Peadar Tóibín
Meath West · Aontú · Ireland
“Lonely Planet. It did a review of Dublin and stated, "Once Dublin’s grand boulevard, O'Connell St has struggled with decline". It stated that vacant buildings, derelict upper floors and long-stalled redevelopments leave this part looking neglected while retail has shifted elsewhere and been replaced by fast food shops that dilute its char…”
“The Irish people are a generous and decent people and have been over the past number of years, with the provision of supports to people from Ukraine who are fleeing the war. This is right and just. The war unleashed on Ukraine is absolutely wrong. Aontú will support the reduction in the rate of payment under the scheme.”
“I am very disappointed to see that the Government, the Social Democrats, the Labour Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit will vote against an amendment that wants to means test the payment, as an amendment also did on the previous occasion, and put it on a level footing with other housing assistance payments.”
“Landlords are rational and they will make economic decisions to best suit themselves. Landlords have been more inclined to take on Ukrainian tenants over Irish tenants in recent years. This system is discriminatory. It gives an advantage to guests in the country over the people who have lived here for most of their lives.”
“Anyone who sat the leaving certificate economics paper just a few weeks ago will know that demand also has a role. It determines what rents are, the price of houses, etc. It is physics and maths and not ideology. We need to get to a situation where we equalise supply with demand.”
“A global study by TomTom indicated that it is the 38th most congested city globally, behind cities such as London, Toronto and Rome. The task force indicated that the Cork Luas system would be built. That Luas system is in planning and that planning is taking a long while.”
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“-----it is the Government's plan to raise petrol by 27 cent per litre and diesel by 32 cent per litre. That is an incredible thing. Is this not the ultimate two fingers to the people of this county who are in trouble in terms of the cost of living? Will the Taoiseach commit today not to increase fuel taxes on 31 July and to give the people of Ireland some respite?”
“It is spreading across all sectors - retail, services, industry, construction. All this has pushed mortgage rates up in recent weeks. Despite all this, despite the crisis families are in, at midnight on 31 July, away from the political spotlight, when Dáil Members are sunning themselves on holiday-----”
“It is the main driver of the increase in the price of diesel. It is a blind tax. It takes no consideration of people's ability to pay. In actual fact, it hurts those on low incomes the most. This is the most detached Government in generations. It simply does not get it. It does not understand what is happening in people's kitchens - the pressures, the stress, the anger. People are a toothache or a timing belt away from debt. They are living from overdraft to overdraft. People are working all the hours they can get, yet they are struggling to keep the lights on and pay for fuel to commute to work. We had a warning from the Central Bank last night that inflation is about to get worse. Gabriel Makhlouf said global supply chain pressures intensified in March and April and will put upward pressure on goods prices.”
“In the jaws of a cost-of-living crisis, it made more in fuel taxes than ever before. Its plan is to increase carbon tax. Carbon taxes were €1.2 billion last year - 80% higher than they were five years ago. They will increase in October this year and every year to 2030. The cost of diesel is 40% more than last year and carbon tax is the main driver of that.”
“We are living in a rip-off Republic at the moment and the Government is the architect of it. Families are being hammered on a daily basis by ever-burgeoning prices on a range of necessities of life. The price of electricity has risen by 57% in just five years. Ireland has the highest household cost of electricity in the whole of the European Union. The ESB, a semi-State operating on the basis of Government policy, made €636 million in profit last year. It is an incredible fact that a semi-State operating under Government policy is making supernormal profits at a time when 500,000 people are in energy arrears. That works out at €300 profit for every household in the county. Last year, according to replies we received to parliamentary questions, the Government made €4.3 billion in fuel taxes.”
“We also have to look to the clear commitment that was made right across this Chamber in relation to that legislation and ask ourselves is this what we are saying to the people of Ireland - "Vote for this and in a few years, we will radically change it." I would implore any of the TDs opposite, who have a free vote and who can exercise their judgment on this issue, to make sure that one of the last protections that exists in this State in terms of the most vulnerable is protected.”
