Micheál Martin
Cork South-Central · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“At the beginning of April, the Government approved the establishment of the Cork city futures group to guide development of Cork city for the future.”
“We have to have a budget that reflects the need to sustain that level of work in our economy so that people will have access to jobs. The AI issue is causing a lot of concern. I take heart from the investment announced by Intel this week, which will be AI-propelled, actually.”
“Dublin City Council is progressing the establishment of this new legal entity, in line with the timelines laid out in the roadmap; a ten-year integrated area strategy for Dublin city centre to optimise funding and investment and tackle vacancy and dereliction; and accelerated delivery of landmark capital projects in the city centre throug…”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 30, inclusive, together. This will be a long answer because there is one task group and one futures group.”
“I think Deputy Hayes was being a bit petty, if that is the word I am looking for, in what he said about Spain. Well, using the word "petty" might be a bit uncharitable today. It is more a Spain is more vociferous than us kind of thing. We have worked very well together on the Middle East. It is a very serious issue.”
“A dedicated body, to be known as The Cork City Futures Group, will work to unlock the city’s full economic, cultural and academic potential, alongside further investment, innovation and infrastructure. I think people are familiar with the terms of reference.”
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“------in education, in health and in areas like respite and residential where we have to substantially increase provision. The way to do that is to allocate funding on a sustainable and permanent basis. The additional needs payments are there and that is what the Minister is referring to as well. They are there for people who are in difficulty in terms of heating and food. Those payments are there and 2,300 people availed of them last year. They are available to people who end up in difficulty for one reason or another. Our social protection programme is there to help people in those circumstances.”
“Hold on now. We brought in emergency one-off payments for two years for a whole range of sectors. The Deputy knows that well. Fine, he is in opposition and has to spin it in the way that he is spinning it.”
“He was referring to political commentary, not commentary from representative organisations. The Deputy should not deliberately misrepresent in that way.”
“It concludes that the at-risk-of-poverty rate across the population falls by 1.7%, with the largest reductions for older people, a fall of 6.2%, and for the population affected by disability, a fall of 3.8%. Those are not my figures; they come from the ESRI and the Department of Finance. On the cost-of-disability payment, the Minister is consulting. He wants to do it properly and on a sustainable basis and he is working on that. This is a five-year Government. We committed to this and we are going to do it. We are going to do it in a proper structured way and not with a once-off measure or anything like that. It has to be done that way. This is not simple either and let us not pretend it is. This has to be done properly and that is what the Minister is going to do.”
“That investment in services is vital and needs to happen on a sustained basis, so we put it permanently into the budget - not once-off, but permanently into the budget for the long haul in respect of improving services in all those aspects of life for people with a disability. We have to strengthen mainstream public support and measures for households impacted by disability on a sustainable basis. We increased the core rate of social welfare payments by €10, bringing personal rates to €254. We increased domiciliary care allowance by €20 monthly. We increased the earnings disregard for the carer's allowance to €1,000 per single person and €2,000 for a couple. The analysis by the ESRI and the Department of Finance confirms the positive impact of these decisions.”
“However, we did take measures in the budget to support people with disabilities, which the Deputy has ignored, because the budget is not just about payments in themselves. Across all five pillars of the strategy, supporting disabled people at every stage of life, we took measures. The cost of disability is one of those and we will deal with that comprehensively in the next budget. We delivered a record 20% increase in disability funding because supporting disabilities is about investment in services. It is about practical supports. It is about opportunities in education, opportunities in employment and opportunities in community participation.”
“First of all, the Government did discontinue the specific measures that we had introduced for the previous two years to deal with inflation across the board. It was not any one particular sector. The Deputy continually and disingenuously narrows it down and say we made cuts. We got rid of the one-off payments. They were not fiscally sustainable and they are not fiscally sustainable. That is the bottom line here and we need to be honest and real about it. I know those in opposition will not be because they will always come back and say we could provide another €100 million here or €500 million there. Having once-off payments is not a sustainable way to deal with these issues.”
“We have delivered 53,000 social houses since we came back in 2020 through local authorities and through approved housing bodies. That is a good mechanism for social housing and it is working. We need more affordable housing and we need more apartment building in addition to what we are doing on social housing. We are getting results on social housing, no question, where construction is at its highest since the 1970s. We are going to continue with that and increase it in the time ahead.”
