Tom Clonan
University of Dublin · Independent · Ireland
“It is appalling; you could not make it up. However, as this is a very grave and dark thing, they raised these concerns by way of protected disclosures in February 2025. Here we are, 18 months later, and no action has been properly taken. Those protected disclosures have not been processed about a child safety issue.”
“I thank the Senator. The Adult Safeguarding Strategy Bill that I hope to introduce fills the gap that exists in Irish legislation around adult safeguarding for our elderly citizens and for all of us who at some point in life will need care. This Bill is consistent with what the Government has set out in the programme for Government.”
“They told me one of them was informed of a child sexual assault or the potential for one - even a rape of a child - and under the guidelines, this requires mandatory reporting, so they set about reporting it to An Garda Síochána and Tusla.”
“A woman came into the clinic and expressed concerns - and I am sorry to use this language here - that she had discovered her spouse - her husband - was accessing child pornography images and films through his devices. These are crime scenes. This is the sexual abuse and rape of children.”
“This should be dealt with with energy and urgency, because all this talk about process is not child-centred. It is administration-centred and it is a classic HSE tactic to cover up, deny and delay grave matters. I want to know why this particular manager is pushing back on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.”
“I thank the Minister of State for reading out the statement on behalf of the Minister, Deputy MacNeill. None of these remarks are directed personally at the Minister of State, but to be honest, ChatGPT could have written that response. In it, the Minister, Deputy MacNeill says she and the HSE cannot comment on individual cases.”
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Every one of 631 lines we hold for Tom Clonan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 13.
“I raise the issue of the public consultation tomorrow being organised by the Department of Social Protection in the Aviva Stadium. I do not know why it would imagine that people in our community of disabled citizens and carers would feel the need for this consultation. The 2021 Indecon survey on the extra cost of disability, which was commissioned by the Department of Social Protection, found that the extra cost of disability ranged between €8,700 and €12,300 per annum. When inflation is factored in, the extra cost of having a disability is between €10,776 and €15,221 per annum, before people pay their rent or buy a sliced pan or a pair of trousers. That is the extra cost of having a disability. We know this, yet the Government has not fulfilled the promises it set out prior to the election to make this a non-means-tested payment.”
“This country is completely at sea when it comes to defence and security and the Government wants to get rid of the triple lock in the middle of this mess. We really need to have that debate and I hope the Leader can facilitate it with the Minister for Defence.”
“What other country in the EU would facilitate the onward transmission of weapons systems through its air domain to harm its own troops? Both in the maritime domain, therefore, with the export of this vital component for Russia's weapons systems, and in the air domain, with the transiting of weapons that could be used against our own troops, a complete lack of situational awareness around military defence and security is being shown on the part of the Irish Government. The Oireachtas Committee on Defence and National Security is not allowed to ask these questions. I am blue in the face asking for a debate. Can we bring in the Minister for Defence to explain why we as a security committee cannot ask the questions that need to be asked?”
“Where are we on this? It is a completely contradictory position to say, on the one hand, that we support Ukraine and at the same time facilitate the export of almost 1 billion tonnes of of a vital component for Russia's weapon systems. I also want to talk about cluster munitions. The Guardian has reported that cluster munitions are being used in south Lebanon by the Israelis in Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Baruz and Wadi Deir Siryan, which are very close to where Irish troops are. Speaking of Limerick, the 128th Battalion comprising 300 or more of our young men and women is heading out to Lebanon for the final deployment to UNIFIL and Ireland is facilitating the transit of those very cluster munitions through our airspace out to Lebanon, where they could potentially injure or kill our troops.”
“The aluminium being supplied by Ireland is providing the propulsion systems, the delivery systems and parts of the projectiles that are killing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men, women and now civilians. This week, the Government announced that Ukrainians in Ireland who want to maintain their refugee status will have to show evidence of being self-supporting. Well, maybe they could go and work in the Aughinish Alumina plant and help to produce the ingredients for the very weapons that are destroying their country. There is an account on X called Dan the Shadow Tanker Bonker. He is a concerned citizen who sets out in forensic detail the number of vessels - the shadow fleet, if you like - coming from Latvia, Lithuania and elsewhere and supplying this vital ingredient, this foundational metal of war, to the Russians.”