“It is really important that we have a time for reflection ourselves in Leinster House. We have to remember, first of all, what we need to do in relation to giving mothers across this country the economic confidence to be able to raise their families. We have to look at the evidence of this committee, a committee that completely ignored the 10,000 women who did not attend the second abortion meeting and the thousands of children who are alive today as a result of it.”
“There are TDs in Sinn Féin today who are against this and they will have to vote against their conscience, their better judgment and the evidence if they want to remain in that party. I believe that is wrong. Those individuals should have the opportunity to vote in the direction they want to. The right to life is a human right. It is the most important human right we have. No other right - the right to free speech, the right to assemble - can be guaranteed without the right to life. If you take the right to life off any human being, that is a major challenge to all the rest of their human rights. The definition of a human right is that it is universal. It applies to all humans and if an unborn child is not a human being, what species is the unborn child?”
“I am not particularly surprised we have a flip-flop from Simon Harris, or even Micheál Martin, on this - two TDs on the record as stating in this Chamber they fully recognise an unborn child is a living human being. When the media and political winds changed, they voted for abortion. A simple case of "These are my principles and if you don't like them, I have others". Many people, including a large number who voted for repeal, are disgusted at being duped by the political establishment in relation to this. It will be interesting to see how the vote is carried out. Tomorrow there will be a free vote in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and maybe some of the other parties. Sinn Féin will not have a free vote on this - probably the only mainstream political party in western Europe and north America to enforce a whip on this issue.”
“Simon Harris also said three days must elapse between certification and the procedure being carried out, that this provision was not unusual and that several countries in Europe, including Belgium and Germany, had similar provisions. That is the leader of the Minister of State's political party. The Taoiseach, from Fianna Fáil, said clear commitments were given during that campaign for a framework for the facilitation of this. As we went door to door, we spoke of the framework for the referendum and the three-day wait period. When you have a referendum, it is necessary to fulfil those commitments. The two leaders of the Government are supporting this.”
“He stated: "In this case, a three-day pause would be in place for women to access all information and counselling and make a considered decision.” That is what the leader of the Minister of State's party said. Simon Harris could see in 2018 there was a need for a woman to access information and counselling ahead of a life-changing decision, one we all recognise has a heavy physical and mental weight. The Tánaiste knew this pause was required to make a considered decision that was irreversible. Why is the Tánaiste now removing that considered decision? What happens when any of us is rushed, during a crisis situation, into an ill-considered and irreversible decision?”
“Listening to local and national news stations, I can tell many people are disappointed with Sinn Féin using its chance to speak today not to tackle the cost-of-living crisis or the cost-of-childcare crisis but to push for more abortions. There is no desire for this change; it is not being raised at the doors. There are no petitions, protests or email campaigns. In fact, it is the opposite - many people are shocked and angry. It is no wonder they are shocked and angry because they were lied to right through the political debate. Simon Harris said in an interview in The Times in 2018 that the proposed legislation would allow women to access care on consultation with their doctor for up to 12 weeks only.”
“I am sure the other Deputies got it too. It is one of many I have received on this issue. It concerned an individual who accompanied her friend to an abortion appointment in 2022. Her friend, who had just found out she was pregnant, was adamant she wanted an abortion and very likely would have taken an abortion pill then and there if it was offered to her. By the time the three-day wait had elapsed, she had changed her mind, having received support from her friends and got over the initial shock of being pregnant. Today, according to that email, the woman often remarks that she cannot imagine her life without her son. The person sending the email questioned why Sinn Féin was pushing for the three-day wait to be abolished and why it was doing it without consulting the people it had affected.”