“That is exactly what this regulation is trying to counteract and deal with. More importantly, I take issue with the Deputy's construction company in terms of the substance behind it. Is she saying we are going to have direct labour in every local authority or direct labour by the State? Is that the model?”
“The case the Deputy just outlined would be covered by these regulations and she is opposing them. There is no point in raising individual cases here, with the correct empathy and so on like that, if she then proposes to oppose the very measure that would prevent three such evictions in a short number of years.”
“The reform of the rent pressure zones was necessary and was recommended by the Housing Commission. Real investment in dwellings for the first three quarters of 2025 were up 12.7% vis-à-vis 2024. Completions for the first three quarters of 2025 were the highest since 2008. Planning permissions are up 29% and 50% on the second quarter of 2025. That is planning permissions in the third quarter of last year. Commencements in the fourth quarter of 2025 are up 50% on the previous quarter. The housing infrastructure and investment fund has been announced and there is a further €1 billion there over the next number of years.”
“The Department of Finance estimates that to get to 50,000 houses a year, we need about €20 billion in the economy allocated and spent on housing. The State will not be in a position to find €20 billion every year for the next ten years and, therefore, we do need a balance. There is no question but that this emanated from the national Housing Commission although not the specifics. The national Housing Commission was very clear. The Deputy has said this time and again that the Government ignored the housing commission. We did not, actually. We moved on the recommendations pertaining to rent. It said the present situation cannot continue. You have to give permanent clarity and a degree of certainty to the market over a significant period of time and that is what this legislation will do.”
“She cannot have it each and every way. We will now have national rent control over the entire country and the Deputy calls that deregulation. We will strengthen the protection for renters through the introduction of tenancies of minimum duration, which is an effective end to no-fault eviction. We are establishing a rent price register. In fairness, the Deputy acknowledged that but at the same time she called all of that chaotic. Both cannot be correct. The arrangements to reset the rental market rate only every six years is important. First of all, six years is a bigger protection than would have been there heretofore but, second, there has to be a balance between attracting private sector investment in addition to the enormous public sector investment in housing.”
“First, may I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of the late Brian O’Shea and to his wife, Eileen. I served with Brian in the House. He was a thorough gentleman and a wonderful parliamentarian. He was always calm and always thought of things in perspective. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. I find the Deputy’s presentation, if she does not mind my saying so, somewhat incoherent and a bit chaotic in the sense that one moment she uses the word "deregulation". I just cannot comprehend how she thinks a Bill, which will create a national rent regulation framework, is deregulation.”
“I cannot respond. I am not responding to assertions by the Deputy that are not soundly based. Deputy McDonald just pointed to Deputy Carthy, so she clearly did not hear the Minister saying that yesterday.”
“-----and also in regard to theft from shops and businesses and so on. People basically want to go about their normal lives with a sense of safety and security. Greater numbers of gardaí on the streets will help that. That is happening and it will continue to happen.”
“We now have a total of 14,462 gardaí across the State and we are going to continue that level and pace of recruitment on an ongoing basis and for the duration of this Government. The funding will be provided to enable that to happen. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has already had substantial discussions with the Commissioner in regard to the allocation of those resources to improve Garda visibility across our country but particularly in areas where antisocial behaviour is strongest, and also in our city and town centres, where there has been a lot of activity around drug trafficking-----”
“I accept the anger in such communities and it does work where you have high-visibility policing. The recruitment and retention is well under way. There is a Garda budget of about €2.74 billion in 2026. An extra 1,000 new gardaí will come on stream, with a doubling of the Garda Reserve as well, to over 600. We ran two recruitment campaigns in 2025. There is a steady pipeline of new recruits. Over 11,000 applications to join An Garda Síochána were received last year. We had 194 gardaí attested in November. In 2025, we had around 617 newly attested gardaí. Some 223 trainees entered Templemore in November, which is the largest intake at Templemore since 2014. The total number of trainees to enter Templemore is close to 800, the largest since 2018.”