“I welcome all our guests. I want to talk about aluminium. According to West Point and the institute for advanced studies, aluminium is the foundational metal of war and we are exporting almost 1 million tonnes of it to Russia. A total of 826,000 tonnes of alumina are being exported to Russia and we are the largest exporter to Russia. Since the war started in Ukraine - Putin's criminal enterprise and his unparalleled savagery and brutality in Ukraine - the increase has grown from 23%. A total of 68% of all alumina exports from Limerick are now going to Russia and are being sent to the RUSAL smelter in Krasnoyarsk, where they are manufacturing high-quality aluminium bars for the production of Shahed drones and other munitions missiles such as hypersonic missiles.”
“There are Senators in this Chamber who live in that constituency. They are so much in extremis and in such difficulty that they have reached out to me to raise this issue. I have seen the work they do. It is not a big ask. It will not cost the State anything. In fact, it will save the State money because they will not have to do this bureaucratic administrative process which is completely unnecessary and is having a negative impact on the very people who might benefit from these courses. I appreciate the Minister of State's sincerity.”
“I thank the Minister of State for actually addressing me and addressing the question as opposed to reading out some script written by a public servant, which generally fails to address the underlying issue. I hear what the Minister of State says. It is an historical arrangement and an agreement that goes back 25 years, but asserting that does not make it the right thing to do. This should be client focused and person focused, and should not preserve an administrative system that is simply anachronistic. I cannot see any reason it would benefit the State, the person or the service by transferring this money by way of an anomalous requirement that was set out 23 years ago. That we have just always done it this way is not a compelling argument for keeping it that way. I am mindful that they have their own local representatives down there.”
“It is a beautiful thing, and it troubles me to think that something like this, a small administrative matter, is getting in the way of the incredible work Tipperary Education and Training Board is doing and the solace it brings to all of those 70 families, in addition to the service users. Will the Minister talk to the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to see if the HSE could contribute some funding for the renovation of this beautiful old building to allow the service to continue using it?”
“It is the only service in south Tipperary, and this is really having a negative impact on its ability to do its work. I visited the centre and I pay tribute to the great work Patricia O'Meara is doing there. She is a former student of mine. There is such a lovely sense of community there and I saw all of these young adults and older citizens involved in all sorts of very therapeutic, stimulating and constructive activities. As a parent and a carer to a young man who is disabled, I have seen some of the day service opportunities around the State and some of them are in very anonymous buildings in industrial estates away from the community. This is at the beating heart of the community in Clonmel.”
“First, it creates an extra administrative burden for the Department of Social Protection staff, whom I believe are located in Longford. Second, and most importantly, for people with mental health issues, who may be nervous or concerned about their payments, it has a chilling effect on their ability and willingness to participate in the courses. Many of them do not take up the course because they are terrified of transferring their payments over to another agency. It is difficult for many of our disabled citizens to carry out this completely anomalous and unnecessary administrative burden. We are asking the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, to please join the dots and end this anomalous practice because the Tipperary Education and Training Board is providing services for between 60 and 70 adults in the Clonmel area.”
“It was originally set up as a voluntary intervention by the Tipperary mental health and voluntary housing association back in 1993 but the building has now passed into the possession of the State. Unfortunately, due to an anomaly, students wishing to undertake what is called a special training programme or specialist training provision have to complete an administrative process whereby they must fill out a DA103 entitlement form and have their disability allowance, invalidity payments or social welfare payments transferred over to Cluain Training Centre for the period of their training. In turn, it has the administrative burden of paying those sums over to those students. There are a couple of anomalies in this regard.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Seanad. I congratulate my colleagues on both sides of the House for their initiative in the previous Commencement matter, especially on a day when another woman has been murdered. Anything that we can do to support women and children in these violent circumstances is very much to be welcomed. I am sorry that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, is not here but this is something that, perhaps, the Minister of State could relay to him. I visited Cluain Training Centre in Clonmel. It is located in what used to be an old boot factory in Clonmel. It provides the most amazing resources for disabled people and people with mental health challenges. As is often the case in Ireland, it is kind of a patchwork quilt of services and supports.”
