Mairéad Farrell
Galway West · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Working people, whether unionist, nationalist or other, have been failed by partition because at the end of the day, a Westminster Parliament is making decisions on behalf of their communities. Irish unity has really got the potential to deliver for all of our communities, including those communities.”
“Is í an cheist ná céard go díreach atá chun tarlú anois. Cad iad na chéad céimeanna eile? Thug mé cuairt ar an scoil Dé hAoine seo chaite agus chonaic mé nach bhfuil go leor spáis inti. Tá sé le feiceáil go soiléir go bhfuil na ranganna riachtanais speisialta agus, ar ndóigh, an seomra ranga breise ag teastáil go géar.”
“Ar mhaithe le soiléiriú iomlán, ón méid a thuigim, bhí maoiniú curtha ar fáil don tionscnamh seo. Is léir go bhfuil sé seo ag teastáil. Cuirfidh mé chomhthéacs air seo. Is scoil bheag í seo i mBéal an Daingin, ach is scoil láidir í. Tagann daoine ó cheantair éagsúla chun a gcuid páistí a chur chuig an scoil seo.”
“I really welcome the decision by the Tánaiste and the Government to have these statements on the fiscal implications of a united Ireland. It is crucial that we continue with debates of this type.”
“That needs to change in the context of this debate because we are talking about a new and united Ireland that will include a new and different perspective on the opportunities that we see for us all from an economic perspective when it comes to a united Ireland When we are planning for this, we need to look at that in terms of the economi…”
“Without proper planning and preparation for Irish unity, we completely and utterly risk missing this seismic opportunity we have to create a new economy and seize this historic opportunity. It is absolutely essential that we begin preparations now.”
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“Without proper planning and preparation for Irish unity, we completely and utterly risk missing this seismic opportunity we have to create a new economy and seize this historic opportunity. It is absolutely essential that we begin preparations now. We need to plan for an all-Ireland universal health service, an all-Ireland transport network - imagine easily accessing Donegal from Dublin on a train? - and an all-Ireland education system. We need to prepare for an informed and inclusive process of transition. To effectively make these preparations for a new economy of a united Ireland, it is necessary that we all work together. I welcome this and I think we should continue it. The Government can and must lead that change.”
“Working people, whether unionist, nationalist or other, have been failed by partition because at the end of the day, a Westminster Parliament is making decisions on behalf of their communities. Irish unity has really got the potential to deliver for all of our communities, including those communities. It allows us to improve our quality of life and, crucially, gives us as a people ownership and a real stake in our economy. Irish unity and economic change can go hand in hand. The success of Irish unity demands that. It demands a better Ireland for everybody and that the interests of working people are put first and are front footed. It demands that our resources are harnessed to deliver public infrastructure projects and that every single person has equal opportunity in a new and a united Ireland and that their basic needs are met.”
“That needs to change in the context of this debate because we are talking about a new and united Ireland that will include a new and different perspective on the opportunities that we see for us all from an economic perspective when it comes to a united Ireland When we are planning for this, we need to look at that in terms of the economic perspective. That needs to be based on it being fair, equal and prosperous for everyone - one where we have strong public services and, most importantly, one that actually works in the interests of all the people who live in Ireland. Partition has left people in the North without control of their economy. They have been made spectators as major economic decisions are made in Westminster.”
“I really welcome the decision by the Tánaiste and the Government to have these statements on the fiscal implications of a united Ireland. It is crucial that we continue with debates of this type. These are really important and interesting debates and they are about future planning and seeing that we are prepared in the event of a united Ireland. As the Tánaiste and my party leader outlined, the debate around the economics of united Ireland often does hinge on particular figures, namely the big figures that are being thrown around. It involves talk about the so-called cost of Irish unity. Within this debate, it is often assumed that the North is just going to be subsumed into the South without looking at what that would mean economically. It almost seems like the economic status quo will simply continue.”
“I understand that funding has been made available, so is it still there? I visited that school. It is a fantastic school. It needs the space. There are kids from Ukraine and International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, centres who speak absolutely fluent Irish because they have attended that school, but the school needs the support.”