“The Government has a policy of very high visibility and the new Commissioner, Justin Kelly, is equally of that view. The position is improving significantly in terms of the numbers coming out of Templemore. I attended a graduation ceremony in Templemore just before Christmas. Huge and record numbers came out, to be followed up by even higher numbers going in. It is not true to say that people will not be able to go onto the streets straight away. I am informed by the Minister that they will. Some 170 are coming out of Templemore next week. They will be on the streets. I have seen it in different parts of the country. The idea has been to allocate significant numbers to given communities. Those coming out next week will be allocated to the communities the Deputy has referenced.”
“First of all, the Government is absolutely clear on the need to deal robustly and very firmly with antisocial behaviour. An investigation is under way and that restricts what I could say but we are very conscious of the very grave consequences that can arise from antisocial and unacceptable behaviour by people, the degree to which communities are under pressure, and the degree of anger out there in communities at the perception or sense that certain people can ignore the law. We do need to acknowledge that An Garda Síochána is bringing criminals to justice and to account very significantly in terms of the gangland scene in general but also in terms of many other crimes within communities. The key issue for us in the post-Covid period has been visibility.”
“There are complications around that, but the Minister and the Attorney General will come back to us in respect of that issue.”
“I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, for her forthright and assertive work in respect of this issue. I met with all the relevant Ministers, including the Minister for justice, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, the Attorney General and others in order to take stock of our existing laws. If our laws need strengthening, the Minister for justice and Attorney General will come back to the Government on that, although the view is that the legislation we have in place, namely the 1998 Act, in terms of child abuse and child protection, and the 2020 Act are actually sufficient. There is a lot in them bar the one issue around the generation of images. Sharing is both outlawed and illegal. The generation of images per se is not.”
“On Deputy Murphy's point regarding digital strategy and unique responsibility, we have the same responsibility as everyone in Europe. The Deputy is wrong to say that we are hiding behind the European Commission. The Digital Markets Act is very clear that very large platforms with over 45 million users per week fall under the remit of the European Commission in the context of enforcement of the law and standards. The European Commission has announced that it is beginning an investigation into Grok and X, which is significant. Meanwhile, An Garda Síochána is pursuing issues relating to domestic law being broken in respect of child abuse images. Coimisiún na Meán is also pursuing this. The latter is working proactively with the European Commission. It is not hiding behind the Commission.”
“The EU has made significant contributions, mobilised through the African Peace Facility and the European Peace Facility, to the African Union. We are open to participation, but, again, that will happen very much by invitation. It will be a long time before the Security Council gets around to doing that. We have not been invited to date, but these are issues we keep under review. Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to Western Sahara. The ECJ judgment is maybe not as straightforward as the Deputy suggested. It is some time since I read the key aspects of the judgment and the legal opinion relating to it. However, we need a peace agreement there. We need mediation and a resolution in terms of Western Sahara and Morocco.”
“We contributed about €43.8 million between 2021 and 2024 to that region. We have maintained our development and humanitarian funding to the region as well. We opened our newest embassy in Sub-Saharan Africa and Senegal in January of 2023, anxious to develop our presence in francophone West Africa. It is located in Dakar and supports international development, security and peace in the region, in particular in the Sahel. We are increasing our presence in that part of the world. We want a just and lasting peace in Somalia, and, again, we acknowledge the efforts of the federal government there to strengthen its institutions and implement legislative reforms. The European Union has been a reliable partner for Somalia for decades.”
“I understand and fully respect that it is the domain of the African Union but this is an appalling, shocking situation. A total of 22 million people across the Sahel need humanitarian assistance. There have been a number of coup d'états . The Russians have been involved. The Wagner Group has been involved. All sorts of deals have been done with rare earth mining and so on in exchange for security guarantees for the elites who have executed the coup d'états . That means that half of the Sahelian population - all of those countries - are now living in poverty and below the poverty line. The situation gets worse and migration increases as a result of that. The fundamentalists and ISIS then gain traction in the rural parts of the Sahel as a result of all of this. There has been a terrible deterioration over the past number of years.”
“The savagery and destruction of civilians is absolutely shocking. We have made our contributions. Women and girls are particularly at grave risk of sexual and gender-based violence. We try to support programmes to protect women and girls. Last year, we provided about €14.3 million to support people most in need in Sudan and those displaced by the crisis in neighbouring countries. We will increase our funding this year. I accept the sincerity of Deputy Moynihan in highlighting this. In terms of the Sahel, it was included in the joint declaration. Sometimes I would like the African Union to be more energetic with its interventions. From my perspective, and in respect of the savagery that is taking place, getting this resolved needs far more urgency.”