“She admitted on the record of the committee she did not speak to one woman who availed of a three-day wait - an incredible admission. The Government report recommended a change in the law to get rid of the last remaining protection and nobody who authored that report sought to speak to one mother who availed of that reflection period. No author of the report took the time to speak to one of the thousands of children alive today and ask their view of the reflection period. There are thousands of children alive, some sitting around family tables, some playing in their gardens or simply laughing to cartoons on television, as a result of this law, yet it is Sinn Féin's objective to get rid of it. It is an incredible situation. Have members of the Sinn Féin front bench spoken to any of these mothers or children? I received an email today.”
“It can lead to a lifetime of regret for mothers. For any big decision, a time of reflection is key. There are few elective procedures that can be done on the same day. You cannot have a mole removed, have cosmetic surgery or be sterilised without a period to wait and reflect. We know the three-day wait is working. How do we know this? This is key - it is because 10,000 mothers who attended their first abortion meeting simply did not attend the second. There are 10,000 children alive today as a result of the three-day wait. When the abortion review was discussed at the health committee, I asked the chair of the review a direct and important question: before recommending abolishing the three-day wait, had she spoken to one woman who went to the first abortion appointment, took three days to reflect, changed her mind and kept her baby?”
“Thousands of couples are postponing having children or not having children at all, not because they do not want a family but because the policies of the Government make it so difficult for them to have one. What is the response of the political establishment? Three separate abortion Bills this year and it is only June. Sinn Féin experienced a collapse in support in recent years. It has become confused about where it stands in the political spectrum and is flip-flopping on a number of core values. This Bill is its effort to readjust itself in the political spectrum. It is more about political competition than about making an effort to deal with the bread-and-butter challenges families face. I say that because it is not based on evidence. Abortion is a massive decision and is irreversible. A child cannot be brought back after an abortion.”
“So high is the abortion rate today that it is affecting the birth rate. It is not the only reason the birth rate is falling; the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis and the cost of childcare are all pushing down the birth rate, but you cannot have 10,852 abortions annually without impacting on the birth rate of a country. In 2009, there were 77,000 children born in Ireland; 54,000 were born in 2024. That is a startling collapse in the birth rate. The really shocking thing is that the lack of housing, the cost of living and the cost of childcare are not more to the fore in Sinn Féin's approach to this Dáil. Dozens of women gave birth last year while homeless.”
“Last year there were 10,852 abortions in Ireland. The lives of 10,852 living human beings were ended last year as a result of the legislation that was passed a number of years ago. It is the highest figure on record. It is equivalent to 400 classrooms of children who are no longer with us as a result of that abortion law. It is absolutely heartbreaking. In all the politicking we see in this Chamber today on this issue, there is absolutely no recognition of the human cost or of the human devastation of thousands of lives lost annually. In 2018 there were 2,879 abortions and since that law was deregulated the number has surged. It has tripled in just seven years and yet there is no effort by the political establishment to understand why there is such a surge. There is no effort to ameliorate this awful human cost.”
“AI is leading to the loss of potentially hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country, stealing the creativity of authors, creating a massive demand for energy, putting downward pressure on cognitive ability in education, and putting enormous power in the hands of a few wealthy oligarchs. We need far more global regulation of this enormous power.”
“Social media is robbing childhood from many young children. It is putting enormous pressure on children, isolating them and creating situations where there is 24-hour bullying. This is leading to all sorts of distortions in relation to children’s understanding of the world. One suggestion I made to the Taoiseach previously was for the Government to seek to ban the purchase of smartphones by those under 16. That would be far easier to implement. It would not completely erase the challenge of the issue, but it would significantly mitigate it. In terms of AI, we have a real problem. The Government is too uncritical of AI.”
