Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Dublin Mid-West · Independent · Ireland
“As I have mentioned in the House before, if a border poll passes by 52% to 48%, the legal threshold of the Good Friday Agreement is met but the social consensus is not and moving 800,000 citizens into a new state against their explicit, democratic will does risk causing civil unrest.”
“We also have other gaps that are much smaller, like a ten-year phased transition, reducing the net annual cost to between €2.5 billion and €3 billion. We then had the middle figure of about €11 billion. We actually do not know how much it is going to cost but we do know it is going to cost something.”
“For example, adopting a single currency, getting rid of the exchange rate volatility and the transaction costs for cross-Border businesses are all advantages.”
“I would be loath to call a border poll right now because of the risks associated with that, but if a border poll did occur, the State would have to be prepared for the huge structural disruptions that would follow, so we have to start working now - that is why this debate is welcome - without arrogantly presuming it is going to become a r…”
“I have been listening to this debate in my office since Deputy Currie started her contribution. I always follow these debates on Irish unity with interest as someone who wants to see a united Ireland by consent.”
“Some have been mentioned in this House, such as a devolved regional assembly in Stormont to preserve local governance for the unionist community, a shared bill of rights protecting the dual Irish-British citizenship, and re-evaluating our relationship with the Commonwealth.”
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“There were 15,813 referrals of 12- to 17-year-olds to the Garda youth diversion programme in 2023. They are the ones who end up getting into the system but I am more concerned about the ones, the hangers-on of the ring leaders, who should not get into the system in the first place. Are there any further plans for consequences? I raised the issue some months ago with the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, of the need to put in place some sort of ban or restriction on social media for 11- to 13-year-olds because of the Andrew Tate-ificiation of young males in particular, who have no real role models in a more feminised primary school system. I have mentioned nitrous oxide canisters previously and the Taoiseach said he would look into action on that. What plans does the Government have to have consequences for actions?”
“Many times it is young people who are randomly attacked. I want to talk about consequences. There were 15,813 referrals of 12- to 17-year-olds to the Garda youth diversion programme in 2023 and 15,790 in 2022, representing 10,000 and 8,400 offenders, respectively. They are the ones who reach the threshold to get an antisocial behaviour warning or an antisocial behaviour order, ASBO, and to be put onto a Garda programme.”
“Equally, I know of parents walking around in a park with a buggy when a gang of four youths came over, threw bricks and sticks at them and verbally abused them. If they happen to be from another country originally, racist tropes are thrown in as well, but it is abuse given to anyone. A gang of lads went into one of my local cafés, stole bottles, walked out brazenly and then came back in and threw the contents of the bottles at staff. This is happening every day. I am not talking about the stuff that requires four mountain bike gardaí from Operation Irene in an estate in my constituency, where fires are lit regularly, drug dealing takes place every day and somebody got attacked with a machete recently. That is high-level stuff that needs to be dealt with, true enough, but the lower level stuff is what puts people in peril walking around.”
“I want to talk about something that is ongoing. It is not specific to today but it has been happening every single day and every single year since this State began, and anecdotally, it appears to be getting worse. I am talking about antisocial behaviour and, in particular, antisocial behaviour by those aged under 18. Young people are invariably good. We had a discussion a while back about the fact that only 2% of young people ever come before An Garda Síochána. However, a lot of our young people are now under threat from random violent assaults by gangs of 12- and 13-year-olds going around. I had parents come to me after a lad got a punch and his eye socket was damaged. It was just a random attack.”
“If the European Union says it is not legitimate or does not wash, that is up to the European Union, but let us do as much as we can as a country.”