“Ireland has consistently said civil society actors need to be brought into the process, like we experienced in Northern Ireland. That is very important in any mediation efforts. We need a peaceful civilian transition process. There are ongoing negotiations to secure a three-month humanitarian truce. That will require significant and sustained political will from the United States, which is endeavouring to get peace there, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - the so-called quad - and with the support of the European Union and African Union, and to bring the parties to the negotiating tables. Over three years of conflict has brought the worst humanitarian crisis globally. It is the worst. The Deputy said 30 million were not attending school. That is quite shocking - 30 million children are not attending school.”
“Deputy Moynihan raised the issue of Sudan as did Deputy Ó Cearúil. Deputy Moynihan went to great lengths to point out the enormity of the atrocities that have been carried out and the enormity of the impact of this war on so many millions of people. In many ways, it is the forgotten war. It does not get discussed in this House to the same degree as others. The Deputy is correct that people talk about external actors. The joint declaration of the African-EU summit condemned the atrocities committed in El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces. It called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access throughout the country and reaffirmed the EU and AU support for a political process towards a unified and civilian transition, led by the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.”
“Every trade agreement will have a mediation process and mechanism. Every trade agreement must have a mechanism process. The European courts dealt with that and clarified that significantly some time ago. The bottom line is the enormity of growth in trade speaks for itself, which benefits people in this country. It benefits jobs, it benefits small companies and it benefits big companies. The benefits are there. I really think the ideological straitjackets people have tied themselves into are very difficult to comprehend. Trade is our lifeblood as a small nation. The Canada-Europe trade deal has been effective in growing trade between our two countries - both ways, I add - and equally for our SMEs. We will press ahead with the arbitration Act and get that passed, which enables us to ratify that deal. That is important.”
“He wants CETA signed and ratified. We both discussed the benefits of CETA. I do not understand why Deputy Smith cannot endorse it.”
“We are in a very turbulent situation. The Deputy referenced Sudan, trade, energy and debt. He is correct on the debt issue. It is a great pity the USA has pulled back significantly. I hope that will be reviewed because it is a significant loss to the world and the developing world, in particular. The Deputy again skilfully brought the EU-African summit back to Dundalk's wastewater treatment plant, which is not quite encompassed by the question but I will talk to the Minister and let him know the Deputy has been raising the issue. On Deputy Smith's point about Canada and Mark Carney, I met with the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, when I was at the high level week at the United Nations in New York, which all taoisigh go to on an annual basis. I took the opportunity to fly to Canada for an overnight to meet him the following morning.”
“Ireland is a key development partner for Sierra Leone, working on four main areas, namely, food security, education, governance and human rights, and gender equality. Our close relationship was further underscored by the recent appointment of Sierra Leone’s first resident ambassador to Ireland. Ireland will continue to be an advocate for Africa within the European Union. As an important institution for the promotion of peace, stability and development in Africa, we strongly support the strengthening of the partnership between the EU and the African Union. In that respect, the EU-African Union summit was a very important milestone in this partnership.”
“They also recommitted to working together on supporting democracy, inclusive governance and the rule of law. The joint declaration also reiterates commitments to initiatives that tackle challenges such as terrorism, transnational organised crime, misinformation and disinformation, cybersecurity and hybrid threats. The joint declaration recalls the commitment of both the European Union and the African Union to deepening co-operation and dialogue on migration and mobility in a comprehensive, integrated and balanced manner, and in full respect of international law and human rights. On the margins of the summit, I met with the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio. We reflected on the close partnership between Ireland and Sierra Leone.”
“The European Union is the top trading partner of African countries collectively. African countries together constitute the EU’s fourth-largest trading partner. Significant progress was welcomed in the implementation of the global gateway Africa-Europe investment package in areas of mutual interest, reflecting a shared commitment to inclusive sustainable development. The unwavering commitment of the European Union and the African Union to continued partnership and mutually beneficial investment in green and climate-resilient initiatives in the areas of energy, transport and digital infrastructure was reaffirmed. Leaders further reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening dialogue and enhancing co-operation on peace, security and governance.”
