Seán Ó Fearghaíl
Kildare South · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“People with far greater knowledge than I have are deeply sceptical about the number of applications that are being shown, but anyway. I want to go back to that comparison with the health service because, for me, it raises the legitimate question of whether we should be looking overseas to secure recruits.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response and sincere interest in this matter. It struck me when looking at this that 2,300 people migrate from Nepal every single day and 30% of the GDP of the country comes from remittances.”
“It is no wonder that Cyprus would be very sensitive to territorial integrity. As the Minister said, Ireland is committed to facilitating the opening of all remaining negotiating clusters with Ukraine and Moldova in the next six months.”
“I think we are disappointed that the new government in Hungary is still causing some difficulties. I appreciate the need for sensitive negotiations with that new government so that it bring Hungary fully in line with European values, which would be very much supportive of this integration.”
“The Government needs to be creative in how it approaches this challenge, but it needs to be approached in a far more resolute manner than it has to date.”
“However, by having a policy of 400 recruits per year, it means it will take us ten years to get to the establishment figure. I accept that the Government has acted to significantly improve pay and conditions but much more needs to be done.”
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“The French Foreign Legion, for example, offers a five-year contract, I understand. It would be of dual benefit for such a foreign recruitment process, delivering, as it would if linked to Irish Aid, necessary numbers for our own forces and providing a degree of financial support for families coping with war and the ravages of climate change in disadvantaged countries.”
“People with far greater knowledge than I have are deeply sceptical about the number of applications that are being shown, but anyway. I want to go back to that comparison with the health service because, for me, it raises the legitimate question of whether we should be looking overseas to secure recruits. If we were to do so, we should be looking at countries where Irish Aid is active and where we could recruit members to the Permanent Defence Force on fixed-term contracts to allow us achieve the strength level required in our Defence Forces to fulfil their mandate. Many national armed forces make formal or informal provisions to recruit non-nationals. Reasons vary, including historical regimental practice, manpower shortfalls, diaspora links or pathways to citizenship, but the result is the same: foreigners in regular state militaries.”
“The Government needs to be creative in how it approaches this challenge, but it needs to be approached in a far more resolute manner than it has to date. If the required level cannot be achieved because the population is already at work in other areas, a question arises as to whether there are people in the State not at work or in education who could be encouraged, via some form of voluntary national service to sign up with our Permanent Defence Force. Let us look, if we can for a minute, at the health service. I recently reviewed stats that revealed that 40% of all practising doctors in Ireland were foreign trained. The same set of stats indicates that 54% of practising nurses in Ireland trained abroad and a staggeringly massive 78% of new nursing registrants in 2024 came from abroad.”
“However, by having a policy of 400 recruits per year, it means it will take us ten years to get to the establishment figure. I accept that the Government has acted to significantly improve pay and conditions but much more needs to be done. I acknowledge that the Government accepts that there is a structural deficiency in the cadet pay system, which is a real disincentive to young men and women joining the officer corps. A return to the traditional pension scheme and a total abandonment of the single pension scheme would also help. At a time when we can be happy to boast of full employment arising from the diligence of the Irish population and the sound economic policies pursued by successive Governments, we have to ask ourselves where the new recruits are to come from.”
“I have watched as the strength of our Defence Forces has declined over the past decade or more, and while recognising something of a stabilisation and upturn in recruitment in recent years, I have to say that I am profoundly concerned at the current strength of our forces, standing, as it does, at just 7,741 personnel across the three services - Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. It is a disappointment that, as we take the EU Presidency and rightly commit to spending more on defence, we have not succeeded in boosting our force numbers to what could be considered an acceptable level. The establishment figure stood at 9,739 personnel in 2025, with a target to move towards the Commission on the Defence Forces' recommendation of 11,500 personnel by 2028.”
“In April and May, members of the Irish Defence Forces' 1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron travelled to the Fort Benning in the US, where they achieved historic success at the 2026 Sullivan Cup, becoming the first non-American team to win the competition since it began in 2012, and this while using fighting vehicles with which they had no previous familiarity. We frequently speak here of the pride we have in the Defence Forces, but this is yet another example of how the men and women of the Irish Defence Forces continue to distinguish themselves internationally. I come, as the Tánaiste knows, from a constituency where the Defence Forces are at the heart of every aspect of our community.”
“Let us remember that this country still has the plague of leprosy in its diverse communities. They are living in the Himalayas, in valleys and mountains and in very dispersed locations. Can we please, through Europe, do more to help?”
