Mary Lou McDonald
Dublin Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Now he watches as Paudie, his other son, aged 16, deteriorates with the same disease. He says Paudie does not have weeks to wait. He says, "I can't lose him [too]. He is all I have left." That is what is at stake here. This is urgent. Caithfidh an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh dóibh siúd a bhfuil Friedreich's ataxia orthu.”
“We know that both scramblers and e-scooters are being used by gangs to distribute drugs, to openly and actively intimidate, and to evade the gardaí and, yet, we heard the Garda Commissioner say that there would be no chance of pursuit training until next year because of the EU Presidency. I found that really shocking.”
“Their hopes were very high that the HSE drugs committee would finally approve Skyclarys, but those hopes were to be dashed. The committee decided against approving the drug. Instead, it referred it to a rare disease review group. In other words, one committee passing the buck to another committee.”
“This cruel condition moves relentlessly, ravaging their bodies and their lives, yet the system stands still, putting up obstacle after obstacle, forcing them to wait and wait as time slips by. This drug was approved by the EU Commission back in 2024. Two years on, it is available in France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Czechia.”
“So we are clear, it is not that all of this is frustrating for those living with Friedreich's ataxia; it is actually terrifying for them. I met Emily three or four weeks ago and I was speaking to her again on Tuesday. Even in that short time span, she told me that her swallow and speech had disimproved. We are on the clock here.”
“There is someone the Tánaiste knows very well in the Public Gallery. She is the unstoppable and heroic Cara Darmody. Cara has just completed her third 50-hour protest outside the Dáil, calling for real action for children and young people waiting for an assessment of need.”
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“People were not fooled by this last time round and they will not be fooled by it now. They know that it is simply a Trojan horse to introduce a full-blown household charge for water. There was not a whisper about water charges from either Micheál Martin or Simon Harris during the election; not a peep. The Minister, Deputy James Browne, was quick to downplay the idea that the Government is preparing to reintroduce water charges. The big problem for the Minister, and for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, is that nobody believes them. Why would they? Their track record speaks for itself. For well over a decade, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have tried to impose water charges on the people of Ireland. Those efforts were met with fierce public opposition.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to repeal the provision in the Water Services Act 2017 allowing Uisce Éireann to introduce a customer charge for use of water in excess of the specified threshold amount. We move this legislation today because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael cannot be trusted on water charges. The legislation would scrap water charges once and for all by removing Part 2 of the Water Services Act 2017, which would remove any ability to charge for so-called "excessive use". Recent reports that the Government is working in the background to reintroduce water charges by the back door have raised an alarm. It seems it is planning to resurrect the plan from 2017 to impose what it describes as an "excessive-use charge".”
“Did the Taoiseach raise the need for Europe to stop handing this impunity to Israel? He should have made it clear. What exactly has he said on this subject? Depressingly, I suspect he has said very little, if in fact anything at all.”
“The conclusions of the European Council meeting, as regards Gaza, deplore the breakdown of the ceasefire. They talk about humanitarian aid and call for the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage release agreement, as the Taoiseach has just done. What is glaringly and catastrophically missing at a European level and from the Taoiseach, despite all of his rhetoric, is any plan to pressurise Israel into ending its genocidal war. There is no mention of sanctions or any collective action by Europe to force Israel to restore the ceasefire or to engage in a real process that would ensure the agreement is fulfilled. The word "Israel" does not appear even once in the conclusions of the meeting. Is that not extraordinary? It is as if Israel is not committing a genocide for all the world to see.”
“This is a total elimination that will continue until the last breath of Palestinian life is gone in Gaza." It is a matter of shame that no representative of the Government could find time to meet with Ms Albanese while she was here. The resumption of the genocide in Gaza is a result of the impunity handed to Israel by the international community, including the European Union. The Taoiseach says he is shocked by Israeli actions. It is not enough to be shocked. If he is so shocked, what precisely is he going to do about it? Israel broke the ceasefire because it knows it can. It knows that there is no accountability, no sanctions or no push for justice. That is why Netanyahu brazenly states that this murderous bombardment is, in his own words, "only the beginning", yet the Taoiseach and the European Union continue on a path of appeasement.”