“I spoke about how multilateralism is core to Ireland’s foreign policy and our firm commitment to a strong, rules-based multilateral system with the UN at its heart. Leaders agreed a joint declaration which reflects the main outcomes of the summit. The European Union and the African Union committed to upholding the rules and principles of the UN Charter, including those of sovereignty and territorial integrity and political independence. Guided by these rules and principles, unwavering support was reiterated for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, in the occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, the Sahel, Somalia and other wars and conflicts around the globe. The joint declaration also includes a focus on a deepened economic, trade and investment partnership.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 23, inclusive, together. I attended the seventh EU-African Union summit, which took place on 24 and 25 November 2025 in Luanda, Angola. The summit, which took place the day after the G20, was co-chaired by the President of Angola, João Lourenço, and the President of the European Council, António Costa. The summit marked 25 years of strategic partnership between the EU and the African Union. The theme of the summit was Advancing Peace and Prosperity through Effective Multilateralism, underlining the importance of the multilateral system and the centrality of partnership to address the most pressing challenges we face in an interconnected and very uncertain world. Given Ireland’s strong support for the United Nations and the principles of the UN Charter, I intervened in a session on multilateralism.”
“That is an area on which we are very focused in terms of our engagement with the US both at European and Irish level. Deputy Shane Moynihan again raised the issue of the EU-India trade agreement. Diversification of markets is the key and the opening up of new markets with a view to benefiting world trade more generally, but also our own country. We are a small exporting country. As we export 90% of what we produce, instinctively trade deals are better for us in that scenario. Taking drink products alone, such as whiskey and so on, the tariffs are enormous now. After a trade deal, they come way down. That is very good news for producers of that kind. Obviously, we can go through it sector by sector later, but it will be significant.”
“Obviously, we have very significant concerns in terms of its broad remit. What Europe and Ireland are interested in is the application to Gaza and whether there is a role for the EU in respect of the second phase of the peace process within Gaza. All of the hostages have now been released. I spoke to the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority last week in Davos and he said the most immediate need is shelter. There is an absolutely urgent need in Gaza for shelter. He believes aid is coming in but it is in a very haphazard way in the sense that a lot of basic vital stuff like proteins and that is not coming in to the degree that is necessary. We need a more comprehensive approach. I had a very brief meeting with Tom Fletcher, and a number of Irish officials are doing everything they can to contribute and to help.”
“The G20 leaders' declaration acknowledges that debt vulnerabilities, along with other factors, can constrain countries' fiscal space and undermine their ability to deal with poverty and inequality and their capacity to invest in growth and development. Interest payments on public debt have more than doubled over the past decade for low-income countries. It hampers their capacity to lift people out of poverty. There is a need for multilateral development banks to develop more liberal policies in respect of that. The commitment to empowering women and girls and to urgently removing social and economic barriers to gender equity was reaffirmed by the G20 summit. Then there is a whole range of other issues in terms of food security. On the Board of Peace, we met the European Union last week.”
“We are serious. Our officials attended about 130 meetings. Our Ministers did as well. We took it very seriously. We engaged constructively. There is a range of issues like agriculture; anti-corruption; culture; development; digital economy; disaster risk reduction - our officials, the sherpas, were working on that area; education; employment; empowerment of women; energy transitions; environment and climate sustainability; health; research and innovation; tourism; and trade and investment. There is a variety of workshops throughout the year. The debt burden on developing countries was probably the most critical issue that emerged at the G20 summit. It was raised by a lot of African nations.”
“There were also generators for Irish Water, generators for community hubs and stronger resourcing of community-based organisations to develop greater resilience on the ground, given the severity of storms that have happened and that are coming our way. Storm Chandra is the latest manifestation of that and serious flooding has resulted from it. The US President did not turn up at G20, although he met with President Ramaphosa earlier in the White House. I had good meetings with President Ramaphosa during our visit to South Africa. There is a degree of self-confidence in the South African approach. South Africa invited Ireland, which speaks volumes for the Irish position on the issues Deputy Boyd Barrett raised. Despite what gets said in the House, South Africa was minded to invite Ireland because of the role we play globally.”