“I am delighted to see the Minister of State has such a sense of youth about himself. The thing that struck me as well about that recent election, when I was there to participate in a training programme organised by INTER PARES for new parliamentarians, was the huge number of young people, even younger than the Minister of State, who have been elected to that new parliament. The deputy speaker of the parliament is a 25-year-old lady who has never held any political office before. To go back to my original question, can we please use our good offices to create some sort of system within Europe whereby Europe offers more genuine support to this wonderful country to help it make the progress that it is capable of making but which it needs support in achieving?”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response and sincere interest in this matter. It struck me when looking at this that 2,300 people migrate from Nepal every single day and 30% of the GDP of the country comes from remittances. There has been political chaos for a long time in a country populated by people of incredible dignity, who have an interest in education, who are committed to progress and peace, and there is a serenity about the people of Nepal that is quite something to behold. Balendra Shah is the new Prime Minister. He is a young man of 36 years of age and a former mayor of Kathmandu. He promises to bring change but he will need support from countries like Ireland. Turning to our Presidency, I would appeal to see Ireland play a leading role during the course of our Presidency in encouraging Europe to do more.”
“I have just returned from a visit to Nepal. It was my second visit to that absolutely wonderful country. However, it is a country afflicted by dire poverty, where 20% of the population live below the poverty line. We have seen in March of this year the election of a new Government that promises to bring radical change to a country where there has been an unsettled political situation for quite some time. It strikes me that Nepal is one country where leprosy still exists as an indication of real and dire poverty. What can we do to help?”
“I think we are disappointed that the new government in Hungary is still causing some difficulties. I appreciate the need for sensitive negotiations with that new government so that it bring Hungary fully in line with European values, which would be very much supportive of this integration. The other matter is that there is a new government in Moldova, which has worked assiduously and has achieved great progress in preparing for EU membership. The issue of Transnistria, the occupied territory there, is a problem. Will the Minister assure us that she is and her fellow foreign ministers are conscious of this? Will she assure us that by continuing the occupation of Transnistria, the Russians are not going to be enabled to in some way frustrate the progress of Moldova moving towards full EU membership?”
“That would be regrettable. The Minister fully appreciates how vital progress is to Ukraine in the context of the current conflict. She will also appreciate how equally vital it is to Moldova, which really reminds me of Ireland in the 1950s, that it not be isolated, that it move forward in tandem with Ukraine and that its membership be actively expedited.”
“It is no wonder that Cyprus would be very sensitive to territorial integrity. As the Minister said, Ireland is committed to facilitating the opening of all remaining negotiating clusters with Ukraine and Moldova in the next six months. Enlargement is a merit-based process and, as recognised by the Commission, both Moldova and Ukraine have met the technical conditions for the opening of negotiations. However, there were reports last week that, faced with renewed resistance from Hungary, the EU has been forced to change its plans and now aims to unblock two, rather than five, accession clusters with Ukraine and Moldova before the summer break. The suggestion is that the Union has scaled back its ambitions for Ukraine's accession talks and is now targeting the opening of just two negotiating clusters, not five, in July.”
“In congratulating the Minister as she embarks on our six-month Presidency of the European Council of Ministers, my question seeks to establish what she feels can be done to expedite Ukrainian and Moldovan membership of the EU. I ask this while welcoming the fact President Zelenskyy was front and centre at the celebrations of Ireland's accession to the Presidency yesterday. However, we must remember that Moldova cannot be left behind.”
“Successive governments have been derelict in their duty to respect and properly manage the extensive national resource that is the 5,000 acres of the Curragh Camp. The Government proposes to rectify that problem with a proposal in the programme for Government to bring forward a new management structure. A year and a half into the Government, we have yet to see that. In a year in which there is greater misuse, greater abuse and greater degradation of the plains and when a greater number of illegal encampments are taking place, there is huge public cynicism about what is going to be done. I ask the Taoiseach to give the House the commitment today that the Government will bring forward before the end of this year the necessary legislation to rectify this problem.”
“They are not terribly attracted to a county where these unauthorised developments take place. It is not that everyone who comes treats the place with disdain. We had people from France last year who came with their caravans, mobile homes, toilets and bins. That is all grand but they would not be able to do it in the Phoenix Park, and they should not be able to do it in Kildare.”
“I think the National Parks and Wildlife Service would be the right body but it will have to look at the Curragh differently to how it looks at the Phoenix Park or other areas of national importance. It will have to ensure it can guarantee that the legitimate regulated use of the plains by the bloodstock sector, the sheep sector and those involved in recreation and amenity can continue in an orderly and regulated manner that does not contribute to any degradation of the plains. However, this illegal encampment process going on year-in, year-out is a cause of incredible frustration. It is driving investment away from the area. Remember, huge crowds of people come to the Curragh for the major racing festivals. They are very often people with money to spend.”