“We keep trying to dilute and water down the occupied territories Bill. Hopefully, it is coming in the autumn, but we seem to be dragging it out, saying it is not technically possible or that this or that is not legal. The same thing applies to this legislation. We had a debate on it last week, when I spoke for 11 minutes. The Minister is saying it is not possible to do what we should be doing in respect of the Central Bank because of EU legislation. Why do we not - I ask this question again - bring it as far as we legally can and leave it up to the EU to then follow suit? We should be doing everything in our power to send out the message about the genocide taking place in Gaza and the atrocities in the West Bank. Let us bring it to the nth degree, as far as we can, without any excuses. I cannot see a reason for excuses here.”
“I wish to focus on one aspect of this motion I support, namely, the reference “to honour Ireland's obligations under the Genocide Convention and to fulfill the duty of the State to use all means likely to have a deterrent effect on those suspected of preparing genocide or reasonably suspected of harbouring specific intent, and work to prevent the genocide.” We have had a two-faced approach. I will acknowledge, as I said to the Tánaiste before in discussions, that Ireland has played a role in holding Israel to account. We supported the South African case in the ICJ, for example, and the Israeli state withdrew its ambassador, accusing Ireland of being an antisemitic country, all because we signalled our intent. However, when it comes to the crunch, what have we done? We have not facilitated the arms embargo Bill.”
“We also need incentives to make sure that the Irish people leaving because they cannot afford a house, such as nurses and teachers, stay in Ireland. They need those incentives and they need incentives to come back. Ultimately, as everyone has said, it is down to supply. I still do not see why, if not in employee terms but in building, the State should not be the biggest constructor of housing. We did it in the 1950s when we were poor. We need a strategic plan to provide the infrastructure and build the houses. We have not seen that from the Government yet.”
“The only way a block of houses should be bought is if it is a part of a strategic plan and those houses are, for example, beside a hospital where we would want to rent houses to doctors and nurses who are starting off in their careers. Another example is that of an area where there is a shortage of teachers, where there could be affordable rents while people start their careers. The census figures, more of which will come out in September, indicate that the reason people left this country before the economic crash versus the reason they leave now has changed. Irish people are still leaving even when the economy is good, but we have seen mass immigration. That is putting pressure on housing. We need to be more strategic in what sort of work permits we provide.”
“Many people may have inherited a house or bought one property, maximum two, as an investment. I note there is a distinction in the Government's proposal between people with up to three houses and those with four or more. We can keep rents at a frozen level and provide tax incentives to smaller landlords to ensure they stay in the market. They are the ones who keep the tenants in the properties. They are the ones who offer lower rents as long as they get guarantees that the house is being looked after. Commercial investors have hiked rents massively. As Deputy Tóibín and others have said, we need a plan to ensure that people cannot come in and buy large blocks of houses.”
“It is now six months since the Government was established and we have seen very little. We now have a moderate and small-scale proposal on the hikes on the price of rent. The Minister said it is an effort to get a balance between keeping rents down and getting investors in. Different lobbies have different statistics to throw out but in places such as San Francisco, for example, rents have risen where rent freezes have been abolished. Even if we get in the supply, it will take longer so many people will be put under pressure with their rents rising when they do not have the market opportunities to look for another rental property because the competition has not been created. It is a seller's market and not a renter's market, as we know. The incentives for small-scale landlords are not sufficient.”
“I do not have the time to go through it, but maybe a communication should be issued to explicitly state that postal orders should always be accepted as legal tender in these cases.”
“What I am more interested in is the Minister raising it with the agencies. For example, South Dublin County Council has cash offices in Tallaght and Clondalkin, but many people who rely solely on public transport find it very hard to get to those places. I wish to give a specific example regarding resident parking permits for an area that have to be paid through South Dublin Parking Services. When a resident tried to make an arrangement to do this by phone, they were told, "Sorry, cheques only, we are not accepting postal orders". I acknowledge that this was a contractor acting on behalf of a local government agency, but there seems to be a miscommunication at that point because I have heard other stories about other agencies.”