“All I hear is word salad about this, that and the other but our objective circumstances of living are deteriorating on every measurable metric. I apologise to the Chair.”
“We are 30 years behind England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We should be ashamed of ourselves. I heard parents say in the Leinster House complex this morning that they wished their children would die. What kind of a society is that? The Government just does not get it. As one of the mothers said this morning, the Government needs to come out of its bubble. I have been saying this ad nauseam for the last four years. I have to go home now and be a carer with the minimum support from the State, despite its constitutional aspirations for beautiful young men like my son. I am sorry that I am exercised by this. It is not personal to the Minister of State, but I do not get a sense of urgency from anybody.”
“This is Ireland's darkest shame, and I intend to fully bring this to the attention of our European partners. We are complete outliers in European terms. We are 50 years behind Germany and its principal law.”
“I am telling the Minister of State that the Government failed in its wording in the care referendum to give constitutional expression to the idea that the family was the primary, if not exclusive, agent responsible for disabled citizens’ autonomy and independence. The Government failed. Some 75% of the Irish people voted against that, the highest ever "No" vote in a referendum held in the history of the State. There will be a reckoning over this. We are coming up to the Presidency of the EU. We are outliers. We have children dying on waiting lists for surgical intervention in Children's Health Ireland. Chloe Maher died this year. Little Harvey Morrison Sherratt died for the lack of a surgical intervention that is routine in other jurisdictions, and the Minister of State tells me that everything is awesome?”
“I do not think I have received even an acknowledgement of that. I checked before I came up here. In relation to the Disability Act the Minister of State intends to review, the disability matters committee carried out pre-legislative scrutiny on that. The Minister of State says it does not dilute the request for an assessment of need, which is the only right disabled citizens have in Ireland. However, it absolutely does dilute the services and supports set out because the Minister of State proposes to put in a system of triage where a grade 7 administrator in the HSE will decide what my child is entitled to or not entitled to. The Minister of State is shaking her head. She was not at all of those meetings. I was, and I can tell her that is what is there. I speak from lived experience.”
“I am told there is no legal basis for that assertion by the HSE but it reveals a toxic culture within the care providers that see families and disabled citizens as recipients of charity and have a "You'll take what you're given" mentality. We have 29,000 children waiting for an initial psychology assessment, 25,000 children waiting for an occupational therapy assessment and 21,000 waiting for an initial speech and language therapy appointment, which is an increase of 37%. It is a system that is failing and sinking. It is one where rearranging the deckchairs will make no difference to the outcome. Speaking of letters, I wrote to the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Foley, during the Easter break and asked for a meeting to see if they would support my disability rights Bill.”
“The HSE wrote to her and told her to note that as a parent she is financially responsible for her child until they are 18. She is responsible for them financially and to accommodate them and care for them. If your child is in full-time education, you are responsible for them until they are 23 and if your child is disabled, you are responsible for them indefinitely. The State has no role in supporting disabled citizens to live dignified, autonomous, independent lives. There are 55,000 of them at home with elderly parents. What a disgrace. I get no sense of that in these statements. That letter to that woman has not been withdrawn.”
“This 89-year-old woman, a cancer survivor, has to lift her 57-year-old daughter in and out of bed and manage her behaviour because she is agitated after being taken out of the congregated setting she was used to for all her adult life. Her husband is 93 and uses a rollator. The 89-year-old lady asked the HSE for help and the HSE said one of them has to die and the other has to have a diagnosis of a terminal illness before it can provide supports. That is the experience of our community. That is what it is to be disabled in Ireland today. In the context of carers and parents who fear for the future and for what will happen after they die, one lady in Cork brought her child in extremis to the emergency department in Cork.”