“It has been reported that Ireland has signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, with the French Government around the purchase of military hardware and the training of Irish soldiers by the French army. I understand this may include the location of French soldiers and military hardware in Ireland. I understand it is to aid interoperability between the two armies. There are major concerns the MOU will limit future procurement competition and therefore push up prices, and there are also concerns as to whether this MOU seeks to provide French military cover to Ireland. We have already tied ourselves into British military cover in our skies and seas. Many in Europe see the west coast of Ireland as a weakness in military defence-----”
“Was any of this specific information shared with the authorities in the North of Ireland or is it the case that the Government simply does not know any of this information whatsoever? The Government’s silence is damaging the people's confidence in its ability to manage immigration on an all-Ireland basis. It is creating an information vacuum. Will the Minister tell the people the background of this individual?”
“Everybody has been shocked by the brutal attack that happened in Belfast this week and by the subsequent riots. Hadi Alodid has been charged for the alleged attack. The Chief Constable in the North of Ireland has said that this individual is a Sudanese national who came to Belfast via Dublin from Paris but no information has been given by the Government as to his movements in this jurisdiction. How long was he in this jurisdiction? I have heard it was 24 hours. Is this true? Did he apply for asylum here? Was the application refused? Did he have a visa? Did he have a passport? Was he checked for criminal records in his background? The world is asking these questions and all we have is dead air from the Government at the moment.”
“Britain has murdered and killed Irish people through bullets and famine in their hundreds of thousands and many Irish people see themselves in the eyes of the people of Palestine. Given this shared experience, the Government’s actions are even harder to understand.”
“We have had our own peace process. Our peacekeepers have put their lives on the line for peace internationally. Irish missionaries have fed the poor, and built schools and hospitals all around the world. Ireland has a history of being an honest broker in relation to peace. Norway, another small country with similar population, worked hard and created the Oslo Accords. Norway focused its reputation and experience on becoming a catalyst for peace. We in Aontú have been calling on the Government to get off its backside and do the same to try to become a catalyst for peace in this region. We are not saying it will be easy. It may well end in failure but peace is always worth trying for. Ireland has lived in the shadow of a powerful military neighbour for centuries. Our experience is very similar to the experience of the Palestinians.”
“The IDF have pulled in the US into bombing Iran which is causing the cost-of-living crisis all around the world. On the one hand, the Government is saying that the Israel is involved in genocide and on the other hand that we should play a soccer match against Israel. The Minister of State should think about the incongruence of that. The Government supports this soccer match against the perpetrators of genocide on this planet. The Government has an incredibly two-tiered approach to this - one approach for Russia and one for Israel. Why is that the case? It is simply because of the international community. The Government does not have the backbone to have a consistent approach in these two very similar situations. We believe we should be doing far more than we are doing here. Ireland has a history as a campaigner for peace and justice.”
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s IDF have been involved in some of the worst atrocities have been committed anywhere in the world in the past 50 years. A total of 75,811 people have been killed in a few short years in the conflict in Gaza - 73,770 Palestinians and 2,039 Israelis. The word disproportionate does not cut it. This has been the slaughter of the people. It has been the intentional killing of tens of thousands of innocent women and children. Horrific images of blood-soaked children have flooded onto our screens and in the past number of years. Many of these children have been atomised by bombs supplied by Western countries. The Israeli Government is also facilitating the stealing of land in the West Bank. The IDF are now involved in a killing spree in Lebanon, demolishing whole swathes of villages, towns and cities.”
“Large nation states fight wars for their national interests. Small nation states will not have influence over those decisions, but will have to send their young people to fight those wars. All we are asking the Government to do is put it to the people. This is the reason the triple lock existed in the first place.”
“What we are seeing here is choreography. It is not a conspiracy. Ursula von der Leyen did not hide the fact when she ran for the European Commission Presidency that she wanted an EU defence union. She said it very clearly. She has stated clearly that her objective in the EU parliamentary term is defence and security issues. We have had an EU Defence Commissioner since 2024 whose objective is the defence of the EU. This is not a conspiracy. These are actions that are taking place. Very soon after that discussion, Deputy Micheál Martin said he welcomed the changes to the EU treaties that would reduce the power of nation states to determine decisions on issues such as defence, the military and security. Even the decision-making within the EU is to see a far more diluted influence over nation states.”
