Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
Donegal · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“In recent days, First Minister Michelle O'Neill visited Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce. Present were the heads of Donegal County Council, Atlantic Technological University, Donegal ETB and a range of employers and businesses from across the county.”
“The opportunity to progress towards a united Ireland is incredibly exciting. It is an opportunity to reimagine our island and its potential. David McWilliams wrote in recent years about the impact of partition on the North of Ireland. Some 100 years ago, Belfast was larger than Dublin.”
“There are many challenges and issues but the easiest one is going to be the economic benefits of a united Ireland. They will be immense, particularly for the northern half of the island. As an eminent economist said, if the North of Ireland can perform at the level of counties Cork and Kerry alone, there will be no issues.”
“In recent weeks, the Taoiseach talked about the importance of the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine. However, incredibly, it is the Minister for agriculture who will address the European Parliament's committee on fisheries today.”
“That would give a clear message that the Taoiseach is serious about giving the Department of marine and the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine independence to speak and fight for our people, rather than the Minister for agriculture, who could not possibly know anything about these matters.”
“Nationalism is united on this issue. We are asking for responsible preparation, a Green Paper and a citizens' assembly to make the plan and the case. The Taoiseach says that he is an Irish republican and a united-Irelander, then he should make the case and have a plan. That is what nationalism wants.”
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“There are many challenges and issues but the easiest one is going to be the economic benefits of a united Ireland. They will be immense, particularly for the northern half of the island. As an eminent economist said, if the North of Ireland can perform at the level of counties Cork and Kerry alone, there will be no issues. It will do a lot better than that. The model of the north west is the model and vision of a way forward for a united Ireland. It is an exciting debate; let us have it and let us get on with it.”
“In recent days, First Minister Michelle O'Neill visited Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce. Present were the heads of Donegal County Council, Atlantic Technological University, Donegal ETB and a range of employers and businesses from across the county. It has been working together with Derry Chamber of Commerce to market one region: the north west city region. They have worked together as councils - Donegal, Derry and Strabane - and as universities - the University of Ulster and Northwest College. We can see, for example, in the City of Derry Airport, 40% of the passengers who use that airport come from County Donegal. We are one region and one people and we have to break it down to achieve our economic potential. There are many challenges in the Green Paper and the citizens’ assembly, which will inevitably come.”
“The opportunity to progress towards a united Ireland is incredibly exciting. It is an opportunity to reimagine our island and its potential. David McWilliams wrote in recent years about the impact of partition on the North of Ireland. Some 100 years ago, Belfast was larger than Dublin. Some 80% of the island's industrial output was in the area around Belfast. It was an industrial powerhouse. If we compare that to Dublin today, Dublin is way beyond that in population and economic productivity. The economic impact of partition has been devastating, particularly on the North of Ireland. I can speak with some positivity about the north west. In recent times, we have had positive partnerships in the region standing up and showing the potential if we can break down the impact of the Border and work together.”
“That would give a clear message that the Taoiseach is serious about giving the Department of marine and the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine independence to speak and fight for our people, rather than the Minister for agriculture, who could not possibly know anything about these matters.”
“In recent weeks, the Taoiseach talked about the importance of the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine. However, incredibly, it is the Minister for agriculture who will address the European Parliament's committee on fisheries today. He is having an exchange of views with the members of that committee, not the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Dooley. There is clearly a row. Letters have been exchanged. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene and make clear that it is the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, who has been engaging in widespread consultation with the fishing industry and seafood industry in Ireland and Europe over the last year and a half, who should represent Ireland. He knows what he is talking about.”
“Nationalism is united on this issue. We are asking for responsible preparation, a Green Paper and a citizens' assembly to make the plan and the case. The Taoiseach says that he is an Irish republican and a united-Irelander, then he should make the case and have a plan. That is what nationalism wants. The SDLP had a conference in recent days. This is not about one political party. This is about all of the voices of nationalism and united-Irelanders saying together that the Government must have a plan. Micheál Martin, I ask you to reflect on the words of Charles Stewart Parnell and to think about what he said all of those years ago because he is that man right now and it needs to change. If not, he will not be here next year. His party will remove him, and we will come back, and this will be passed in due course.”