“We know that the use of cheques in this country has declined dramatically, especially since Covid. The current rate of use is now half what it was in 2023, and has probably declined more. I do not have the up-to-date figures. Many people do not have chequebooks anymore or if they do, they are stashed away in a box somewhere and are not used that much. Equally, there are many older people who do not have bank cards because they do have bank accounts. In this context, what are the Minister's views on postal orders as a means of making payments to State agencies and local authorities, especially among those with limited IT skills and no chequebooks? Do these entities have the right to refuse postal orders? If they do, can this be amended through the Minister's offices?”
“I ask that a review be expedited and that the thresholds for these homes be increased. An advertisement in the adjacent development at Lockhouse Way in Seven Mills is showing three- and four-bedroom homes eligible for first home scheme first-time buyers. When people then look, however, they discover that these homes are not actually available. Someone needs to go over this with a fine-tooth comb in order to see if it can be adjusted.”
“Couples in the first home scheme and other schemes are being priced out of the market in south Dublin and elsewhere. People who are working hard do not qualify for social housing but cannot qualify to make commercial bids and join the overnight queues for a small number of available properties. I understand the current pricing in south Dublin is €475,000 for houses and €500,000 for apartments. However, we have seen situations such as that relating to the Keepers Lock development where initial prices were €435,000 for phase 1 and €475,000 for phase 2. These have now risen again. People who applied in good faith for houses within the thresholds are now being told they do not meet the criteria. The market is moving so swiftly that a review in June and an amended scheme in July will be too late for many couples.”
“I have not seen too many situations where companies have been refused point-blank on the basis that they have not sufficiently reformed or that the new group of directors is not evidence of sufficient change. Local authorities have too much discretion. First, they need to be given less discretion. At national level we need to tighten up the rules so we do not have as many outs or little clauses that they can get out of because the general population have seen the costs and time span increase and they are not happy with that. We need to get a little tougher.”
“It was approved by councillors in 2018 and got delayed a little bit through Covid, but the council took its eye off the ball and it got to the stage whereby if it tried to end the contract, as there was a clause allowing for that, it would probably take longer to retender and it would cost more. The project has already gone up by between €4 million and €5 million from the original estimate. The Minister of State referred to discretion. Companies have a lot of outs, for example, where, as she mentioned, they can provide evidence of reform such as the payment of compensation, co-operation with investigating authorities and changes in organisation or personnel.”
“I also wish to raise the paltry bonds payable by developers for estates to ensure they are finished so that they can be taken in charge. It is such a small amount that in some areas of my constituency, 15 years later some estates have still not been taken in charge. Similarly, the bonds payable by companies for large-scale contracts are often not worth the paper they are written on. There is no incentive at all. In my county of South Dublin, several tenders have collapsed because the local authority had discretion but it possibly did not go as heavy as it could with the rules that were in place. I also contend that there are a lot of loopholes in the rules. I was inspired to raise this issue tonight because of the Lucan swimming pool project.”
“For too long, we have been looking at either the lowest price or the quickest job without looking at the overall economic benefit, because this comes into play, and I will talk about his after I hear the Minister of State's reply, years later when we work out if a particular tender was a good one and whether it provided a good service to the State in terms of the money we put in.”
“I know some work has been done in the area from a legislative point of view, including from Senator Alice-Mary Higgins and a number of colleagues, which was the Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021. I note the Bill is only up for Second Stage in the Dáil in 2025, so it has been a long time coming. One of the Minister of State's predecessors had issues with putting conditions on projects where more than 50% would be criteria other than price.”
“In that context, I note the Construction Industry Federation has been charged with moving the procurement thing along. Last November, it produced its strategy document for the improved delivery of public infrastructure, Fair and Balanced Reform of Public Procurement in Ireland. Even though it is an organisation that is getting involved in doing something that benefits its constituent members, there is a lot of very good recommendations within its document. There is nothing that puts it more in focus and says what the ordinary person might think than, if there is someone not doing something well, there need to be consequences.”