“Journalists and medical teams have stated that this renewed attack resembles the height of the bombardment last year. Gaza's health system has been devastated, with its remnants completely overwhelmed. On Friday, Israel bombed Gaza's only specialised cancer hospital. Medics do not have the equipment or supplies needed to treat the catastrophically injured. They watch people die before their eyes because they cannot treat them. One heartbroken surgeon shared how he operated on six children, knowing that they would not make it through the night. On her visit to Ireland last week, Francesca Albanese who, as the Taoiseach knows, is the UN rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories - the Government did not meet her - put it powerfully. She said "It is not a war.”
“Again the majority of those killed have been children, women and the elderly. That ferocious aerial bombardment is now backed up by a new ground assault by the Israeli war machine. It coincides with new evacuation orders to a refugee population with literally nowhere to go. Israel has laid waste to towns, villages, communities and homes. More than 50,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered by Israel in the 18 months since they began this atrocity. Those who have died have died hungry. The resumption of the genocide follows Israel's complete blockade of humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies into Gaza. Israel had already cut off Gaza's electricity, which impacts on the supply of water. The threat of starvation and exposure to deadly disease is rife.”
“We are asked to celebrate the fact that a system that is so penny-pinching regarding the big issues that face societies and communities, now opens up its largesse to keep the armaments industry happy and to remilitarise Europe. That is not a good news story but, of course, it is a story that resonates very strongly with the clear intention of the Taoiseach's Government to dismantle our position as non-aligned and militarily neutral. If the Taoiseach believes in that position, then he should go to the people with it and see what they think and get his response from them. The meeting of the European Council took place days after Israel resumed its genocidal war on the people of Gaza. There have been fresh airstrikes, which have killed thousands of Palestinians in a matter of days, targeting civilian populations and again refugee camps.”
“With all due respect, it is hardly convincing for the Taoiseach to warn us about the impending difficulties for the multi-annual framework for the budget when out of the other side of his mouth, he has lauded what amounts to a weapons race and a hyper-militarisation of Europe. It is also ironic to note that the origins of the European project going back to the European Coal and Steel Community were all about demilitarisation, deconstruction of the apparatus of war and creating continental security and contributing to global security on that basis. This does not suit the von der Leyen leadership and has been thrown in the bin.”
“Second was speaking rights at Leaders' Questions and of course that suits you because it blunts the accountability mechanism. Leaders' Questions is the set-piece event, as we know, for the Opposition to hold the Taoiseach to account and now he wants that to be occupied by faux Opposition in the form of Lowry and his crew.”
“The Taoiseach set out the road to government of the Lowry TDs. He emphasised their willingness to serve, their forensic analysis of the programme for Government and then their accession to high office - all of the building blocks that define them categorically as Government TDs. The Taoiseach is quite right. After an election there is of course a necessity to assemble a Government and you did that - Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Lowry group. You get to define the Government. You do not get to select the Opposition. That is at the core of this issue. Maybe we can be of some assistance in defining the deal done with Lowry. I can identify two parts of it. One was the office of the Ceann Comhairle, is that not right, Taoiseach?”
“That is the point. The most basic rule of the functioning of this place is the distinction between the Government exercising its prerogatives and the Opposition holding it robustly to account. You do not like accountability, Micheál Martin - cry me a river, because you will be held to account. The other basic necessity is the independence and absolute impartiality of the Ceann Comhairle. Very regrettably, yesterday that has been decimated. The Ceann Comhairle no longer enjoys the confidence of the Opposition. I will ask her again to reflect on her position. To be clear, if necessary we will move a no-confidence motion in her.”
“Yes, you get to defend your rights as a Government. You have assembled your Government between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry Independents. That is your prerogative - I absolutely recognise that - but you do not get to put together the Opposition.”
“Above all, the Ceann Comhairle must be impartial, fair and independent. By your actions, you have demonstrated that you are not. Your position is therefore untenable. I ask you to reflect very carefully on this because you need to go.”
“Thaispeáin an Ceann Comhairle nach bhfuil sí neamhchlaonta nó neamhspleách. Thacaigh sí go daingean leis an Rialtas chun an beart aiféalach le Michael Lowry a chosaint. Ní féidir léi leanúint ar aghaidh sa phost. Caithfidh sí imeacht. A Cheann Comhairle, not alone have you lost the confidence of the entire Opposition, you have in fact decimated it-----”
“Who convinced the Ceann Comhairle to play her part in this disgraceful charade, or is it simply that bias for the Government is baked into the very deal that secured her position? That is now the question.”