“In 1885, Charles Stewart Parnell said: No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has a right to say to his country thus far shalt thou go and no further. That is where the Taoiseach is right now, and that is where he has been for a number of years. I thought of the Hume-Adams accord in 1993 earlier where the leaders of nationalism and republicanism in the North united together in talks and made a series of statements. The then Fianna Fáil leader, Albert Reynolds, responded with positivity. He embraced it and moved forward. Bertie Ahern did the same. I am sorry to say, Micheál Martin, that you are no Albert Reynolds or Bertie Ahern.”
“The approach of the Minister for justice to the changes to the criminal legal aid scheme has brought absolute chaos to the system, as was dealt with earlier. There are a number of motions to annul his scheme but he needs to come to the House and engage. We cannot go into recess and allow this to continue. There is chaos in our system. The Minister is making a mess and he needs to engage with stakeholders and sort this out urgently.”
“Older people in particular cannot afford it. That is why there is heavy reliance on home heating oil in places like Donegal. The Government should stop talking about this in a way that makes it seem that people are backward when they say that those who live in rural communities should be penalised for living there.”
“People who are trying to get by in this country face being charged €2 per litre for diesel and petrol. You can imagine what we will face in the winter if that is where the Government goes with this. I ask it to reflect very hard on what is proposed. People who say that carbon tax should not be increased are attacked by the Government. The reality for those living in a place like Donegal is that, in the main, they do not have the option to drive electric vehicles. People are not choosing to purchase petrol and diesel. Those in a place like Donegal have to have it in order to get by, to get to college and to get to work in order to earn a living. People are being penalised for choices they are not in a position to make. People do not have the resources to retrofit their homes because the costs involved are huge.”
“It is not lost on the Irish people that the electricity credits were removed as soon as the general election was over. People received those credits as they prepared to vote. The cynicism behind what was done was off the scale. The Government only decided to reduce excise duty when there were strong protests across the State. The people I saw protesting in Donegal are the salt of the earth. They are responsible for delivering goods and producing food . To quote Leo Varadkar back in the day, they are the people who get up early in the morning and keep the country running. It was those people who were out protesting in desperation. Only after that did the Government introduce cuts to excise duty. It now proposes to increase excise duty again - to sneak it back in - while the Dáil is in recess.”
“Tens of thousands of properties will have to be rebuilt. It will be a massive amount of money that will impact us for generations, thanks to people in this Chamber who made those decisions.”
“For a long time, I have seen the utter devastation of the impact and cost of the decisions that were made in this Chamber, the neglect that took place in this Chamber, and the relationships that people who are in this Chamber had with people who were building and manufacturing. It reached its apex during the Celtic tiger. That is when so many of these homes were built utterly recklessly. I want to be very clear, although it has been said already. The Government wants to move on. It wants to say that it is on top of this: “See that protest with 20,000 people. We have all moved on from that now.” To be very clear, it is just the beginning of the realisation of the scale. There are housing estates in Donegal near my home area where only 10% or 15% of the whole estate is being rebuilt. All of those houses will have to be rebuilt.”
“It will be over €9 billion, and I believe that is a conservative estimate. We are going to be haunted by this for generations because of the utter political failure. Where we are at now is on a scale with the bailing out of the banks and the bondholders. That is the impact this will have. It goes deeper. I live in the epicentre of this. My friends, my family and my neighbours are utterly devastated. Can we imagine it? The biggest purchase of your life is your home, the roof over your head. You commit to it with a mortgage for years and years. It is your castle, your pride and joy. All your memories, everything, are built around that.”