“When we are looking at the Government's national procurement strategy, and I acknowledge the European Union legislation on tenders comes in to play here as well, and we have an input into that, we need to get a lot tighter on ensuring the dodgy companies do not get the tenders in the first place. If we take the likes of BAM, for example, it was in the news in the UK and Ireland before for failures with the concrete used in school buildings, but I never saw a penalty clause enacted so that companies like this would find it more difficult or would be barred for a period from putting their names forward for contracts. Surely if a company has tarnished its reputation, it should be put on the sideline and given a yellow card or a red card.”
“We have a lot of small businesses, start-ups and public buyers from all sectors, and anything that makes the process easier is a good idea. A lot of the talk about procurement, and when I talk about public procurement, I am obviously talking about the State but equally about local authorities, and a lot of the stuff that is always in the news is the likes of the children's hospital, which has consistently gone over budget, has been delayed time and again and goes on and on. However, multiply that one hundredfold in terms of all the little, or not so little, projects around the country that have either run up huge costs, not been delivered properly, or not been delivered on time.”
“The Minister of State's colleague and my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Emer Higgins, said a while back that efficient use of public resources contributes to better delivery of services for our citizens. Obviously, the Minister of State present cannot disagree with that. It makes a lot of sense. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, mentioned she had launched a public consultation in March to ensure all those with an interest in the future direction of public procurement have an opportunity to inform the strategy. The consultation included an online survey and there was a lot of talk about three regional roadshows. I am not here to just criticise the Government, throw stones and make points. I am looking for some constructive engagement.”
“We are talking about the action of the Central Bank of Ireland on behalf of the European Union. We have a little bit of clout. Let us see how far we can push it. This is why I commend this Bill. I am not a legal expert in terms of whether it is fully enforceable, but I commend it. Let us see where it goes. Is there any reason the Minister cannot do that? Go raibh maith agat.”
“For all his righteous condemnation of Israeli atrocities over the years, the one thing President Higgins upholds more than anything else is our Constitution and the rule of law. I have absolutely no doubt that the President and his advisers, if asked, would make the right decision and the right call on this matter. We should not end this legislation prematurely. We should let it go through. Let us have the debate, amend the Bill as best the Government can see fit and then have it ready to be enacted if necessary and possible. To do otherwise does, unfortunately, lend credence to the view that for all its praise in terms of the Court of Justice and the fact that the Israeli Government continues to criticise our Government - I see the Ambassador has left here - we are still giving the impression we are a little bit of a paper tiger.”
“We are not anti-Israel, but we are anti-Israeli policy and anti-Israeli massacring of innocent civilians. In this context, why can the Minister not facilitate this Bill moving to Committee Stage? Why can it not be moved even further onwards and passed, with a provision inserted that everything would be subject to the European Union making that decision? This would send out a strong and powerful message that we are good to go when it is legally and technically possible to enact the legislation. If the Government truly believes the Bill cannot be enacted, at least bring it to that point. It must be remembered that we also have a President who can agree or disagree with the advice of the Attorney General and the Council of State and decide whether legislation passed is legitimate.”
“We have to do everything in our power as a State because this is a moral obligation. Going back to what the Minister said about the Bill, the Central Bank of Ireland was recently quoted as saying it approving a bond prospectus does not endorse the issuer or the securities, that it is just a little technicality. I forget which speaker - it might have been Deputy Nash, but I am not 100% certain - mentioned Israel designating us as a home country. Perhaps this is because we are English-speaking - chomh maith lenár dteanga dhúchais eile, an Ghaeilge - or maybe it is because Israel wanted to see us squirm as a designated country given that we had called them out before. Either way, we have gone from being seen as a home financial base of choice for the sale of bonds to one of the biggest anti-Israeli countries in Europe.”