“The Ceann Comhairle failed to hold a vote to agree Dáil Business when a vote was called. You dumped promised legislation; and in your rush to ram through the Government motion, you only called a vote on an amendment and not on a substantive motion but still declared the Government motion had been passed.”
“A deal brokered by her mentor, Deputy Lowry, who sat smiling and giving the two fingers to the people of Ireland while the chaos unfolded. A Cheann Comhairle, you took a wrecking ball to Dáil procedure to facilitate this charade.”
“Yesterday, the Taoiseach took a sledgehammer to the rules and procedures of the Dáil and was assisted in this task by the Ceann Comhairle. Yesterday, the person responsible for safeguarding the Dáil's democratic processes led the charge on behalf of the Government's agenda.”
“A murky deal with a man the Taoiseach once described as "a rogue politician", who he called on to resign his Dáil seat because of the findings of corruption against him, now pulls the strings as king-maker in the Government's coalition and gives the two fingers to the Opposition, to democracy and to the Irish people.”
“A deal so important to the self-serving political interests of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, that he moves heaven and earth to allow Deputy Lowry and his group of TDs to be both in Government and Opposition at the same time. Of course, this plan is of mutual benefit. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael seek to blunt the Opposition and dodge accountability. Michael Lowry and his crew seek a way to gain political influence and high office. The nod, the wink, the stroke politics so associated with Fianna Fáil is not only back, but is the very foundation of the Government.”
“-----and the chaos that unfolded in this Chamber is a response to the Taoiseach running roughshod over the democratic functioning of the Dáil to suit his own agenda and to protect his grubby deal with Michael Lowry.”
“We are asking why. We should have an answer to this. It is as simple as this: the Taoiseach should not take people for fools. People know that for their interests to be protected and for politics and democracy to work, the Government has its prerogatives to discharge. We respect that. The Taoiseach needs to respect the duty and the prerogatives of the Opposition but he does not want that. He wants a blunt Opposition because he does not want to be held to account. If he is worried about his backbenchers, he should leave Taoiseach's questions on a Wednesday. That gives them ample opportunity to raise matters with him.”
“A Cheann Comhairle, with the greatest of respect, we are on the same ground. Micheál Martin can spare us and the nation his sanctimonious homilies on democracy. He has been here since 1989, which is a political lifetime. Never has such a brazen stroke been attempted. In all of the peculiar shenanigans of this place, there has never been something like this. The Taoiseach was quick enough to throw his own people under the bus in the last Dáil when it suited him. It is incredible that he will go to these extraordinary lengths for Deputy Michael Lowry.”
“We reject the Taoiseach's attempt to run roughshod over this Dáil and to ram through this motion. He can step back from the brink. He can still meet with the Opposition to work out a solution. What he will not get away with, however, is pretending that signed and sealed Government TDs can act as Opposition. You cannot be in government and opposition at the same time.”
“What exactly does Deputy Lowry have over the Taoiseach? What debt does he owe him? The former Fine Gael Minister, a rogue politician as the Taoiseach described him, is now kingmaker for the Government. This is a man the Taoiseach wants to sit in both government and opposition at the same time. The combined Opposition has repeatedly sought to meet with the Taoiseach to resolve this matter. Our offers have either been rejected or ignored. He acts in bad faith. To meet his narrow short-term need to placate Lowry and Co., he now proposes to do real and lasting damage to the democratic processes of the Dáil. Tá Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael ag moladh feidhmiú daonlathach na Dála a iompú bun os cionn chun an socrú suarach atá acu leis an Teachta Lowry a chosaint. Ní ghlacfaidh muid leis. The combined Opposition is not backing down on this matter.”
“His claim that this is all about speaking time for backbenchers is patently untrue. In fact, he wants to get rid of Taoiseach’s Questions on a Wednesday. Pull the other one, Taoiseach. Accountability matters. Just ask those he misled on housing delivery during the election or the parents of children with special needs who the Government led up the garden path on funding of services. The Taoiseach does not want to be accountable. Is that not the truth?”