“When you read the book Defects written by my colleague, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, you realise that the decisions that led to this absolute disaster emanated from this Chamber. Again and again over the years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments and Ministers were challenged about the regulation of the building and construction industry. Again and again, they failed to properly regulate and oversee that industry, and we will pay a devastating cost for generations. As has been said, last night, we learned from Chris Brough, the head of Petrolab, an expert who is testing these concrete blocks, that he estimates the number of houses that will be affected is going to be over 20,000. I believe that is a very conservative estimate. The cost to the Exchequer will not be what the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, said, which is €3.6 billion.”
“They are not agreed. I listened with interest to the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris's, confirmation of Fine Gael's plans around Irish reunification. We are waiting to hear what the Taoiseach's plans are. For weeks, we have asked for statements on Irish unity. Later today, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald will introduce a Bill for constitutional change about responsible planning for Irish unity, a citizens' assembly and a Green Paper. We would love to hear the Taoiseach's plans. Maybe he could do that through statements in the Dáil as soon as possible on Irish unity.”
“We will be judged very harshly by future generations. They will compare it with how we dealt with South Africa's apartheid regime but this, and the South Africans will say this, is much worse. This is a scale that is unprecedented in relation to what has happened there in terms of the level of destruction and devastation. There is no honour for the State in this legislation that the Government has brought forward. I am sorry to say it. It is minimalist and absolutely not good enough.”
“It started with ordinary people, ordinary workers and trade unionists taking a stand. That is the moral thing to do. We did that because we had independent foreign policy. That was the mindset. What has happened with our Government is an absolutely minimalist approach all the way even when we had genocide broadcast through our televisions and social media every single day and even when 81% of the properties, schools, homes, buildings, churches and mosques were destroyed. Imagine if 81% of the buildings in Dublin were damaged and most of them destroyed. The population of this city is very similar to the population of Gaza. Even in the face of that level of destruction, devastation and loss of lives, our response is absolutely minimalist even with the ICJ's decision giving us full clearance.”
“The International Court of Justice's advisory opinion issued in July 2024 concluded that all states are under an obligation "to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence" and "to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories". It could not be clearer. In 1984, some workers in Dunnes Stores refused to handle South African fruit from the apartheid state. It was grassroots action. That then led to our State leading the way in sanctions against South Africa. We did not wait for everybody to fall in line. We did not wait for complete consensus internationally.”
“They thought when they were posed with the challenge of getting a site that when they secured a site free of charge to State - it has all the amenities, is across the road from the existing secondary school, is the perfect location and planning will not be an issue – they could get momentum. I ask the Minister to continue the positive mindset she brought last Friday and get a new school for that town.”
“I checked with the school last Friday. Deputy Naughton is the fourth Minister for education during this process. That says a lot. The public representatives in Donegal - cross party - have come together and appealed to Ministers to come and see the school: Joe McHugh from Donegal was there as were Deputy Norma Foley, Deputy Helen McEntee and now Deputy Naughton. I appreciate every one of them came to the school to visit but the reason we have impressed on the Minister about this is that we feel so strongly, as a cross-party group of TDs and Senators, that this school is a unique case. The school has waited a long time.”
“The fact the school got the site tells the Minister about the support it has in the community. It is a remarkable thing to offer a greenfield site free of charge. They have done the work with the local councillors on planning. It is a really unique case. I cannot think of a stronger case in terms of national schools in Donegal. I ask the Minister to continue the good work of her predecessor. She was moved to another portfolio and now Deputy Naughton is the Minister. I am delighted she came to visit the school to see for herself. Let us keep the momentum going now.”
“It really was helpful for the Minister to be there and see for herself. She can see the location of the school in relation to the roads outside is entirely inappropriate. The school was built back in the day and does not reflect modern needs at all. The school site has no green area whatever for children to play. These are basic rights. The toilet areas are totally inadequate. The Minister will have seen the inadequate nature of the classrooms and the areas for children with special needs just are not there. I am really glad the Minister said at the outset that it is a tremendous school. The Minister saw the culture that day. The teaching staff are really proud of their educational environment but they do not have the amenities they deserve. The standard of education they are providing and the support with the community is notable.”