“I am talking about all this because this war, this conflict, which has now morphed into this genocide on the Israeli side, is never-ending. It will only stop when the fundamentalists on both sides realise that it is a zero-sum game and that all they are going to do is to keep killing, whatever about claims from anyone that their argument may be purer than somebody else's. It is a fact, as I said before, that more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed throughout the lifetime of this conflict, which has now almost lasted a century. Any life, though, is a precious one. This is why I will always condemn the attacks of 7 October, I will always say I love the Israeli people and I recognise the right of the Israeli State to exist. Jesus, though, as well as loving the Palestinians, we have to feel for them.”
“They said that was a legitimate cause. The loyalist side had other legitimate causes, such as an attempt on the life of a garda, for example. This was all done in the belief that their supreme cause was worth taking innocent lives. That type of fundamentalism did eventually evolve into the Irish peace process, and credit is due to all those involved, including Sinn Féin, whose members proposed this Bill. The peace process in Ireland highlighted that there were differing views, some of which may never be totally reconciled. The people involved, though, did come to an accommodation. It was similar with the South African peace and reconciliation process, where different sides had to come to an accommodation. As referred to, it was also similar in Rwanda.”
“I and others have no truck with regimes like Hamas. Equally, though, there are fundamentalist settlers in the West Bank. The Israeli State has facilitated them in planting themselves in different parts of the West Bank in such a way that makes the Palestinian State, consisting of the West Bank joined with Gaza, in a two-state solution more and more unviable. It is doing that because of its fundamentalist religious beliefs. It is religious fundamentalists who hold the strings of the Israeli Government. Equally, we have our own fundamentalists. I remember back in the times of the Troubles in the North where we had republicans and loyalists using proxy bombs. They would get individuals by threatening their families with death and strap them to a van with explosives in it, usually to try to blow up British soldiers.”
“The Israeli Government - or regime, call it what you will, because it is democratically elected but is certainly not living up to the aspirations of any rational democracy - jumps on this. It paints the Irish as the biggest Jew haters in Europe if not the world. The facts, however, are that since the establishment of the Israel State, the Irish people have been among some of the greatest supporters of Israel until it turned into a pariah state. I point out that there is a need for balance and I always feel obliged to put it on the record when I am talking that we must look at different angles from different sides. Yes, therefore, Hamas is a fundamentalist terrorist organisation that has killed people for being LGTB, for example, and wants to see the Israeli people and the entire Israeli State destroyed.”
“In my previous speech I mentioned that up to 14,000 babies were at risk of being killed, many of them within the next 48 hours. I had read the conflicting reports regarding the figures. Tom Fletcher, though, did get a lot of criticism because he said they were all going to die imminently. The Israelis jumped on this and said it was fake news and a lie. It was not a lie but the correction of information that said there would be about 70,000 cases of acute malnutrition of children aged six months to 59 months between April 2025 and March 2026, including 14,100 severe cases, and a severe case is at risk of dying at any stage. Although Mr. Fletcher was not absolutely accurate in terms of the 48 hours, the lives of those 14,000 babies are still at risk, as one of my colleagues mentioned in this Chamber earlier.”
“A couple of Irish diplomats were nearly killed recently. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights said 80% of Palestinians killed were civilians and added that 70% of the Palestinians killed in residential buildings or similar types of housing were woman and children. They were not combatants or proxy fighters who volunteered for the cause to stand alongside Hamas militants just so the Israelis could bomb them; they were innocent civilians. As I have said before, we have long since passed the threshold of genocide. I described it in my last contribution, and I am standing by my words, as another holocaust because it is, as I said, a sanitised, mass extermination over a period. Sometimes, the information can be slightly wrong.”
“I fundamentally disagree, however, with the Government not supporting the Bill being brought to Committee Stage and further Stages, where it could be amended to be workable within the existing parameters of European Union law or ready to be enacted at such a point when the European Union does so decide. At least we would have an Act ready to go. The figures keep adding up. As of today, 56,000 people have been killed, comprising more than 54,000 Palestinians and 1,706 Israelis, many of them civilians, since this phase of this never-ending conflict commenced on October 7 2023. In terms of civilian deaths, the estimates from independent sources such as journalists, academics and various sources are that 80% of those killed on the Palestinian side were civilians. Then there are the employees of UNRWA and other humanitarian aid workers.”