“I do not think the Minister of State understands the whole issue of Irish neutrality. When large military blocs, such as the USA, Russia and China, are in opposition to each other, taking sides with either group is by definition military alignment. The reason the Government is going down this route is because of the changes in the European Union. Ursula von der Leyen has stated very openly that she wants to create an EU defence union. In reality, the Government is doing this undercover. I ask the Government to at least put it to a referendum. Do not be afraid of the people in terms of a referendum.”
“The triple lock was created through the democratic decision of the Irish people. The triple lock was introduced in 2001 after the defeat of the first referendum on the Nice treaty. When that referendum was defeated, the Government noted that the main concern in the referendum was the issue of Irish neutrality and its erosion. The triple lock was an essential part of the passing of the second referendum on the Nice treaty. Every home in the country received a leaflet from the Government with the triple lock written into it, saying that if they voted for the Nice treaty in the second referendum, they would get the triple lock. While it is not written in the Constitution, it is morally and politically coupled with that democratic decision. The fact that the Government is looking to decouple it from that decision is profoundly antidemocratic.”
“It is really important that he gets that right. The cost of living is bearing down hard on families at the moment. They are suffering at a rate I have never seen before. Some 320,000 families are currently in energy arrears. This is not a luxury good; it is a staple they simply cannot pay for anymore. It is in the gift of the Government to ease the pressure on them by taking the foot off the accelerator on the taxes it is putting on those families at the moment. It is important that the Government reduces the taxes on home heating oil, otherwise families are going to go cold again next winter.”
“The price of shopping has gone up 40% since 2021. A trolley that was costing €150 is now costing €225. That is €3,000 extra per family on groceries per year. Items such as chicken breasts are up from €5 to €12.98. Steak is up from €10 to €19.49. There has been a 35% increase in the price of eggs since 2021. Beef is up 32%. That is really hitting families hard and a lot of this is down to price. One of the biggest frustrating elements is that at the end of the July, it is the Government's objective to put the price of diesel up 35 cent a litre and the price of petrol up by 22 cent. That is wrong, and I call on the Minister of State at this stage to say openly and in public that he will not increase petrol and diesel prices for families at a time of sheer pressure in terms of the cost of living.”
“The electricity system is a mess. The wholesale cost of electricity only works out at about 32% of the cost. The transmission and distribution system, which the Government is in charge of, is working at 42% of the cost of the electricity. It is simply not able to do the job it is meant to do. Carbon taxes amount to €1 billion. They did not exist a couple of years ago and, right now, the Government's objective is to increase them in October and every October until 2030. There were some €4.1 billion in taxes last year. In the jaws of a cost-of-living crisis, the Government made more in fuel taxes than ever before. That is absolutely wrong. The cost of diesel has increased by 60% in the past five years and it is also driving up not just the cost of transport but every single food item on our shelves at the moment as well.”
“We are living in a rip-off republic. The Minister of State started the debate with the pretence that the Government is fighting the costs that people are experiencing at the moment. The truth is that right now, the Government is one of the main causes of expensive prices in Ireland right across the system. Let us consider the ESB, for example. Electricity prices in this country have risen by 57% in the past five years. That is startling. The ESB Group, which is a semi-State operating on the basis of Government policy, made a profit last year of €636 million, at a time people are in trouble in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. One third of a million people are in energy arrears at the moment, and a semi-State is milking the system for that amount. It works out at about €300 per family that the ESB is making in profit.”
“They will not have medical practitioner experience or they will not be therapists, yet under these proposal they are being given the central role in deciding whether a child proceeds to a full assessment. Does the Taoiseach agree with AsIAm, the Disability Federation Ireland and Inclusion Ireland which have warned that this could operate as a filtering mechanism, limiting the numbers entering the system, rather than resolving delays?”