“That is the reality: a society where parents would wish their children dead. That is on the record from three parents this morning. This is the Titanic but I do not get that sense when the National Disability Authority comes into the committee and it is all facts and figures. Everything is fine. "Everything is Awesome". We had HIQA come in and celebrate the "Time to Move On" initiative, removing disabled citizens from congregated settings. One disabled citizen who was decongregated went to a lady who wrote to me. She is 89, a cancer survivor, and her 57-year-old daughter, who is a wheelchair user, was returned to her, decongregated - hip, hip, hooray.”
“There are 50,000 disabled men and women over the age of 25 living with elderly parents because there is no other provision for them. I could tell the Minister of State of the despair, trauma and hurt in that community. Not only do you have to grieve on the diagnosis of a disability for you child, but then you have to come to terms with the condition, whether it be an intellectual or physical disability or, in the case of my son, a neuromuscular disease. You have to cope with that but then you have to fight for every item the Minister of State listed. She mentioned respite. I have never had respite in 23 years. Myself and my wife have never gone out together on our own in 23 years. One of us has to be at home at all times with my son. I will not be here for the homeless statements tonight because I have to go home and mind my son.”
“Notwithstanding the ethical and intellectual mistakes made during the Celtic tiger, austerity was a time when successive Governments' enthusiasm for inflicting pain on the most vulnerable citizens in Irish society was seen as a virtue. We are living the dream. I was at the disability matters committee meeting this morning. It was an extraordinary meeting, involving some members of the Minister of State's party. No less than three parents and carers at the meeting expressed on the public record that they wished their children would predecease them. Think about that. We live in a society where we have parents who wish their children would die rather than face the prospect of what will happen to them when the parents die.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach. I am always struck by the statements Ministers read out when they come in here. They are full of facts and figures but, in their quantitative way, they do not really describe the objective circumstances of living for disabled citizens. Here are some facts and figures: it was 269 m long and 28.2 m wide, could travel at a speed of 24 knots, cost €7.5 billion in today's money and burned 600 tonnes of coal per day. Fantastic - the figures are like Top Trumps. It sank in two hours and 40 minutes. It was the Titanic . We are on the Titanic as a community. It started to sink significantly during the austerity years.”
“I know that force protection and the safety of our young men and women is paramount for the Government. I absolutely accept that, but we are in error if we are not, at a bare minimum, checking aircraft on the ground in Shannon to see what is being transported to the Israelis for use in south Lebanon where our young men and women are stationed. This is especially true as we move up to the final deployment. Those Irish troops, and the innocent people who are being slaughtered, are my paramount concern.”
“I accept the point the Minister of State made about us having primary concern for our troops in Lebanon. However, if you go today to Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Baruz or Wadi Deir Siryan, which are all near where the Irish are based, you will find that they are littered with cluster munitions that have been deployed by the Israeli military and that have come through our airspace. I do not for one minute doubt that the Minister of State values the welfare of our troops. He says he visited them. I have been there. I have been under fire. I have seen what the impact of these weapons is on the innocent Lebanese men, women and children with whom we have built a relationship over the past 50 years. This is not a war; it is a genocide. Here is something we can do to further ensure the safety of our troops.”
“I will try to be brief. This amendment is about simply inspecting what is in the cargo hold. Prior to the Minister of State's arrival, I said that there is a compelling primary intelligence interest in trying to ascertain what is on aircraft that are coming through our airspace and that are using Shannon for refuelling and onward navigation. The reason I say that is because the Israeli military has been using cluster munitions in south Lebanon, near Irish positions. Where does it get them? It gets them from the United States. Where in the United States are they made? They are made at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. Delivery systems are made at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania. How do they get to Israel? Through our airspace.”