“On 23 January, the Government gave its word that it would work for a solution acceptable to both Government and Opposition. Hildegarde Naughton, then Chief Whip, pledged in the Dáil to “work to secure agreement, as soon as possible and acceptable to Government and Opposition", but clearly the Taoiseach's word means nothing. He has gone back on his commitment and has made no genuine effort to find a resolution. Instead, he proposes to turn the Dáil inside out by allowing Government TDs access to the mechanisms which the actual Opposition uses to hold his Government to account. He wants the utterly absurd spectacle of Michael Lowry and his group taking Leaders' Questions and pretending to challenge the Government they are part of. This is a sham. The Taoiseach has dug in because he does not want to be accountable.”
“The Taoiseach is hell-bent on upending the democratic functioning of the Dáil to protect his grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry. Today the Taoiseach will try to ram through unprecedented changes to Dáil rules to allow Deputy Lowry and his group of TDs to sit in Government and Opposition at the same time. These are TDs who have pledged to support his Government in good days and in bad, to use their own words. It is a farce and it is making a mockery of this Dáil. Frankly, the lengths to which the Taoiseach has gone with this brazen stroke are staggering. Let us put an end to the charade. The Michael Lowry group are Government TDs, plain and simple. They designated themselves as such when they helped to negotiate, write and agree the programme for Government. Their colleagues were rewarded with ministerial office. That is the reality.”
“The Taoiseach had the opportunity to respectfully challenge President Trump on the US getting it so catastrophically wrong in Gaza and on backing Israel's war machine to the hilt, but it was an opportunity the Taoiseach did not take. Now the people of Gaza are slaughtered once again. How is it that the Taoiseach has briefed that the Government is walking away from the occupied territories Bill? Will he now say what he should have said in the Oval Office and set out our abhorrence of events again in Gaza and the US continuing to fund that slaughter?”
“Israel has resumed its genocidal war on the people of Gaza. Some 970 deaths over the past 48 hours have been reported by health authorities, the majority children, women and the elderly. Those who have died have died hungry. The attack follows Israel's total blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and doctors watch people die before their eyes. This is the horrific result of the impunity handed to Israel. Netanyahu has shattered the ceasefire because he knew he could without consequence. These airstrikes have been launched with the support of the United States and only days after the Taoiseach met President Trump in the Oval Office.”
“We are now four months on from the general election and we have only ten more sitting days until the Easter recess. The legislative priority of the Government so far was to get more money for junior Ministers. We have no committees established. The Government has sat on that matter. It has proven itself to be truly a do-nothing Government. The Dáil is effectively in cold storage. The Government priority is to placate Michael Lowry and his underlings with the pretence and fiction that they can carry out Opposition functions in the Dáil.”
“The Taoiseach is spoofing. The Department of Finance analysed all the available data which the Taoiseach cited and more. The Department told the Taoiseach's colleague, the Minister, Jack Chambers, that 40,000 homes in 2024 was not happening. We have the documentation to reflect that fact. The Minister knew and the Government knew - I assume the Taoiseach knew - yet the Government spun the fiction again and again of 40,000 houses in 2024 to, as it were, take the bad look off things. Shame on you for doing that and for misleading people. It does not take courage to snigger at people. That is the action of an obsequious coward. It is a cowardly act to snigger at the suffering and hardship of people back home when you feel you are at a safe distance to do so.”
“Does the Taoiseach recognise the hurt caused by his laughing with the American President about the Irish housing crisis? Will he now accept and admit that he knowingly misled the public with his claim the Government would deliver 40,000 homes in 2024?”
“President", but does the Taoiseach think it is a pretty good answer for people locked out of home ownership, renters crucified with rip-off rents and young people unable to get a start in life choosing between staying at home with their parents or going to Australia? Does the Taoiseach think it is a good answer for mothers and fathers forced into homelessness and children being raised in bed and breakfasts and hotel rooms? The Taoiseach's sniggering interaction hurt a lot of people. He made light of their suffering. The Government misleads people on housing at home and then laughs at them while rubbing shoulders with the powerful abroad. Bhí a fhios ag an Rialtas nach raibh ann ach cur i gcéill agus é ag maíomh as 40,000 teach nua in 2024. Ach anois, tá an fhírinne nochtaithe.”
“What I know is that the Minister, Deputy Chambers, did not tell the public. On the contrary, two days after receiving this report, with the general election under way, he made the claim that the Government was on course to deliver 40,000 homes. This untruth was repeated by the Taoiseach, by Simon Harris and by Darragh O'Brien again and again throughout the campaign. It is not lost on anyone that, last week, as the Minister, Deputy Chambers, was caught out for misleading the public at home, the Taoiseach was sitting in the Oval Office laughing about Ireland's housing crisis. The American President stated that the housing crisis was because Ireland was doing so well and that it was a good problem. The Taoiseach replied: "That's a pretty good answer, Mr.”