“First, I thank the Minister for visiting Scoil Mhuire Milford last Friday – it was really appreciated - and seeing for herself the serious challenges that they face with the existing site. As the Minister knows, they have a new site secured. There will not be any issues with planning. It is across the road from Loreto Community School in the existing school environment up there. I hope the Minister can continue the momentum the previous Minister, Helen McEntee, brought and work towards a new school site for Scoil Mhuire Milford.”
“As somebody who represents a coastal constituency, I ask that the Minister of State engage with his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Timmy Dooley, and his colleague and party leader, Deputy Simon Harris, on the request for financial subsidies for inshore fishermen. There are about 900 of them active across the State. It would not be hard to keep them on the water and to keep those communities flourishing but it needs subsidies. They have never asked for it before. They are there now. They are requesting it now. They have a really good proposal on the table. I am asking the Minister of State to engage with his colleagues and try to deliver a sustainable future for inshore fishermen all around the coast in County Mayo and all around the State.”
“The Government did not consult with stakeholders like fishermen and now people are locked into legal battles and the whole process has stalled because of the arrogance and mess that was there. Again, that is because the Government was too close to industry and was not thinking about the best interests of our people. My final comments today are going to be about fishermen. Where have the supports for fishermen been in recent years? Even after Brexit, the Government never once brought in fuel subsidies. Never once, through all the price shocks that were there as a result of Brexit and the war on Ukraine, were fuel subsidies introduced. Inshore fishermen got nothing, absolutely nothing.”
“The failure to deal with the energy companies is unforgivable because it was Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil policy that gave away what was a proud electrification system built up by the Irish people. We built it up ourselves in hard times with the visionaries who were there at the time and we handed it away to private companies. We had the cheapest electricity in Europe. Today we have the most expensive electricity in Europe. We have a failure, not only in how the Government privatised what was a proud publicly owned amenity but then, if we look at wind energy on land, half the turbines are turned off because the electricity infrastructure is not there. If we look at offshore renewable energy, the Government has made a mess of it on the east coast.”
“I commend Independent Ireland on the motion. It is an important debate we are having here and it is very clear that the Government has wasted opportunity after opportunity. The calls from the Opposition for an energy credit were supposed to alleviate the burden of homeowners but also to give breathing space to Government to take on the price-gouging of the energy companies. Every time the Government had that opportunity, it wasted it. I am of the view that the Government was cynical because the last time it brought these credits in was days before the last general election. I do not believe it was an attempt to deal with price-gouging. I believe it was a cynical political stunt because the Government has withdrawn them in the harder times that are here now.”
“It was back in 2019. Fianna Fáil then went into government with Fine Gael and that Bill was scrapped. Here we are now and the Government has gutted the Bill. Will it publish the Attorney General's advice? Will the Minister come urgently before the Dáil and take questions from the Opposition about why the Government has gutted this Bill after years of abandonment?”
“They have waited for years for a solution, so I am appealing to the Taoiseach to speak to the Minister and the Ministers of State and to get this sorted out urgently.”
“We have an extraordinary situation at Elm Park, Buncrana in County Donegal where nine families are living in defective concrete block homes which must be demolished, but these homes are also on a dangerous flood-plain. The Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Moran and O'Sullivan, were working before Christmas on a scheme to relocate the families. That was announced by the Minister, Deputy Browne, before Christmas. We are now nearly in June and the families are absolutely traumatised. They are very concerned at responses to parliamentary questions that are very mealy-mouthed. The officials in the Department of housing need to wake up to this humanitarian crisis and present a reasonable scheme in co-operation with the families in those homes. They have waited for far too long.”
“I find the Government's current position disgusting when I think that, at the first ask, the Irish people rejected the Nice and Lisbon treaty propositions. The propositions were put back to the Irish people with clear, solemn promises around our neutrality and the triple lock. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made those promises to the Irish people and now they want to break them. This will not stand. If the Government believes it is right in removing the triple lock, it has to be put to the Irish people. It has to be put to them because they were given promises when they voted for the Nice and Lisbon treaties at the second ask.”