“They are making a decision and it is not a passive thing of "Oh no, we have to wait and see." They would be deliberately slowing down the prospect of us intervening meaningfully in preventing genocide, femicide and medicide, which we have seen in Lebanon near where our troops are, where doctors, nurses and paramedics are deliberately targeted for murder. These are extraordinary times. This is not an extraordinary set of proposals. I prevail upon the Government to please reconsider and support this legislation to allow it to complete its passage.”
“Who could put them into the ground like that and use dual-use technology to murder them in that way? This is what we are talking about with this Bill. It is not adversarial and it is not radical. It is just asking us to do the right thing. The rules-based order has been turned on its head and we are going to tolerate it. It is a very simple set of suggestions. I commend my colleagues. I will say it again. Since I came into these Houses over the last four years, I know that all of my colleagues here are good people and they share my concern and my horror at this. That is why I just ask them to please allow this piece of legislation to progress. They know what is going to happen when it is progressed. As Senator Higgins said, by opposing it Senators are making a decision.”
“They take this earth-moving piece of equipment, a bulldozer, they armour it by covering it in armour plate and then they use it as a weapon. They use it to destroy houses with families inside burying them alive. They have killed US citizens in this manner. In the last couple of days, there has been a documented case of two 16-year-old boys who were detained - I should say kidnapped - by the Israel Defense Forces. They were stripped, their hands were bound behind their backs with cable ties and they were buried alive. The contemporary witnesses say that before they were crushed under one of these earth-moving pieces of equipment they could hear the boys cry out. I remember when my young men were 16, when they were blossoming into young adults at that point of the threshold of adulthood, and how beautiful 16-year-olds are.”
“We have hundreds of young Irish men and women in Lebanon 5 km from Bint Jbeil, which has been razed to the ground. After the murder of a French peacekeeper last week and Indonesian peacekeepers, I am very concerned about our troops. The Government is allowing weapons to pass through our airspace that could be used and that will be used in proximity to our troops. If any of our troops are seriously injured or killed I will know and I will be able to tell this House where the ordnance came from because I have an expertise in that area. God forbid that this happens because we may hang our heads in shame. It is disgraceful. Specifically to the point of dual use, I will give an example. The Israeli military has a machine called the D9 bulldozer.”
“-----when the President of the United States uses those words against a state he has not declared war against. He calls Putin's special military operation a special combat operation. We are living in a time when full spectrum powers have turned their back on the international rules-based order and on the conventions and laws of armed conflict. By definition, what is happening in Lebanon where our troops are is war crimes. We are unhappy about the transit of alumina from Aughinish Alumina to Russia, quite rightly, but we should be even more concerned about weapons, ordnance and materials that are military and dual use transiting through our airspace. Furthermore, the Irish taxpayer is paying for that. Is this the Comedy Club? Is this the Laughter Lounge?”
“When Colin Powell misled the UN Security Council over the dossier about weapons of mass destruction in order to get a UN Security Council mandate for the invasion of Iraq, little did we know that they were the good old days because now governments do not even bother going to the UN for a resolution. They do not even declare war. We have a US President who says get the fuck out of the strait, we are coming and we are going to destroy your civilisation. That is what we are talking about here and that is what we are talking about in relation to dual use.”
“I will speak directly to the amendment No. 2 in relation to dual-use materials and to echo what Senator Harmon said. This is not a radical proposal and it is not an adversarial proposal. It is simply one that will assist us in implementing existing legislation. In relation to dual-use weapons, I know that my colleagues in Government share our concern about the export of alumina to Russia. Alumina is an absolutely essential component of weapons systems. I know we have great colleagues here who selflessly travelled to Ukraine and went to Kyiv, which is an onerous journey, to protest and to give support and solidarity for the victims of Putin's brutal and unlawful aggression. We saw the Taoiseach and Ministers witness what happened at Bucha. Let us make no mistake about this.”