“Ar mhaithe le soiléiriú iomlán, ón méid a thuigim, bhí maoiniú curtha ar fáil don tionscnamh seo. Is léir go bhfuil sé seo ag teastáil. Cuirfidh mé chomhthéacs air seo. Is scoil bheag í seo i mBéal an Daingin, ach is scoil láidir í. Tagann daoine ó cheantair éagsúla chun a gcuid páistí a chur chuig an scoil seo. Faoi láthair, áfach, níl go leor spáis inti. Bhí mé ag an scoil agus chonaic mé na seomraí. Tá siad róbheag. Tá go leor páistí ag freastal ar an scoil ach tá na seomraí breise seo ag teastáil. Faoi láthair, tá cófra á úsáid mar sensory room. Ba chóir go mbeadh i bhfad níos mó spáis ar fáil. Tá páistí ón Úcráin agus páistí atá ag teacht trí sheirbhísí IPAS ag freastal ar an scoil, agus is maith an rud é sin. Tá Gaeilge álainn acu. Teastaíonn an spás sin ón scoil. Will the Minister be very clear about the funding?”
“It is a school that is under very clear pressure in terms of space. It has a good level of numbers but it needs the space.”
“Is í an cheist ná céard go díreach atá chun tarlú anois. Cad iad na chéad céimeanna eile? Thug mé cuairt ar an scoil Dé hAoine seo chaite agus chonaic mé nach bhfuil go leor spáis inti. Tá sé le feiceáil go soiléir go bhfuil na ranganna riachtanais speisialta agus, ar ndóigh, an seomra ranga breise ag teastáil go géar. Tá an cheart ar fad ag an Aire go bhfuil uimhreacha maithe ag an scoil seo, ach tá an spás ag teastáil. I thank the Minister for that update. I understand what she is saying about the 2b detailed design stage, but the real question is, what happens next? How many more stages will there be in the process? How long will this take? It is my understanding that the funding has been granted but that now the next stage is to go to eTenders. Where is that at? How long will that take? I visited the school last week.”
“Céard go díreach atá ag tarlú leis an scoil ar an Tuairín i mBéal an Daingin? Is é an t-eolas is déanaí maidir leis na hoibreacha atá á lorg againn. An bhfuil aon uasdátú ar stádas an tionscnaimh? Is é sin an t-eolas atá de dhíth ar dhaoine. Will the Minister give an update on an Tuairín i mBéal an Daingin?”
“Logistical and payment difficulties in purchasing wheat have resulted in only 50% of flour being delivered to the regions, and the weight of bread, which is normally 80 g, has to be reduced to 60 g. I am saying this because we all know how terrible it is in Cuba at the moment. What we need now is a collective ability to stand up and do something for the Cuban people. This is literally killing their babies and we cannot let it continue.”
“Some 1,800 children have died as a consequence of the tightening of the blockade, as well as the extra 343 sanctions Trump imposed at the beginning of his first term as President. The survival of children with cancer has decreased by 20% and the national immunisation programme, one of the main achievements of Cuban public health which protects millions of Cuban children, is seriously at risk, hindered by the unavailability of raw materials, equipment and financial resources to sustain domestic vaccine production. The blockade is severely hindering the domestic production of several disease diagnostic tools developed by national industry, including essential tests for the early detection of cancer.”
“I raise the issue of Cuba with the Aire Stáit. The lives of the Cuban people have been devastated by the US blockade, coupled with two executive orders. The impact is incalculable. It has meant that fuel and essential goods are just not flowing into Cuba. The infant mortality rate among vulnerable newborns has now increased to 9.9% due to the fuel sanctions and electricity outages. While some hospitals have generators, it is impossible to gauge when the electricity is going to be switched off. It takes time to get the generators restarted, so all that staff can do is rush to the wards and manually fan the infants when this happens, which is daily, until the generators kick in.”
“The Galway housing crisis is just getting worse. I genuinely cannot believe that it is getting worse year on year. This year, we are not seeing the housing stock that we need coming on stream. I am dealing with a couple in their 60s who have been nine years on the housing waiting list. They have to leave their rental property, and they are being told that the only option available to them is HAP. Anyone who knows Galway city knows that getting a HAP property is impossible. We are now at the stage where we cannot house our babies, our children, our adults or our older people. We are literally saying to people that the one thing this Government can guarantee them is that it cannot house them, from the cradle to the grave. This is getting worse. It is a disaster.”
“If the Government is not going to fund the council to be able to do those things it needs to have done, then we need the Government to intervene and provide that funding.”
“That is perfect. That is all I wanted to know. The underfunding of Galway County Council is an issue that I and na Teachtaí O'Hara and Kerrane recently raised. We did not get a commitment in relation to that from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, but my issue is that we have a crumbling infrastructure in the west of Ireland when it comes to the basic necessities. If we cannot get a commitment from the Government that it is going to adequately fund the county council to be able provide the basic services that are required for the people living in rural County Galway, then we need to see a commitment from Government that it will invest in that infrastructure.”