“We talk about Gaza every week in this Chamber. It is right and proper that we do. One can get emotional about it because every time a child dies it is a harrowing experience, but one has to look at it in a more balanced way in terms of trying to get something done. That is what this Bill is attempting to do; it is trying to put pressure on the Irish Government to make the Central Bank of Ireland do something that the State and our European partners do not want us to do. I will get to this in a while, but sometimes, even if something is, in the Government's own view, not technically possible, that does not mean that it should not be tried to the point where it is proven to be technically impossible. I take on board some of what the Minister said earlier in terms of the barriers that may exist to this Bill being passed.”
“I hope that, in Shane's memory and for others, we will try to ensure that this type of scenario cannot happen again. I also support an inquiry for the O'Farrell family. It is long overdue. This is the start. I hope the Minister will say in his final statement that this is the start of the process and an inquiry will be held.”
“I welcome what the Minister said regarding section 53(4) of the Road Traffic Act and the 2014 legislation that was introduced, but the key factor is that there are no consequences for people who already have criminal records to stop them from reoffending, for example, the threat of further sentencing or, more importantly, other measures. We have a very small amount of time and I hope will go into the minutiae of this at a later stage. Why should someone who has so many convictions, including for road traffic offences, be allowed to drive? Why do not we have more cases where people have curfews to prevent them from going out? Why do we not use, as Deputy Tóibín said, the measures in place to expel people with multiple criminal convictions from the country? We have enough of our own who do not face consequences.”
“On this occasion, I would like to offer my personal condolences to the family and welcome the apology given on the record to the late Shane O'Farrell. I used to say that the period between my previous tenure as a TD in 2011 and being re-elected last November was a very long time. Compared to what Shane's family has had to go through even to get this acknowledgement, I feel for the family on a personal level. As a family, they possibly have not got closure. They certainly have not got justice from the apology, but I hope this is the start of the process rather than the end of it. We have had the two GSOC reports and the farcical excuse of an inquiry into whether to hold an inquiry.”
“Many people who have given properties under this scheme do not want to become accidental or HAP landlords and be tied in. That is the reality. Therefore, let us keep the ARP scheme going for as long as it takes.”
“While many Ukrainians have expressed a desire to go back to Ukraine when the war is over to help to rebuild their country, some will stay in Ireland and the onus is on us to make sure they are well trained, well integrated and net contributors to Irish society. We have done a lot for the Ukrainians and they have expressed gratitude, but that does not mean that because there is pressure from extremist groups, which paint anyone with a different accent or skin colour as part of some great replacement, the Ukrainians should be targeted by a Government trying to appear to get tough. There are areas to get tough on. Do not pick on the Ukrainians or those who are genuinely fleeing persecution. The ARP reduction will not encourage anyone to rent out commercially. It is a different scheme.”
“Ukrainians, Syrians, Afghanis and Sudanese, people who are actually fleeing persecution, need to be treated differently. When people are granted full refugee status, they go on the list like everyone else, which is fair enough. For Ukrainians, however, it is not like that. They might end up going back to Ukraine, but they have built a life here, sent their children to school. In many instances, people have got in touch with me because they have had to move to another area and the child was taken out of school. It is hugely disheartening. Friendships and any stability they have are broken up.”
“People raise issues about the pressure on housing. The Government's failure to build houses has added to that. It is also the case, as I referenced in the Dáil, that while people welcome those who are genuinely fleeing persecution, be they from Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan or other countries, they do not like people abusing the asylum system who claim asylum but are found not to have leave to remain. Many people in that category are still in the country and putting pressure on our housing and accommodation services. In that context, there is a balance to be struck. As I said in my midnight plane to Georgia speech, many of the economic migrants abusing the asylum process are very nice people, but we do not have the capacity. A Ukrainian fleeing a war cannot be equated with an economic migrant. It is a different thing.”