“It is a fair point. When you attend these meetings, you see the enormous impact of climate on many African countries, resulting in migration, economic disruption and significant disruption of food production systems. The area of mitigation and adaptation is one we need to focus on more urgently, globally and in Ireland. I will talk to the Minister on the specific issues the Deputy raised. If you look at the weather over the past while, it is changing. Climate is changing. The ground is saturated. It is a serious issue. After Storm Éowyn we did a fundamental review of certain areas - power corridors and so on - and brought in legislation to clarify powers of EirGrid and the ESB vis-á-vis landowners and to have a comprehensive solution to that.”
“Notwithstanding that fact, it has entered provisionally and we have had tremendous growth. A very good document was commissioned by our embassy on the impact of CETA on Ireland and Canada's trade. Our embassy has produced that and it is a very good snapshot of the dramatic improvements. I envisage something similar in India. In the early 2000s, we took a trade mission to India to try to create a significant base for the first time. There were about five Ministers and the then Taoiseach. The idea was to open up India. We did similar with China and look what has happened. The trade has exponentially grown both ways and we have a surplus with China. Likewise, there is lots of potential in Europe-India and the impact on Ireland. Deputy Ó Murchú skilfully wove the G20 and County Louth together in respect of adaptation and mitigation measures.”
“It is interesting that Canada is pivoting more to Europe as a result of that changed global position in terms of trade. On my visit to China, not only did we get the beef market reopened but it was interesting the Chinese leadership said it acknowledged the interdependence of the world and wanted smoother trading relationships with Europe. There are issues on both sides there: industrial resilience, strategic autonomy and so forth. This is a significant agreement the Commission has arrived at with India. I will get further clarity on the precise mechanisms for agreement on that. There are various mechanisms through which trade deals or aspects of trade deals can be ratified. CETA, for example, was a provisional agreement. We have yet to ratify it but are bringing legislation to the House to do so.”
“I have to go through the details of it. If you take the Europe-Canada trade agreement, Irish trade has exponentially grown as a result of that CETA trade deal. There is a lot of opposition in the House to it, which I find hard to comprehend. Many Irish small and medium-size companies have done well through exporting goods and services. Many of our multinationals do well also, which improves Irish jobs. India is an important market. It is enormous. This is a historic agreement and it counteracts the push towards protectionism and a tariff-based approach the US has initiated through its policies. Europe is endeavouring to create a counter approach which involves doing trade deals with others and easing trade between different blocs and markets across the world.”
“We need to engage on a global level with as many countries as possible. The world has dramatically changed since the time of apartheid in South Africa and is a much more interdependent world today than it was back then. I had some very good meetings with Cyril Ramaphosa. I met him on quite a number of occasions. He remembers fondly the time he spent in Ireland helping to decommission weapons. He has the odd humorous anecdote about where he had to go to find some of those weapons and verify their destruction and decommissioning. What was interesting in the declaration was that he skilfully got an outcome, notwithstanding the fact the US was not formally represented but it was at the negotiations in some respects. Other countries were as well. On the trade issue, the EU-India trade agreement is positive.”
“I thank all the Deputies for raising these issues. This was the first time ever Ireland was invited to be a participant at the G20. It is interesting some people questioned whether I should attend. We have a strong pro-development agenda in Ireland through our development aid programme across different Departments but mainly delivered through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and through Irish Aid. Within that is a strong financial provision and policy around women and girls in conflict and domestic abuse. Margaret Lotus is in the Gallery and I appreciate her bravery and courage in coming forward to tell her story, so we can continue to improve our legislation and the transparency of our agencies, Garda, Defence Forces and so forth. Deputy Ó Cearúil referred to diversification of trade. There is a need for global engagement.”
“I also attended the Eighth Replenishment Summit of the Global Fund, co-hosted by the governments of South Africa and the United Kingdom, where I announced increased support to the Global Fund of €72 million over the next three years, underlining Ireland’s ongoing support for global health initiatives to combat HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. While in South Africa, I also had a number of economic, community and bilateral meetings and events, including addressing an Enterprise Ireland lunch with Irish business leaders, a community event and a Bord Bia event.”
“In the margins, I had several bilateral meetings, including with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, and the president of the African Development Bank, Sidi Ould Tah. I also attended a meeting of the coalition of the willing in the margins of the G20 leaders’ summit in South Africa. Leaders reiterated our unwavering support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity. I took part in a Global Citizen NOW event co-hosted by South Africa and the European Union where I announced a pledge of €5 million to the International Energy Agency’s clean energy transitions programme.”