“Sometimes when I am in this Chamber, with its busts and statues of the 1916 leaders all around, I find what I listen to from the Government astonishing. I think of the famous banner that stated, "We serve neither King nor Kaiser, but Ireland". That is a really proud declaration and it is burned into the hearts of the Irish people because they were colonised for long enough and fought empire for long enough. It is a proud stand that we have taken for all of these years, and it has given us real credibility to engage on the international stage in peacekeeping, the defence of human rights and the resolution of conflicts. That has been our proud position for so many years. It is cherished by the Irish people.”
“The reason Israel feels it can kidnap 12 Irish citizens in international waters and act with impunity with no price to pay, is that the occupied territories Bill has been delayed by years. The Taoiseach knows that. He gave commitment after commitment as leader of his party that he would introduce that Bill and it has been held back again and again. That is why Israel can kidnap hundreds of citizens, including 12 Irish citizens; it pays no price or sanctions whatsoever. Why has it been delayed so long?”
“They are looking to work in partnership with others around how we manage the precious resource of our waters beyond fishing. I plead with the Minister of State to seek an exemption from the European Commission. Are there grounds and special circumstances to protect this special heritage? With a will, this can be done. I appeal to the Minister of State to keep that will and desire to do it and to push back on anybody within the Department or permanent government that says it cannot be done because they have failed fishermen for long enough. I know the Minister of State is trying to change, so I ask him stay on his current course.”
“Our inshore fishermen are a precious part of the heritage of coastal communities and are central to the piers and harbours that we have. There is a great love for them, not just in coastal communities but also right across Ireland. It is about keeping that going by means of what would not be a huge amount of money to subsidise and support them to stay on the water. The factors involved include energy costs, weather and climate change. As I said to the Minister of State previously, five years ago, fisherman said they just wanted to fish. They have never asked for financial supports before. This is the first time they have come to the State. I have looked at their latest updated plan and I think it is really impressive. It is really thoughtful.”
“In light of that, I am asking the Minister of State to push back against the guidance that tells him this cannot be done. I cannot accept that it cannot be done, particularly in the context of financial supports to fishermen.”
“I just cannot accept that the only source of funding we have has to come with the consent of the European Commission. We we can talk about how, under the CAP, long-standing financial supports have been provided to primary producers who work on the land. We need an imaginative measure here. This could be a game-changer, and anything that is ever a game-changer requires somebody to take on the system. We spoke yesterday about Thomas McLaughlin, who pushed through the Ardnacrusha project. He was an engineer who pushed for that to happen. Look at what that changed in Ireland. He was resisted when he first did it. What I am talking about is crucial to keeping the fishermen on the water. We have to reflect the reality of their lives in terms of everything that has changed.”
“This is an opportunity for the Ministers to do something really important for fishing communities all around our coast. They have visited quite a few piers and harbours already around the coast where, until recent times, fishermen would have said they just want to fish and do not need financial supports. They are now telling us very clearly that they need those supports. This is a chance to do something radical and game-changing for those communities around the country, and for a not huge amount of money.”
“For God’s sake, does he ever talk to anybody in County Donegal? We have wind farms all across Donegal and half of them remain dormant because the electricity infrastructure is not there. There is no point talking about solar and wind energy independence and reducing our prices when we are allowing these wind farms to remain dormant and are not working or functioning because we do not have the electricity infrastructure. This is failure after failure. Our people need to know the reason we have the most expensive electricity in Europe is the historic failures of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael because they are working closely with industry and huge profit-makers rather than defending the public interests of their people.”