“The legislation I brought forward this time last year, in respect of which the Government kicked the can down the road, suggested that information should be provided in an annual report by the Minister to show the type of procurement procedure used by public bodies, the use and type of social clauses in contracts, details on contracts awarded to SMEs and a scoring of the performance of contractors in the context of whether they go over time and over budget. Will the Minister of State commit to looking at that?”
“I am probably one of the people who is most looking forward, apart from the Minister of State, obviously, to reading the strategy. I hope that it will look two things. First, the economic impact we can have with the money that is spent. That impact can be huge, economically, socially and environmentally. There is a massive impact we can have, particularly if we look at what has happened in places like Preston, for example, and how measures there have worked. The strategy also needs to look at cost overruns and at how public money is wasted.”
“Is consideration being given to how the strategy can be used in smaller geographical areas that may not have the economic strength that other areas have in order to ensure that those areas can withstand economic shocks?”
“The issue that I have is that this time last year, I brought forward legislation specifically around procurement. We know that billions of euro are spent on procurement every year. We know that if this money is spent in a way that will benefit society, it can have a massive social, environmental and, indeed, economic impact. To be honest, the Government is moving far too slowly when it comes to tackling this issue. This is something that can have an economic benefit. The Minister of State and I are both from the west of Ireland. The impact that good use of procurement, tendering and contracts can have on small communities is massive.”
“Will the Minister provide an update on the national procurement strategy, which, as I understood it, was to be published earlier this year? I brought forward legislation in relation to procurement and was told that we had to take a wait-and-see approach on foot of the work that was happening in respect of procurement.”
“I am not sure how many are looking in at 9.30 p.m. because there may be a World Cup match on, but for those who are watching these proceedings and who take an interest in this very important matter, the reality is that they will look back and see that the first thing Government Members voted on in the lifetime of this Dáil was a bumper pay rise for themselves and for Cabinet Ministers at a time when they, the people to whom I refer, are struggling to make ends meet and when the cost of everything, including housing, is increasing. I am sure that every week Deputies deal with people who simply cannot make ends meet, whether they be public sector workers or other workers, because of political decisions that were made in this Chamber and that have resulted in, for example, rents increasing and supports in terms of energy costs being removed.”
“I completely agree with the Minister that this comes through dialogue. I am not expecting to have any information from inside the room coming to the outside. The question really relates to the fact that the previous public sector pay agreement ended last Tuesday without any deal to replace it. Of course, there will be public sector workers who are concerned about that. The Minister mentioned stability. That is what people will need and want. We know that we are in a cost-of-living crisis. We also know that the Central Bank is saying that real wages are going to fall by the end of the year. These are the people who look after us in our hospitals; they are nurses, doctors, those who drive buses and trains and so on. These are people who keep the economy ticking over. Does the Minister expect to continue with this work?”
“The reason we are in this mess in the first place is the Department of education clearly stated it required additional financing to make ends meet this year. The reality is the Minister's Department did not listen. As a result of that, we are in this mess. My question is will the Minister publish that which he has requested for 17 July. It is only through an FOI request that we discovered he is asking for this by 17 July. We know that is the week the Dáil goes into recess. It seems to me that he is trying to sneak it through during the summer recess, when he knows there is not Dáil scrutiny. Will he commit to listening to each Department when it comes to this budget? We have had an issue whereby in the previous budget the two Ministers did not.”
“I do not understand his taking an axe to our public services because of the failure of the last budget, which became clear in the budgetary oversight committee, as well as because the sums did not add up on budget day. Will the Minister commit to publishing them? Will he tell us what he is cutting?”
“Just for clarity, did the Minister commit to publishing them? Maybe he can come back on that. I genuinely mean that I did not fully understand that. When the Minister drafted these measures, he was presumably aware the Department of education was not the only one in the red. It turns out the Departments of health, justice and social protection are also on track to overspend by millions of euro. In the case of social protection, the Minister has asked it to make €6 million of cuts - an impossible ask for a Department with a projected €89 million overspend. Similarly, he slashed the health budget by €175 million despite the HSE projecting a €400 million overspend.”
“The role that Ireland plays on an international level is an incredibly strong one and now we have this Presidency. We should use it to amplify our views and, indeed, amplify a moral voice within an increasingly difficult international context. We need to do everything that we can so there can be a free flow of fuel, medicines and essential supplies to the Cuban people.”
