houses more than 1,000 Ukrainians and then the leisure centre, or the gym as it would be known locally, has 30,000 sq.”
“While I agree with much of what the previous speaker said, this Chamber is the citizens' assembly for discussion of this issue. We need to be courageous. Unfortunately, a previous speaker has left the Chamber. There are a couple of points I would have liked to respond to but perhaps that is for another day. The Minister of State will understand if I focus my comments locally or parochially on Citywest. Some of the points I will make could already be subject to action by the Minister, the Minister of State and the Department. They are issues that have been raised with me and I am sure they have landed on the Minister of State's desk. I understand a meeting is planned in the coming weeks to discuss the situation at Citywest. The issue I raise relates to the management of the facility.”
“On the other end of the scale, we have an explosion of chronic illnesses. There are a lot of interventions that can be made policy-wise. The Government cannot do everything, but it can look at addressing a bit of the fear, sending the message that the doctor is your friend and exploring what frightens people out of taking steps. As a slight aside, women were patronised terribly in advertising over the years, but I notice that men are often stereotyped as stupid in a lot of modern advertising.”
“Is it not better to get news about something and have it treated, than not seek help and find that whatever has been ailing you has got to a point where it is untreatable or the invention required is far more acute? The doctor is your friend. In mental health, as a practising psychotherapist, for men I reduced the idea to this sentence - I do not like oversimplifying things, but I have said this to the Minister of State before in the Chamber - "lack of expression leads to depression". It is a simple message about the talking cure, talking to people. What is interesting about the statistics that were presented, and which I will not restate, is that at one end of the scale, in our youth, we probably have the fittest generation of people we ever had. Someone mentioned sport and I was in Parnell Park last Sunday.”
“A lot of men would know pretty quickly if there was a problem with their cars from the sound and would address it, generally pretty quickly. We are not the best at self-diagnostics, because there are many times when things are going on inside our bodies and without a blood test or check, we cannot know something is wrong. Often, we have a physical, emotional or psychological sense that something is a little amiss and we need to check it out. I have distilled it for physical health - I will repeat it - as "the doctor is your friend". I can only speak for myself, but I think we are all afraid of getting bad news. That is understandable, but I suspect that in a huge proportion of cases things are treatable.”
“It is subsidised by the HSE and is a positive thing. Social groups, choirs and golf societies have grown out of it. There has been a strong social dimension to it. My experience is that I had open heart surgery a few years ago and thankfully I am recovering well. However, the one lesson I learned from that, one which I pass on to people whether or not they are willing to listen, is one sentence, not a long paper. It is that the doctor is your friend. When I talk to male colleagues who are talking about their health, I condense it to that one sentence - the doctor is your friend. Many male colleagues I chat to wince at the thought when I ask them whether they have spoken to their GPs. It is probably not a fair analogy, but when I searched for analogies, it is the one I found.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I echo the comments that were made about her tenure in charge of mental health policy and delivery in the Government. I also echo what the previous speaker said about the role of men's sheds and give a shout-out to ExWell. Dr. Noel McCaffrey has been very involved in sport for many years. I am recovering from a pretty important medical intervention. ExWell is an exercise or kind of physical rehabilitation programme for anyone who is recovering from heart issues, cancers or chronic diseases. It has been rolled out and in my constituency there are three or four venues where scores of people turn up. It is essentially a kind of aerobics that is free for the first ten or 12 weeks. The older people who are there talk about the difference that exercise has made to their quality of life.”
“It beggars belief and understanding as to how someone, a country, a government or a regime could stoop so low. I will not come back with a second comment so I am happy to take the Tánaiste's final response on this. It is truly one of the most appalling crimes that could be committed in a war situation or any situation.”
“One thing this conflict has in common with what is going on in Gaza is that I cannot think of one single thing that would guarantee intergenerational conflict more than the use, abuse and the taking and maiming of children. It almost guarantees that the memory just simply cannot absolve itself of the horrors of it and that the atrocity will live on. In spite of that, the Ukrainian Government, through its ambassador, has expressed deep appreciation for the role that Ireland has played, particularly in the recent high level meeting of the coalition that has been established in New York in the last month or so, and for our continued active engagement. However, this is one of the most truly appalling crimes. It is a crime against humanity.”
“It is not contained in my question but I know one of the things we contribute towards is de-mining. I am throwing the issue at the Minister of State in an unanticipated way and will accept a written response on it. It just came to mind. Can the Minister of State inform the House about what that involves and what the money is expended on?”
“We have been talking about sanctions and the Minister referred to the 19th iteration of these. Does he think they are biting? Could he reassure the House about that?”
“I thank the Minister of State. The Ukrainian ambassador was very appreciative of the non-military assistance the country has been given when she came before the committee last week. The Minister of State referred in his reply to regional destabilisation. I was fortunate and privileged, with the Minister of State's colleague, Deputy Barry Ward, Chair of the EU affairs committee, to be part of an EU election observation project in Moldova. The Russians had been attempting to interfere with elections there. Clearly, it is not just warheads, missiles and drones but it is right across. The Ukrainian ambassador told the committee that something like 11,000 Shahed drones have been used in the first six months of this year, as well as 9,000 other types of attack drones.”
“On the frozen assets, the Ukrainian ambassador made the point that the lawful of frozen Russian assets must become central to reconstruction. What is the view of the Government on that? That reconstruction would be around the rebuilding of infrastructure, supporting of victims and enabling the return of displaced Ukrainians. An estimate of €300 billion in assets internationally remains frozen globally, including close to €2 billion in Ireland. The Ukrainians are certainly of the view that these resources should serve peace and not remain unused while destruction continues. What is the view of the international community specifically on the assets not remaining unused?”
“I do not know whether a number of mature adult conversations need to be had on a regular basis and based on confidentiality because there are security issues. That was not part of the question; I have run into it.”
“In my experience as chair of the foreign affairs and trade committee, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland came in last week. We received a comprehensive statement. Has the Tánaiste or Taoiseach considered initiating some sort of round table facility with leaders of the Opposition? It strikes me that we get, and rightly so, incredibly exercised about events in Israel, Gaza and Palestine. This does not need to be binary. However, there seems to be a real lack of understanding in certain parts of the House on the actual necessity to engage with the Ukrainian peace and the threat that Russia poses. That threat is spreading across Scandinavia into the shadow fleet off the shores of this island, yet there does not seem to be the same deep embedded appreciation for the threat that poses to us.”
“These questions were transferred to me. Will the Tánaiste outline the discussions he has had about the possibility of utilising the €1.87 billion in frozen Russian assets, which are the ones in Ireland that we know of, for reparations for the war of aggression against Ukraine?”
“A delegation from the foreign affairs and trade committee is going to Canada in early December. I welcome the new ambassador. Deputy McGreehan is convener of the Canada-Ireland Inter-Parliamentary Friendship group, and hence her particular interest in it. There is some resistance to waiving pre-legislative scrutiny on the CETA agreement from some quarters in the House. There is a little bit of romantic notion about where Ireland is in the world in some quarters and maybe there needs to be a more realistic appreciation of where Ireland needs to be. Prime Minister Carney from his time as Governor of the Bank of England seems to have huge understanding and is well informed about this country.”
“In more mature areas of Dublin that do not have community preschool or childcare facilities, the State need to step in, possibly through the local authorities. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to co-locate these childcare facilities. My principal question today concerns the fact that the withdrawal of childcare providers from core funding is having a severe impact. An increase of €1,200 or €1,300 per month could be used as a repayment on an extension or a down payment on a family holiday. These are the issues facing families.”