“I want to raise the Disability (Amendment) Bill. While the Government presents this legislation as reform, the details suggest a significant shift in how children will be able to access assessments and services. The Bill gives authority to an assessment officer to formally determine whether a child has a qualifying disability before a full clinical assessment to the medical needs can begin. This represents a fundamental change. It places the decision on eligibility at the very start of the process rather than allowing clinicians to assess need and determine diagnosis based on examination. It is my understanding that the assessment officers will be administrative officials.”
“Another aspect is that, in 2009, there were 75,000 children born in this State. Last year, there were 55,000 children born. That is an incredible collapse in numbers. Young people are losing the confidence to be able to have families at the moment. Plunging birth rates are already leading to some school closures and amalgamations in some parts of the country, and if it continues, it will lead to radically increased pension rates and healthcare costs for the generation that is already struggling to pay rent at the moment. What will the Government do to give parents the confidence to be able to raise families in this country?”
“Just so the Tánaiste knows, Aontú does support the roll-out of sustainable energy across the country in partnership with local communities. There is a major demographic change happening in Ireland at the moment. We had the GAA in front of the infrastructure committee yesterday to discuss it. Unfortunately, the lopsided development of the country is continuing apace. Two thirds of the population of the country now live on a very narrow strip along the east coast of Ireland. Most university-type jobs are going into the Dublin area. Most university graduates are, therefore, forced to work in the Dublin area but, of course, cannot afford to live there, so they have to live 30 km, 40 km or 50 km away and live in a commuter hell to be able to get to work. It is emptying a lot of regional areas of their young people.”
“The Government was able to provide accommodation quickly for IPAS and should be able to do the same to get workers back from the likes of Australia and Canada to work in this country in the trades where they are badly needed. As a country, we are at a precipice of enormous, radical change, change that most of us cannot imagine or plan for. There is very little effort by the Government to seek international regulation to control that change in a manner that does not disrupt people's lives. It will disrupt people's lives and reduce significantly many people's incomes, which will have knock-on effects on mortgages and people's ability to raise their families. That controlled transition is not happening, which will create great difficulties for the training and education sector.”
“We are hopeful of a Navan to Dublin rail line, etc., being built in the next number of years. We do not currently have the workers to fill those gaps. Right now, any domestic person looking for a plumber or an electrician is having great difficulties. The project to get solar panels onto our roofs is being slowed down by difficulties in getting electricians. There is a massive pool of Irish people working abroad who were working in the State in these trades. Aontú has a policy called "Operation Shamrock", the objective of which is to provide funding for these individuals to come home, to provide funding for them to work for four years in the sectors we need them to work in and to provide accommodation quickly so they have somewhere to live.”
“It is not like people are not getting sick in these other countries. They are. This idea that states are educating people for other states and then filling their hospitals with graduates from other countries needs to be looked at. The idea that the Government is presiding over medical schools where the majority of students are from outside the European Union is wrong. I have raised this for the past few years and nothing has happened on it at all. I agree with Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin that there is currently a massive gap in the whole trades area in Irish society. It is one of the significant gaps that exists in the construction industry. The Government has indicated that there are quite a few large infrastructural projects coming down the line.”
“In 2023, the majority of doctors who graduated left the country. Right now, 51% of all students in medical schools in this State are from outside the EU. The medical schools are dependent on money to function. They are not getting enough from the State. They get far more from students from outside the EU because those students have to pay tens of thousands of euro for their degree. Therefore, currently the majority of medical students in Irish universities are from outside the EU. These individuals will naturally want to go home and work in their home countries. Again, our infrastructure is being used to educate staff for other locations. As a result, the majority of staff we are putting into our hospitals are themselves from other countries such as India, Sudan and elsewhere.”