“Then I think of that little girl who went to get water. She was shot through the head with a high velocity round, and we are participating in that. We are facilitating that. We are not taking the simple steps outlined in this Bill to remove ourselves from that supply and we are giving genocide, femicide, patricide and homicide tacit moral approval. In years to come, I or anybody in this House may be asked, "When this was happening, Dad, Mum, Grandad, Nana, what did you do about it?" I am proud to say that we supported this initiative, and others. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his leeway.”
“"You know what," he said, "you should be ashamed of yourselves because I know Shannon Airport is being used to bring this destruction and death to my city." Ireland prides itself on its diaspora and neutral status and that in and of itself puts Irish lives at risk. In terms of primary intelligence, we must be the only country in the European Union that tolerates not knowing what weapon systems are transiting through our airspace. I commend this Bill and commend my colleagues on drafting it and persisting with it. I am disappointed to note the Government is opposing it because I do not see anything in it that causes any difficulty. When I go to sleep at night - last night was one of those rare occasions when all four adult children were in the house sleeping - I just think of how lucky we are.”
“We have to know what is transiting through our airspace, for all of these reasons. Back in 2006, when the Israelis invaded Lebanon, they closed down the cellular network in Lebanon and I could not reach any of the contacts I had there as a journalist. Do Senators remember 11811? I dialled that; it is international inquiries. I got, "Eleven eight eleven. Mary speaking." I said, "Would you have a number for the Lebanese Parliament?" She said she did not and would have to route me through its embassy in London. Lo and behold, ten seconds later I was talking to a member of the Lebanese Parliament while Beirut was under fire. He asked where I was from and I said I was from Ireland.”
“We have a growing clamour in our public discourse for Ireland to grow up and be the adults in the room. I hear people say this, including economists, God help us, and academics who have never heard a shot fired in anger and have never seen it. They want us to grow up, be the adults and participate more in what are now illegal military operations internationally. I think the growing up and smelling the coffee, as it were-----”
“You often see - I have seen it myself at first hand - small children and elderly people and there will not be a mark on the body because the shock wave has killed them by liquefying their internal organs. These are small children and grandparents. The soft tissue injuries are catastrophic from the blast, the heat and the shrapnel effect. Limb separation, decapitation - it is indescribable - and the burns. I do not have the words to describe that. In the court, the Garda superintendent who was conducting the prosecution for the State was completely silent. I said to him afterwards, "Do you have children?" He said, "I do." I have children. Why would we, the Irish people, accept the transit of this material? I have two more things to say about this because it is so important.”
“I got subpoenaed to a trial in Shannon to give evidence about people trespassing on the airport perimeter and approaching US aircraft on the ground. On cross-examination, I was asked whether there were weapons on those aircraft and was able to give evidence to confirm there were. I also played audio in the court of the recording I made on that US aircraft. The judge asked me the effect those munitions would have on innocent civilians in Lebanon, Iraq or wherever they would be discharged. I said the soft tissue injuries from high-explosive weapons include the pulping of internal organs. The shock waves of these munitions causes the pulping of internal organs and shatters bones.”
“Last weekend, on the 30th anniversary, they slaughtered 106 men, women and children in our neighbouring UN compound at Qana. We had about 250 civilians in Al Yatun. Irish troops were sheltering the local civilians. It was during that period that that piece of shrapnel hit my Portakabin. I remember being unable to touch it because it was so hot. I have it mounted on a piece of timber in the downstairs toilet of my house. Where was it made? In the United States of America. How did it get to Israel and Gate 1-4 Alpha, from where it was fired? Through our airspace. Is it not ironic that we have troops in a peacekeeping role trying to save lives during massacres and breaches of international law, yet at the same time we permit the transit of these weapons and explosives through our airspace?”
“If you want to count them, download the app Flightradar and have a look. You will see hundreds of US military aircraft transiting Irish airspace. They are being refunded those air navigation costs by Irish Government Departments to the tune of millions per year. Irish people might be queasy about making a financial and material contribution to a war like the invasion of Iraq, which we did, but I do not think Irish taxpayers or voters would be happy making a financial contribution to a genocide and to the femicide my colleagues here outlined. I bear no animus whatsoever toward my colleagues in Government but I am puzzled at this. I have a piece of shrapnel at home which was embedded in the Portakabin I slept in the village of Al Yatun. This time 30 years ago, the Israelis came in during Operation Grapes of Wrath.”