“When this ploy was exposed last month, the Government's defence was that the claim of 40,000 homes in 2024 was not a promise but a forecast that ended up being wrong - in other words, an honest mistake. Now, however, we have the truth. The Government knew in advance of the general election that it had not a hope of hitting 40,000 new homes for 2024. Just days before the general election was called, then finance Minister and Fianna Fáil deputy leader, Jack Chambers, was handed an important report by the Department of Finance that laid out in black and white that 40,000 homes would not be delivered. Nobody could seriously believe that the Minister would have kept that information from the Government on the eve of an election - it was too important - so I assume he shared it with the Taoiseach.”
“During the general election campaign, the Taoiseach, along with the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, and his Ministers, repeatedly claimed that 40,000 homes would be delivered in 2024. This was a ploy to fool people into believing that the Government had made real progress on housing. Of course, we all knew it was bull. We now know that, in fact, 30,330 homes were delivered in 2024. That is less than the previous year and far short of the Government's 40,000 election brag - a failure, by the way, that is set to continue, as the Central Bank says the Government will miss its housing targets for the next three years. The Taoiseach and his colleagues cynically misled the public on the key issue of housing during the general election.”
“As the first women to lead the Opposition in the Dáil, I am pleased my party, Sinn Féin, is just about reaching the 40% threshold in our team of TDs. I have to reflect our disappointment that of the 15-person Cabinet, only three are women. That was a step backwards. If things are ever going to change, the message must be a women's place is here in Leinster House and real and consistent action must follow that message. We fight the battles of today in the hope our daughters will not have to fight them tomorrow. Our goal remains equality for all women and girls. That is the Ireland and the world I want for my daughter. I want it for my son also. The women of Ireland keep our eyes on the horizon and our shoulders to the wheel and will stand together until that day of full equality is finally achieved.”
“Since 1996, 267 women have died violently, 63% of whom were killed in their own home. The physical and sexual violence inflicted on women is horrific, as are coercive control, emotional abuse, economic control and the rise in revenge porn. It is a damning failure of Government that nine counties remain without a refuge for women fleeing violence. That must be put right urgently. We need an all-of-government response that changes the story, that challenges and changes the misogynistic culture that sees women and girls abused, intimidated, living in fear and, in too many cases, their lives brutally taken. Is cinneadh é cothrom na Féinne. Ní bheidh comhionannas ag mná go dtí go bhfuil níos mó ban ag an mbord. We need more women in the Oireachtas and sitting in government.”
“The symptoms of inequality are still with us in Ireland today. As women, we face discrimination when it comes to opportunity, the gender pay gap and glass ceilings. Women have blazed a trail, achieved and risen to the top in many areas: business, politics, the arts, sports, broadcasting and entertainment. While celebrating these successes, I am reminded of how Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels. When women achieve and rise to the top, we must clear far more obstacles for others to follow. The inequality we face today finds its most devastating form in the epidemic of violence against women. The number of emergency calls to gardaí reporting domestic abuse rose from over 44,000 in 2020 to over 65,000 last year.”
“Tugann Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan deis dúinn go léir machnamh a dhéanamh ar an am atá caite agus tabhairt faoin todhchaí go cróga. Déanann muid ceiliúradh ar na glúnta máithreacha, iníonacha agus deirfiúracha ar diúltaíodh fios a bheith acu agus a tháinig timpeall ar dhúshlán doshéanta le misneach an t-athrú a chur i gcrích. Tá dul chun cinn suntasach bainte amach ag mná ag obair le chéile, ach tá rás fada fós le rith. We speak up for women who face incredible challenges and injustice but move mountains to keep the show on the road and protect those they love, for mothers forced into homelessness and raising their children in emergency accommodation, for carers whose heroic work goes unrecognised by Government and for those women whose children have special needs and face a daily battle to access essential services and school places.”