“I take a slightly different approach from that of Deputy Tóibín. We have to remember what the ARP is for. It is part of our contribution to help war-torn Ukraine which has been aggressively attacked by Putin's regime. As we are not a military country - we are militarily neutral and not participating in any transfer of weaponry - we have made a contribution as part of the effort to help Ukraine. That includes taking in displaced people from Ukraine and giving them the comfort and safety of living in a democratic area while the war effort continues at home where people cannot live in many cities. There have been a lot of tropes about apartments for rent here, there and everywhere. Ukraine is not able to function and we should continue to help Ukrainians as long as this is part of an overall EU arrangement.”
“Its impact on climate change affects biodiversity. Building on flood plains has a knock-on effect. Air and water pollution from these sources destroys our ecosystem and needs to be tackled. We have this big, national biodiversity action plan that does not look like it is going to meet its targets. I have read through it. It has a puffin on the front cover. BirdWatch Ireland reported a 28% decline in Ireland's puffin population since the turn of this century alone, making it a red listed bird of conservation concern. We need to take biodiversity seriously, but we do not. We pay lip service. We pat ourselves on the back for the many laudable micro-projects, which I praise. I am not saying nothing has been done but not enough has been done because in terms of the big picture, we consistently fail to take action.”
“We need to provide them with real incomes and real potential from enhancing our environment, planting renewable Irish forests and engaging in diversification as custodians of our environment. They have been doing a great job over many centuries but we have an issue with water leaching. They are not going to change the habits of generations without support and encouragement. Rural communities could thrive once again and our rivers and lakes could be clean, but the Government needs to make it happen rather than stand in the way. As well as spreading nitrates, we have overgrazing, undergrazing, unsustainable peat extraction, although I love the smell of a turf fire as much as anyone else, the introduction of invasive species and overfishing. Let us be balanced, though. Residential and industrial development also plays its part.”
“We should be promoting organic food as the norm, including subsidising it where it does not meet affordability thresholds, and encouraging a major reduction in meat and dairy consumption. Why are we not setting an example? As an aside, it is a pity that there is not more vegan and vegetarian food in the Dáil restaurant for all the staff. I must say they do a lovely vegan breakfast, albeit a fry-up. Maybe the Minister of State should try it sometime and promote meat reduction for climate and biodiversity enhancement, as opposed to pandering to lobby groups that do not have a leg to stand on, let alone four legs. We need to give much more support to our small farmers especially, and to farming communities, in diversifying.”
“In Ireland, agricultural practices negatively impact over 70% of our habitats. We can talk all we want about our commitment to biodiversity and point to the nitrates action programme and good agricultural practices regulations that aim to limit fertiliser application, but the fact is that we still seek derogations on the nitrates directive. Make me ecologically chaste, O Lord, but not yet. Yes, biodiversity would be a good idea. We are a bunch of hypocrites, basically because we want to flog more beef and dairy abroad at a time when we should be encouraging the reduction of animal agriculture to reduce greenhouse emissions. That is before we even touch animal welfare issues. We will not be anywhere near meeting the EU organic food targets, even those these sectors pay a premium.”
“This has resulted in harmful algal blooms, fish kills and a general degradation of the lake's ecosystem. The lake is a special protection area and a special area of conservation. It is struggling to recover from the negative impact of ongoing nutrient overenrichment. This is just one example on the island of Ireland. We have the dead lake, Lough Neagh, in the North. Dying and endangered lakes in the South include Lough Corrib, Lough Mask, Lough Carra, Lough Sheelin, Lough Derravaragh, Lough Ennell, Lough Cullaun, Lough Arrow, Ballycuirke Lough, Ballyeighter Lough, Lough Bane and Bleach Lough, as referenced by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. What all these lakes have in common is agricultural run-off - basically, animal excrement - spread excessively over land that is leaching into our waterways and causing havoc.”