“Schools and universities are closed as they cannot function without electricity. Food produced in the countryside is rotting in the ground because farmers do not have fuel to deliver it to the towns and cities. The urban people are suffering food deprivation. Hospitals cannot function due to lack of electricity either. The entire island is asphyxiated. There is no public transport. Sanitation is compromised, disease is everywhere and fresh water is hardly available. Their economy is completely compromised as most hotels are closed, causing even more unemployment and poverty. My heart breaks for the Cuban people when I see the reality of what is happening to them. I realise it is probably unique to raise it in the context of this, but I do think we have a unique voice here.”
“The European Presidency gives Ireland the opportunity to put the interests of the Irish people firmly on the EU's agenda. First, Irish unity should be front and centre of that agenda. The Presidency is an opportune time to advance structured discussions on preparing for a united Ireland within the EU. Second, the cost-of-living crisis demands an EU-wide response centred on energy and food affordability and security. Finally, this Presidency should be in support of peace and international law. It is within that context that I would like to raise the ongoing political situation in Cuba, which demands a strong humanitarian response both from Ireland and the EU. As the Chamber will be aware, Cuba has been suffering the result of 65 years of a US blockade and, of late, a complete sanction on the delivery of oil to Cuba.”
“It is not only that we are telling him it is happening; statistics constantly show that people are falling into poverty because of the political choices being made. This is on the Government. Rents and the housing crisis are getting worse. That is a direct result of the Government's policies as opposed to anybody else's. It is high time that the Government started listening to the other people in this Chamber, because what it is doing is terrible.”
“The Central Bank published a quarterly bulletin. Its revised forecast shows that the cost-of-living crisis will go up even further than it expected this year. These forecasts show that prices are not just going up, they are going up faster than wages. The Central Bank is crystal clear. Under this Government, people are getting poorer. The Central Bank is telling us that real wages are dropping. That means people are going to struggle even more than they have been up to this point. There is no point in everybody coming into this Chamber during the winter months to talk about this at a time when parents cannot put food on the table or heat their homes. When that happens, everybody cries out and says, "Oh my god. Isn't that terrible". We told the Minister of State that this would happen.”
“If the Government were serious about tackling the cost-of-living crisis, it would ban rent increases effective immediately. It would end no-fault evictions and ramp up housing supply by actually building social and affordable homes. No matter how many stories are raised in this Chamber of working people, struggling families and fractured communities in desperate need of help with the cost-of-living crisis, the Government fails to act. The Government should be listening to these families and communities who are the backbone of our economy. Instead, it takes its advice from a select few economists who pat it on the back and tell it that it has built a strong, booming economy that is performing very well for the wealthiest in our society. Two weeks ago, some of our most senior economists sounded the alarm bells.”
“The cost-of-living crisis is hitting my constituency of Galway West incredibly hard. In this Chamber I have raised countless examples of families in Galway under unbearable pressure from the cost of living. Working people cannot make their wages stretch to cover soaring rents, crippling energy bills and the ever-increasing cost of their weekly shop. Crucially, rents are now up in Galway by 18%. That means that rents are rising more than four times faster than wages. This Government knows that this is completely and utterly unsustainable. Even the Taoiseach admitted that very few people can afford rents in Galway but still he refused to act. The Government votes against every single proposal we put forward to ease pressures on renters.”
“Many mothers have reached out to me to tell me they simply cannot get back to work. Women are finding it impossible to get access to childcare places within the first year of their child's life, while clearly the maternity entitlement in the State does not match that reality. Many babies just do not have a childcare space. Many women say the child is on a waiting list without any other option afforded to them while they are looking to get back into work. These women tell me they need immediate action to get the support they need. This can only be achieved by making childcare affordable so it is within the reach of families, but also by creating the spaces necessary to accommodate all the children in a locality.”
“Childcare fees are going up despite the Government giving us assurances that it had a plan, not only to stop this happening, but to reduce prices to €200 per month. That election promise was completely and utterly ignored. As childcare costs spiral out of control, families rightly ask what happened to these promises. The truth is that providers are also under huge financial pressure. They are battling rising costs, recruitment difficulties and uncertainty about future funding. In recent years, we have had a situation where some providers have reached a point where they simply cannot continue. Every provider that closes means there are fewer places, longer waiting lists and greater pressure on those that remain. There is a knock-on effect on everyone, but I hear particularly from mothers.”