“We are very proud in Ireland of building up electrification at a time when our country had limited resources. It is a great story of our people. That led to us having the cheapest electricity in Europe. This was infrastructure and a resource that belonged to our people. Whenever the privatisation agenda was pushed by the European Union, Ireland was at the top of the queue to privatise what was publicly-owned infrastructure. That is fundamentally the reason today our workers, families and small businesses are being crippled with electricity prices. It is the failure historically of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to protect a precious national resource we had built up. We just handed it away, and that is the price that we pay today. This is the other issue. I heard the Taoiseach talking about wind energy.”
“I agree with my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, that we need to have a focused debate on the National Ambulance Service. The fact that ambulance workers across this country are on strike today says it all. They do not feel valued and we need to deal with that in these Houses.”
“Anybody watching the debate here in the Dáil today must be scratching their head when they hear the Taoiseach talk about wind and solar. Does the Taoiseach know that there are turbines turned off in wind farms across this country because the electricity grid is not there? Does he know that offshore renewable energy policy is just not there? There is no strategy there. It is not happening. That is the reality. People need help now. We need an emergency budget now. The Government cannot expect the Opposition to agree to a schedule when it just brushes aside our calls for an emergency budget with an intervention.”
“I welcome the Minister’s firm commitment today. It is good news for the City of Derry Airport. I also commend Derry City and Strabane District Council and Donegal County Council. They created the vision of the north-west city region. They speak with one voice. This is good news for Donegal, Derry, Tyrone and the wider north-west region. I will leave it at that. I appreciate the firm commitment.”
“As the Minister knows, it connects into Heathrow Airport and various airports in England, Scotland and other countries. This is part of this package to continue to build confidence in the north west and show that we are rebalancing with the rest of island.”
“I thank the Minister for his response. Obviously, I will have many back-and-forth battles with the Government but this is welcome news for the north west. It is a tribute to both Letterkenny Chamber and Derry Chamber. They work together for the region. A total of 40% of the passengers who use the City of Derry Airport come from Donegal. For people elsewhere in Ireland, sometimes that geography can be lost. Essentially, Derry serves the entire region, including north Donegal. It is a crucial link. We have been devastated with the delays and legal challenges to the A5, so this is one project that gives people hope. I ask the Minister to ensure the October timeline does not slip. I am advised it is critical for the overall package of the airport.”
“We have been without this crucial Derry-Dublin airlink for 16 years. It was removed by the Government at the time. If we look at the map of Ireland, we see there is no motorway or train link directly to Derry, Donegal and the north west. The restoration of this airlink is key. I welcome that it has been agreed to by the Government but we need clear timelines.”
“There is no scheme for social housing or for those who are older and cannot move on. This is terribly wrong, and the Minister is now spreading the inequality and injustice to people on the east coast. It is just getting worse.”
“Those of us in the west of Ireland have endured the inequality and injustice of seeing, rightly, 100% redress for 3,000 families in Dublin and north Leinster under the pyrite scheme, but nothing like 100% redress in the west of Ireland. We will now have people on the east coast who are also victims of injustice. We will have people who are victims of injustice and who live miles apart being treated unfairly and unequally. That is utterly wrong. I appeal to the Minister to listen to us. We told him that if he had a scheme like this, builders would bog their arms in and prices would become crazy and unsustainable. What we have now is a cohort of people in their 40s and 50s who might be able to access loans and project manage the work, but most people cannot make the scheme work for them.”
“The 35th anniversary of the murder of County Donegal councillor Eddie Fullerton on 25 May 1991 is just weeks away. For all these years, Eddie's family have campaigned for truth and justice. They have been badly failed by An Garda Síochána and the State. An Garda Síochána has been aware of the names of all those who murdered Eddie since late 1993. It had most of the killers names in late 1991. One of those killers went on to oversee 17 murders, including the massacres at Castlerock and Greysteel in 1993. He was a sectarian serial killer and a British military agent, and he has been shielded from justice for all of these years. The family of Eddie Fullerton have requested to meet with the Taoiseach, as they did with one of his predecessors, Bertie Ahern, in 2007. Will the Taoiseach listen to their compelling story and act on their demands?”