“As part of their campaign of urbicide, they have levelled Bint Jbeil. I have been through Bint Jbeil hundreds of times, looking at all the children running after the Irish armoured personnel carriers. We would give them out our ration packs and dollars. That town is gone. Where do the explosive ordnance, the weapons, the weapons systems and the munitions come from? They come from Scranton in Pennsylvania. How do they get to Israel? Through our airspace. This Government has to ask itself a question. The weapons being used in Lebanon pose a direct threat to the lives of our troops. Our taxpayers are making a financial contribution to sending those weapons and munitions into that space. Under an international agreement, Ireland pays for the onward navigation and air traffic costs of US military aircraft transiting our airspace.”
“For small sidearms - automatic pistols and so on - put them in the overhead bin, and for larger weapons, put them under the seat in front of you.", and that is what they did. I wrote about that and it was published on the public record. Senator Higgins talked about the authorised officers. If I can discover weapons within 45 minutes of arriving in Shannon as a civilian, what could an authorised officer discover in our airport? I suspect it is rather a lot. It begs the question of why there is this reluctance or inhibition around trying to find out what is in those aircraft, either refueling on the ground in Shannon or transiting through our airspace. At the moment, we have hundreds of Irish troops in south Lebanon. They are 5 km from the town of Bint Jbeil, which has been absolutely destroyed.”
“I had to ring the mobile of a US army lieutenant colonel, who controls access to the US troops in Shannon Airport and is based there permanently. I can give the Minister of State his mobile number, if he wishes. He can give him a tinkle and ask him for permission to come down and look at the weapons. I went into Shannon Airport and saw the Omni aircraft and other civilian aircraft landing. I was allowed to go up the steps and enter the aircraft just as they opened the door. When I looked down the body of the aircraft, I saw hundreds of young marines sitting in their seats and, as you do when you land, standing up and getting into the overhead bin. The cabin announcement was, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Shannon Airport. Please leave your weapons on the aircraft.”
“In the 365 days since the Government time-delayed this Bill from my colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group - whom I commend on bringing this legislation forward - 17,155 women and girls have been murdered in Gaza, predominantly by weapons, munitions and explosive ordnance that has come through our airspace. I will talk about the ground element of this first. I have heard time and again Ministers and Government spokespersons say there are no weapons being brought through Shannon Airport, to their knowledge. Well, read all about it. I reported on it in The Irish Times in 2006. I went to Shannon Airport. I had to get permission as The Irish Times security analyst to go there, but not from the Shannon Airport authorities.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Seanad. Before I came down to the Chamber, I saw footage of a small girl collecting water in Gaza from a recognised aid point. She was shot dead in front of her brother. These were two small children. He was sitting beside her body in the aftermath of that shooting. Where did those 5.56 mm high-velocity rounds come from? I will tell the House where they came from. Those rounds came from the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri and they got to Israel through our airspace. Now, we have known for quite some time that the United States has been supplying Israel with not just small round ammunition but much heavier calibre weapons, weapons systems and fighter jet parts that are not being used in a war but in a genocide.”
“I do not know if it is possible to bring in more than one Minister - similar to the Commencement matter issue, there are these issues around demarcation - to have a proper debate on the abject living conditions for disabled citizens in Ireland, especially as we approach the Presidency of the EU. It is Ireland's absolute shame, and it is unnecessary.”
“I have just come from a disability matters committee meeting this morning. In that committee meeting, three parents and carers expressed the view to the committee that they hoped their adult children would predecease them, that they would die before they do. What kind of a society are we that parents and carers like me live in fear of what happens to our children when we die? I have written to both the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, about these issues and I have not even received an acknowledgement. I would like to have a debate in this House.”