“Our motion recognises a simple truth. Affordable childcare is not a luxury. It is an essential public service, a service families must be able to access. Crucially, childcare providers and early years educators must also be properly supported. In Galway, the reality is very different from the picture painted by the Government. Parents contact me all the time because they cannot secure a childcare place. Many are forced onto lengthy waiting lists even before their children are born. Others are travelling significant distances because there simply is not the capacity in their local communities. That places a huge amount of pressure on parents who are trying to work and keep their families going while they are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.”
“One thing I have learned in this Chamber is that if the Government does not want to explain something, it will say it is complex, and that it is a little bit too complex for us to understand. It is not too complex for us to understand. We are fully and acutely aware that Galway County Council has continuously been underfunded. How do we know that? It is because Galway County Council has been clear about it. It has been raised in meetings, including county council meetings. The council has been clear that the funding is not there to deliver the services that people need. The Minister of State might not be the Minister in charge in this regard, but he is a Minister of State at the Department of Finance. He fully understands that in order for things to function, they need to be funded. That is what we are asking the Government to do here.”
“Can he please give us an exact reason as to why, because this is not the first time I have raised this in this Chamber. Five years ago, myself and Deputy Kerrane raised it with the Minister at the time, and we have seen no resolution come as a result. It is high time for action.”
“Galway County Council continues to be underfunded to the tune of millions of euro. This is something that again shows the poor budgeting of this Government, the fact that it is unable to fund Galway County Council as is needed. This has consequences. This is something that the people of County Galway live every single day. It is seen in the state of our roads. If one looks at the state of the roads across Conamara, that is a safety issue. People do not have basic infrastructure. If we take the health of the people of County Galway, if the Council does not have the maintenance funding to be able to conduct necessary maintenance on homes, that will have health implications for its people. Can the Minister of State tell us why the Government continues to underfund Galway County Council?”
“Tá go leor cainte faoi chúrsaí infreastruchtúir faoi láthair. D’ardaigh mé cheana leis an Taoiseach na fadhbanna sa bhuninfreastruchtúr i gConamara. Ciallaíonn sé sin an cineál infreastruchtúr simplí atá ag teastáil ionas go mbeadh daoine in ann a bheith ina gcónaí in áit agus go mbeadh siad in ann obair ann freisin. Ceann de na rudaí bunúsacha sin ná cúrsaí leathanbhanda. Tá áiteanna ar fud fad Conamara nach bhfuil leathanbhanda iontu, ach tá ceantair freisin atá sách gar don chathair áit nach bhfuil leathanbhanda ach in áiteanna áirithe sna bailte sin. Cén uair a cheapann an Taoiseach go mbeidh an buninfreastruchtúr sin ann do mhuintir Chonamara, go háirithe nuair atáimid ag caint ar chúrsaí leathanbhanda dóibh siúd a bhfuil gnólachtaí acu, mar shampla?”
“However, the issues of coercive control and domestic abuse are becoming far more prevalent in public discourse. With greater recognition of the effects they have, we realise the reality for women in such scenarios is that access to a first medical appointment may be incredibly difficult to arrange. It can be impossible to arrange a second one. Some women may find out later in pregnancy that they are in fact pregnant and, therefore, the three-day wait may push them out of the timeline that allows for termination. It is not showing the compassion to survivors of sexual assault and rape that they should be shown within the healthcare system. There are, of course, many other scenarios, but it ultimately comes down to the fact that the three-day wait is not grounded in the compassionate healthcare that women need.”
“It is now eight years later and we now have women with lived experiences who have spoken to all of us in this Chamber and who have felt the need to share their stories in order to help others. The question of the mandatory three-day wait has been to the forefront of this conversation. Sinn Féin has been clear from the get-go that we are opposed to the three-day wait and that it hinders women's ability to access the care they need. This is not just something we believe but something women have told us consistently since the repeal of the eighth amendment. As with everything, there are many examples and differing realities concerning how people are impacted. I am conscious when I give examples of those impacted that there are people watching today who have had different experiences. Of course, we think of all of those experiences.”
“Just over eight years ago, the people of this State made a decision. They made that decision to repeal the eighth amendment. We saw how it impacted on people. It impacted on young people and older people. We saw how this created a movement that saw young Irish people who were scattered across the globe come home to vote in what they felt was a critical referendum for their future. Many of us here, including me, got involved in campaign groups with people of a variety of political viewpoints to make a change we all felt was necessary. We knocked on doors, had long conversations with many people and, on 25 May 2018, the people voted and made the decision to repeal the amendment. That decision was rooted in a trust of women – a trust in women's decision-making and a deep need for compassion around women's healthcare.”