“Figures were released this morning to our justice spokesperson, Deputy Carthy, that make for very shocking reading. They reveal that suspects in 40,348 crimes carried out in 2024 were out on bail. This is an issue we have raised repeatedly with the Government, and I am raising it again this morning. The 2024 figure represented an increase of 5,000 on the figure for 2022. Astonishingly, the combined figure for the past three years for suspects implicated in crime while out on bail amounted to 114,655. This situation cannot continue. The public will not tolerate a situation whereby people out on bail are at liberty to reoffend again and again. The bail laws need to be examined with urgency to ensure they are being properly applied. When will the Government finally acknowledge and get on top of this issue?”
“Gan dabht, tá na gaolta sin uilig an-tábhachtach ar fad. That is why I have raised the question with the Taoiseach. I am not in the least bit complacent. I am deeply concerned about the international order at this time and Ireland's place within it. Peace is not achieved by investing in and financing war. Every rule in the book is being set aside to enable Europe to invest €800 billion in weapons of war. That is patently not a peace strategy. This country is a neutral country and militarily unaligned, and that places us in the strongest position to advocate for international law, the UN system and real processes of dialogue and conflict resolution, which is where we need to be. Can the Taoiseach set out much more clearly what exactly he will say on Ukraine and, in particular, on Gaza and the Palestinian question?”
“Remember it was the unaligned countries that spoke for Palestine's right to exist while those in powerful military alliances failed to stop the genocide and have in fact financed it and armed the Israeli war machine. Mar sin, caithfidh an teachtaireacht ó Éirinn sa Teach Bán a rá gur féidir agus gur gá dár dtíortha a bheith mar leathbhádóirí rathúla ar son na síochána, ar son an dul chun cinn, agus ar son rathúnas na cruinne. Ireland and America can be successful partners for peace, progress and prosperity, but only if we choose to be and only if we are determined to be. I ask the Taoiseach to set out clearly what his message is to the United States on Palestine and Gaza.”
“Will he put it to President Trump that Ireland stands on the side of international law and diplomacy, that the sovereignty of Ukraine must be upheld, that the pressing and immediate priority now is to build peace through inclusive engagement and good faith dialogue? What will be the Taoiseach’s message to the American President in standing with the Palestinian people? Will he express Ireland’s strong view the US is catastrophically wrong on Gaza, that the proposal for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is an absolutely unacceptable breach of international law and deeply destabilising for the Middle East and the wider world? Remember this view can be most powerfully delivered by an Ireland that is a military neutral.”
“I am certain the Taoiseach will impress upon President Trump the importance of continued US support for our peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, the need for a solution for the undocumented Irish and of course the real concerns regarding the impact tariffs could have on Ireland’s economy, on jobs and on future prosperity. The message has to be that Ireland is a location of choice for American investment for very good reason, that the economic relationship between our two countries is a two-way street and that it must continue in the time ahead. This will be the Taoiseach’s last time taking Leaders’ Questions before he makes that journey to the United States, so I ask him to set out for the Dáil very clearly what it is he will say to the US President regarding Ukraine and Gaza.”
“It also comes at a time of deep public concern regarding the Government’s moves to dismantle the triple lock and undermine Ireland’s neutrality. People ask why Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not bring that same urgency when dealing with housing, access to healthcare or the cost of living. It has never been more important for Ireland to protect and assert our long-standing neutrality fully intact. The meeting with the US President presents an opportunity to address Ireland’s interests, but also a moment to speak honestly with him and voice Ireland’s position clearly on pressing international affairs.”
“Over the course of the next week the Taoiseach will engage in three crucially important meetings for Ireland's future. The first is a meeting with the British Prime Minister in which I hope the Taoiseach will press for a reset of relationships as equal partners. Then there is an EU Council meeting at a time when the European Commission has kickstarted an EU arms race, proposing a colossal €800 billion in military spending. Then the Taoiseach travels to the United States to meet the US President in the White House at a time when an outrageous threat of mass expulsion from Gaza hangs over 2 million Palestinians. This year’s St. Patrick’s Day meeting comes at a time of conflict, challenge and deep uncertainty in the world.”
“How on earth are communities meant to feel safe when gardaí do not have the manpower and the resources they need? Of course, the gardaí cannot do all the heavy lifting on their own. We need to invest ambitiously in our communities and community infrastructure and in particular in our young people. The Government needs to get its act together. We need more gardaí on our streets, and more investment in community and youth services, youth diversion programmes, rehabilitation and in our probation service. We need a response from the Government that matches the scale of the problem and we need it fast.”