“I thank the Minister of State for a positive reply. We have known for some time that the Government favours the idea of the National Parks and Wildlife Service taking on the management of the plains. I am not so sure the National Parks and Wildlife Service itself is wildly enthusiastic about the prospect. It involves huge additional financial resources, and extra manpower will be needed. Kildare County Council conducted widespread consultation when it drafted its consultation and management plan for the Curragh. It attracted more than 3,600 public submissions. It was the largest number of submissions ever received in respect of any project in County Kildare. It is indicative of the level of interest there is in getting this right.”
“The leisure and amenity use is widespread and accepted but there is abuse of driving on the plains, indiscriminate parking, scrambling and other uses being made. Fly tipping is a huge problem. However, one of the most acute difficulties in recent years has been the regular establishment over the past decade of illegal encampments on the plains. I pay tribute to the former Minister for Defence and the current Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. He was the first person to seriously tackle that matter. Once he got his teeth into it, the Department of Defence moved rapidly each year to clear these illegal encampments. I pay tribute to the Secretary General, Jackie McCrum, and to Jason Kearney, the property manager there. There is huge expense being incurred by the State each year going to court to get court orders and carrying out the clean ups.”
“What is required now is a new management structure and that management structure is committed to in the programme for Government. Why is it needed? It is needed because of misuse of the plains, and unregulated use and overuse leading to the degradation of the national and local resource the Curragh Plains are. What is the problem? Bloodstock is using the plains. That is well managed by the racecourse and HRI, and it is well regulated. Sheep farming for the most part is controlled and well regulated. It is on a headage and lease basis, although some would argue there are far more sheep grazing now than perhaps there should be. There is certainly more than was obvious in the aftermath of the restrictions introduced during foot and mouth some decades ago.”
“That is interesting because, quite recently, within a couple of kilometres of the Curragh, Guinness spent €300 million opening a new production plant and committed to spending another €400 million on the second phase of that plant. It is also interesting because the first Guinness was allegedly made with water from Pollardstown Fen. The Currragh is used for legitimate purposes. Sheep are grazed there, the bloodstock industry uses it and the Defence Forces has its headquarters there. It was also used during the British occupation. It is an amenity that is used for numerous recreational purposes. It is a great place I am told on a good moonlit night to observe the skies. I have not been doing that myself for a long time but nonetheless I understand that is the case.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for discussion. It relates to something that I find myself returning to repeatedly. While housing continues to be the number one issue in County Kildare and in other parts of the country, there is huge public anger around the manner in which the Curragh Plains are managed or not managed as the case might be. What is the Curragh? It is a 5,000-acre stretch of land resting between the areas of Kilcullen, Kildare and Newbridge. It is a proglacial fluvial plain formed during the Ice Age. I did not witness its formation, but I accept what we are told. The Curragh sits on a bedrock of limestone. Under that limestone, is a huge aquifer which, we are told, is one of the largest in the country. Interestingly, the aquifer in question feeds water into Pollardstown Fen.”
“The good step of increasing the age profile is being hampered and impeded by the low rate of cadet pay. It really needs to be resolved. On a completely different but related matter, the cadet school has ended its relationship with Malta. For many years, the Irish cadet school trained members of the Maltese military in a really beneficial and impressive manner. I regret this has ended. Can something be done to restore that programme?”
“I have to proudly state that those who emerge from cadet schools are people of an extraordinary calibre that we are all enormously proud of. Low pay might be tolerable if the cadetships were short or if the financial impact disappeared once training ended but under the single pension scheme, earnings are averaged across an entire career and, therefore, at the end of a career, the cadet is still being penalised by virtue of the reduced pension they will receive. That is not a tolerable situation. The recruitment age for cadets has been increased to 39 years. If people are 30-plus and have a family and a mortgage there is no way, unless they have very substantial savings, that they could afford to become a cadet and take the vastly reduced pay available at that level.”
“Much has been done in that area but low cadet pay is a serious blockage in recruitment and needs to be addressed urgently.”