“The conflict in Sudan is causing devastating levels of hunger and displacement. The Sudanese community here in Ireland is making the point that the conflict will continue. There is serious concern regarding violence in the Kordofan and Blue Nile states and the expected intensification of conflict in North Darfur. Day after day, people are being killed, but because it is happening on the African continent it barely raises any comment across the political establishment throughout Europe. Will the Taoiseach report on his attendance at the EU Council meeting in relation to Sudan, and will he commit to ensuring it is a priority in future meetings of the Council?”
“His mother is now struggling to get this medical advice accepted. I have met other individuals who are homeless and have serious health concerns, which mean emergency accommodation is not a suitable option for them. The only other option the council can offer them at this point is either to stay in overcrowded accommodation with friends and families or to self-fund a hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation. If you cannot afford the rents in Galway, you certainly cannot afford a room in a bed and breakfast until suitable housing can be offered. Local authorities have to have more options available to them beyond the one-size-fits-all emergency accommodation, so they can also support those medically vulnerable people.”
“We often talk about facts, figures and statistics but there are real people behind each and every one of those figures. I want to share some of these stories with the Minister of State. A woman I have met, whose story was published today by RTÉ, has been homeless with her two sons for two years. She initially struggled to access emergency accommodation due to the pressure on homeless services in Galway. She is now living in one room with her sons, and her oldest child is having a really difficult time, like any child in emergency accommodation would. He is now also struggling with night terrors, a condition his mother has advised runs in her family. The boy has been referred to consultants who have signed off on the council's medical form, advising that he needs his own bedroom for his own health and the well-being of his brother.”
“We have seen commencements in 2025 and 2026 are on track to fall short of commencements in 2024. We need to be increasing these numbers year on year, not decreasing them. There are constraints not only on social housing stock but also on affordable private rented options, so families facing homelessness have no alternative places to rent. This is borne out in consecutive Locked Out reports, published by the Simon Community, which find again and again that there are no affordable private rented units in Galway and surrounding suburbs. It is also borne out in a recent report by a financial website. Its analysis showed Galway is the most unaffordable city in Ireland for renters when comparing average wages with average rents.”
“I have been told by Galway City Council it is dealing with 160 active, valid notices to quit. Many of these notices are due to the properties in question being sold. Local authorities should be able to take advantage of this by acquiring the properties through the tenant in situ scheme, which was a crucial piece of homeless prevention before funding for it was cut. Local authorities should have more flexibility when it comes to acquisitions, not less. This would be especially appropriate in an area like Galway where the communities served by two separate local authorities are very intertwined. Councils should be able to work together to meet the housing need of people facing homelessness. The two Galway councils are also extremely constrained when it comes to housing stock.”
“This Bill deals with access to social housing support. I am aware the rules outlined in it are already in place in my two local authorities, Galway City Council and Galway County Council. I want to talk about the impact of the housing crisis on the people of Galway. For the majority of people trying to access social housing support in Galway, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible. If you are homeless and present for emergency accommodation, you have to be put on a waiting list because emergency accommodation in Galway is full. It has been this way for years but the Government does nothing to offer additional supports to the local authorities to deal with this crisis. Notices to quit rose dramatically across the State in the first quarter of this year, with over 7,000 notices issued in that time.”
“The third issue I have with the Minister's policies in the Department of foreign affairs relates to the Security Action for Europe, SAFE, legislation. The Minister has been quoted in the media as saying that she would like to see Britain included in SAFE. Has she not read the report of the Oireachtas committee on finance on the SAFE legislation? Has she not seen the recommendations that came out of that report, which were completely opposed to the policy intent of the Minister?”
“It has the people on its side in relation to this. The people have been extremely clear that they want services included. The Bill the Minister has brought forward today has been gutted. It has been stripped of its original intent and purpose. The Government has decided to hollow out this legislation and shy away from standing up to the Israeli Government and its genocidal violence. That is what the Minister is doing by bringing forward the legislation in this form. Excluding services blunts the impact of this legislation against the rogue Israeli State. We know where the money lies. It lies with services and to not include services in this Bill is simply outrageous. As other colleagues have said, the Government could do this. This has been done but the Government is choosing, politically, not to do it.”