“No individual company, or even a bloc such as the European Union, can regulate it by itself. As countries such as China and the US are going to look to further gain competitive advantages in terms of AI over the next while, there needs to be an international agreement on how we deal with AI and its development in future. That is the first issue. The other issue relates to training and education. There are 7,000 Irish nurses registered in Australia at the moment. We are educating Irish nurses to go abroad to work. That is bonkers. Spending significant sums of money to educate medical experts and healthcare workers to work in another jurisdiction is one of the stupidest things a State can do. An individual business would be out of its mind to do that, yet that is what we are doing at the moment.”
“Pinterest has laid off 14% of its workers in recent times. Google is saying that AI accounts for 51% of all code that has been written in that organisation in the last while. Block's head of engineering said 90% of the company's code submissions were authored partially or fully by AI in the last while. All of these areas are in big trouble. There are a number of things falling out of this as well. Staff are being forced to use tools that are designed to replace their jobs. On that key element of human oversight of decisions that are being made by AI, staff whistleblowers are indicating that this is not happening in many situations. Many of the entry-level roles for finance or law graduates are being replaced with AI at the moment. Like nuclear power, we really need to regulate AI in an international fashion.”
“I do not think the attitude of the Government, which says, "Ah sure it will be fine; there will be bumps along the way but we will get over it and in the end we will all work out a little bit better," is the right attitude to it. It is going to have a severe effect on the economy. It is going to affect top-paying jobs the most. According to the ESRI, 7% of all jobs in this State, in the short to medium term, are in danger as a result of AI and its development. The closest thing I can think of in recent times, in terms of jobs being lost in this revolution, is potentially the bank crash. US tech companies are investing heavily in AI. They are slashing jobs in staggering numbers. Microsoft cut 15,000 workers last year. Amazon laid off 30,000. Block estimated 4,000 jobs, or 40% of its workforce, were gone. Oracle laid off thousands of jobs.”
“I shudder for any parent who is sending a child into university at the moment and has to try to select the right jobs and the right courses for their children, given the fact that AI is coming after some of the most well-paid jobs in the country. Many of the jobs and the further education courses that were highly sought-after by children and parents are now the types of jobs that are going to be swallowed up by AI. I have listened to other TDs talk about this. There has not been an equivalent to the revolution we are seeing at the moment. The Industrial Revolution is probably going to be the closest equivalent to it. AI is equivalent to nuclear power in relation to its impact on society. It can, like nuclear power, be a force for good but it can also be a force for great harm.”
“It is really important to have a debate on the issue of AI and the impact it is going to have on society, training and education but we have not really had one in this country for a long time. We are at the edge of a significant economic transformation in Ireland. We are probably one of the most exposed countries in the whole of the European Union in terms of the AI revolution. It is not something that will happen in the distant future; it is happening at the moment. It is already leading to unemployment in this country. Incredibly, 20,000 jobs have been lost in the IT sector in just the first three months of this year. That is an incredible figure. It is hidden by the fact that we have good job figures in general, but there is an underlying fault line which is starting to create major difficulties.”
“At that stage, the Taoiseach agreed with me that it needs to be reformed but he said it was too close to the next Stormont election to do so. Here we are, one year out from the next Stormont election and no work has been done on reform. This is serious. What can we do to reform so that Stormont functions properly and that it can raise its own funds like the other devolved administrations?”
“Stormont is in big trouble. Stormont is in a mess. It is limping on day to day currently. In most of the human indicators in terms of quality of life, the people in the North of Ireland are falling currently. In terms of investment in education, hospital services, children's services and disabilities, money is being reduced on an annual basis. Public services are starting to grind to a halt. There is no doubt that the Sinn Féin, DUP and Alliance Executive is not delivering for the people but Stormont cannot even agree on budget at the moment it is in such trouble. A large part of this problem is because Stormont cannot raise its own funds. It can only raise about 5% of its own income. Wales can raise 10% and Scotland can raise 20%. I asked the Taoiseach a question a number of years ago in relation to the reform of Stormont.”