“I acknowledge the Minister's positive disposition to this matter in many aspects of her response but the general secretary of RACO, Conor King, recently set out in the Irish Examiner the fact that cadets are paid far less than the enlisted soldiers they work beside in their first five years. This anomaly would be indefensible in any other profession. Cadetship is a gruelling high-intensity apprenticeship like no other. As well as undergoing long hours of education and training, cadets may be deployed as an aid to civil power operations and are routinely used as the go-to unit for State ceremonial events, representing Ireland at moments of national and international significance. They demonstrated their usefulness during the course of the Covid crisis. We have a problem with recruitment and retention.”
“This question is a logical follow-on from the one posed by Deputy Stanley. It asks the Minister about action on cadet pay. I ask it against the background of the continuing crisis in recruitment and retention. It is not just a question, but a call for urgent action.”
“The intention is to transfer them to the local authority, which is in agreement, but there are still some tenants in those houses who would want to avail of an option to purchase. I ask the Minister to look at that.”
“I commend Deputy Stanley on putting down a question on this important matter. I welcome the response from the Minister. I grew up in Kildare at a time when, like many generations before me, the Curragh was a vibrant, living community. Unfortunately, in recent decades, the Department of Defence took as its policy the depopulation of the Curragh camp. Worse still, in recent years, we have seen the demolition of many houses in the area, which is completely wrong. I thank the current Taoiseach and former Minister for putting a stop to the demolition of houses. I welcome the Minister, Deputy McEntee's reply today. The commitment to refurbish those houses is very positive. I ask her to also look at the Orchard Park 100-house development, where a few houses remain in Army ownership.”
“Could I take it that the Minister of State is very satisfied that Donald Tusk is someone who will be able to ensure Poland remains very much at the centre and at the heart of the European movement? I wish to ask also about their other neighbours. How do Polish people feel about, and are they supportive of, Moldova joining the EU? What, if anything, was said to the Minister of State about the situation in Belarus where the Lukashenko regime continues to harangue its own people, continues to support Putin, and continues to imprison over 1,000 political activists in a shameful disregard for democracy? Was there an opportunity to discuss that particular matter?”
“Was it the Minister of State's experience that the Poles are equally enthusiastic about supporting the early advancement of Ukraine's application for EU membership?”
“It is quite extraordinary the manner in which the relationships have developed between Irish people and Polish people. Polish people were among the first major wave of immigrants that came to work in this country during the Celtic tiger. They demonstrated a fantastic work ethic and they built a relationship with Irish people. There has been a lot of intermarriage. I think Polish is now the third most frequently spoken language in this State. I heard only yesterday from the Minister of State that the Poles are the second highest consumers of Irish whiskey after the Americans, so that is all very good in terms of what we may do as far as trade is concerned. We share this passion for supporting Ukraine.”
“I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, on having been the person dispatched by the Government for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Poland. I wish to ask him if while there his meeting with Secretary of State, Mr. Niemczycki, was successful and enabled him to build on the wonderful person-to-person relationships that exist now, and existed for many years, between Ireland and Poland?”
“I am proud of what the Minister and the Government is doing in continuing the work in the past of engaging with the diaspora. When we have thought in the past about the diaspora, we have tended to talk about the kings of industry around the world and then the disadvantaged and how we might support them but in recent times, we have large concentrations of highly skilled young people who have emigrated and concentrated in places like Australia and Canada. As part of any diaspora policy, does the Minister of State envisage some systems being put in place or some strategies being adopted whereby we can actively engage with those young people and encourage them to consider a return home where they are badly needed to fill many of the vacant positions that exist?”
“I want to make a brief comment as co-ordinator of the Ireland-Morocco Parliamentary Friendship Group. In recent times, I have become increasingly aware that an ever-increasing number of countries have moved to a position where they see the solution to this intractable problem, which must be resolved, having regard to sovereignty and human rights. More and more countries, including many of our European colleagues, see the resolution to the problem resting in establishing Western Sahara's autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. That seems to the be the proposal that is winning ever-increasing support. It is something that I raised with the Minister for foreign affairs here some weeks ago.”
“It is not acting out of humanity – sanctions hurt, isolation hurts, and he understands that he has reached a dead end. That is why he is willing to hand over even his most dangerous opponents in exchange for relief. But lifting or substantially easing sanctions against the regime is dangerous, as it directly strengthens Russia: Belarus’ economy works for Russia’s war machine, Belarus is used as a route to circumvent sanctions, and its enterprises are involved in weapon production. We know where the weapons are going. Does the Minister anticipate that the current level of EU sanctions will be maintained, or, indeed, possibly strengthened?”
“I agree with the Minister of State because it is a tightrope situation. I think most of us in this country would look to what was said by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is a charismatic leader many of us in this House have met. She displayed tremendous courage in taking up the baton after her husband was arrested and has effectively been running a Belarusian Government in exile. She has said the European Union sanctions have a much stronger impact and must remain in place until long-term changes are achieved, including an end to the regime’s involvement in the Ukraine war, the restoration of Belarus's sovereignty and its transformation into a democratic economy, which would appear to be a long way away. She said: Without sanctions and international isolation, the Lukashenka regime would not have begun releasing political prisoners.”
“I know the Government and Europe would be walking a tightrope on this particular matter but this suggestion has been made by two influential people who are intimately involved in the situation in Belarus and are advocating greater EU engagement. How does the Minister of State respond to that and what are his thoughts on how Ireland and the EU together might proceed?”
“I compliment the Minister of State on the positive and comprehensive response. I note that on 13 December Belarusian authorities released 123 prisoners following negotiations by the US Administration, which had agreed to lift a sanction on Belarusian potash. The majority of prisoners were sent to Ukraine, and a group of nine sent to Lithuania. Most of those released had been prosecuted and imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their human rights. One of those released, Maria Kalesnikava, has since given an interview with the Financial Times in which she called for EU engagement with Belarus on the basis that the lack of it only serves to drive Belarus closer to Russia. Another of the released prisoners, Ales Bialiatski, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, has also called on the EU to enter talks with President Lukashenko.”
“What is the Minister of State's assessment of the situation in Belarus, where the dictator Lukashenko is an ally and, indeed, puppet of the Putin regime? How does the Minister of State feel about the situation there at present?”
“I reiterate it is vitally important, through whatever measures possible, that Europe supports those who are trying to build a normal, decent, civilised society in Russia and to save the people of Russia from the monsters that control them at present.”
“It is interesting that the Minister of State talks about stooges. There are 450 members of the Russian Duma. One wonders how many of them are actual puppets or stooges because we have not heard very much in the West about any opposition from the ranks of the Duma to the activities of Putin and his foul regime. One would wonder how, on the law of averages, among 450 people, there are not, if even by chance, some people who have some moral integrity and who might have some of the courage that Navalny displayed when he literally put himself in a situation where he was inevitably going to be murdered, as he eventually was by the Putin regime.”
“Will the Minister of State tell us the degree to which there is active engagement between ourselves and our European partners to support opposition and to support civil society organisations in Russia?”
“For the past four years, the world has been focused on Russian aggression and the appalling war in Ukraine perpetrated on a foreign, sovereign people by the megalomaniac that is Putin. We have lost sight of what may be happening within Russia itself, and that is understandable. When we think of opposition in Russia, we think of the late, brave Alexei Navalny, whose second anniversary will be marked next week. We are aware of the commitments and the strength of his wife Yulia in the aftermath of his death and her commitment to carry on the campaign. Prosecutors in Russia have banned 78 organisations as undesirable, including prominent human rights groups. Human Rights Watch itself was designated undesirable. What we can do on our own is very limited.”
“Deputy Ardagh and I are trying to establish what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is doing regarding the repression of civil society and democratic opposition and the undermining of democracy and the rule of law in Russia.”
“Would it be possible to have some sort of public media campaign via the Department around the period of International Holocaust Memorial Day, which would drive home to people the extent of the slaughter and the extent of man's inhumanity to man that happened at that stage?”
“I commend the Minister and the Government on what they are doing. It is really important work. When does the Minister of State imagine that this work will commence in the 600 schools around the country where it is going to be delivered? Does he think there is a possibility, given that children and young people are not just influenced by what happens and what they experience in school, but particularly by what they experience in their homes, that there is a need to educate some members of the public who are inculcating false thoughts, ideas and motivations in their children?”
“What else is being done by the Department to combat antisemitism and to ensure that we build the best possible understanding of what happened during the Holocaust, so that it will never, ever happen again?”
“If we needed proof that an education programme is important, that was given to us in a recent survey undertaken by the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, with the involvement of an Irishman, Professor Gideon Taylor, son of a former distinguished Minister and Member of these Houses. As the Minister of State has pointed out, it was established that 10% of people believed that the Holocaust was a myth and 19% believed that the slaughter was exaggerated. We can never lose sight of the fact that two thirds of European Jews were slaughtered mercilessly, deliberately and in an industrial fashion during that Holocaust. The antisemitism we see today is linked to and caused by the atrocities experienced by the Jewish people then and in the many pogroms that happened beforehand.”
“It is appropriate to be able to pose this question in the aftermath of International Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January. I want to ask what the Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is doing to support the work of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Holocaust education programme.”