2026-01-27

1. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [66790/25]

2. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [1833/26]

3. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [3747/26]

4. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [3922/26]

5. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [3925/26]

6. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Taoiseach for a report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [4037/26]

7. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4087/26]

8. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [5585/26]

9. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [5795/26]

10. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach for a report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [5810/26]

11. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [5811/26]

12. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the G20 in South Africa. [5814/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. I attended the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on 22 and 23 November last. Ireland was among a small number of guest countries invited by South Africa to participate in the G20 during its Presidency, the first time for Ireland to do so. I take the opportunity to again thank the South African Presidency for this invitation and for facilitating our engagement at all levels over the course of its 12 months in office. The G20 brings the world’s largest economies together to discuss some of the most significant challenges we collectively face, including sustainable economic growth and development. Irish Ministers and officials attended over 130 meetings throughout the year, working on a range of issues including sustainability, climate, trade and economic relations, global development and development in Africa. Throughout the year, Ireland sought to make a positive contribution, based on our strong commitment to multilateralism and global development. The two-day summit I attended in Johannesburg in November was the culmination of the South African Presidency. It was the first G20 summit held on African soil, a very welcome development. The meeting adopted the Johannesburg G20 leaders’ declaration, in which we reiterated our unwavering commitment to act in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law and the Charter of the United Nations. The declaration focused on important issues considered during the South African Presidency, including disaster resilience, debt sustainability, financing the energy transition, access to critical minerals and securing inclusive economic growth. At the summit, I formally addressed sessions on inclusive and sustainable economic growth - leaving no one behind, and a resilient world - the G20’s contribution. In my contributions I advocated for economic growth to be inclusive, resilient and sustainable, and for support for the most vulnerable communities impacted by climate change. In the margins, I had several bilateral meetings, including with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, and the president of the African Development Bank, Sidi Ould Tah. I also attended a meeting of the coalition of the willing in the margins of the G20 leaders’ summit in South Africa. Leaders reiterated our unwavering support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity. I took part in a Global Citizen NOW event co-hosted by South Africa and the European Union where I announced a pledge of €5 million to the International Energy Agency’s clean energy transitions programme. I also attended the Eighth Replenishment Summit of the Global Fund, co-hosted by the governments of South Africa and the United Kingdom, where I announced increased support to the Global Fund of €72 million over the next three years, underlining Ireland’s ongoing support for global health initiatives to combat HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. While in South Africa, I also had a number of economic, community and bilateral meetings and events, including addressing an Enterprise Ireland lunch with Irish business leaders, a community event and a Bord Bia event.

One of the G20 members, namely, India, and the European Union today announced the progression of a free-trade agreement which has been almost two decades in the making and will impact over 2 billion people. Has the Government assessed any particular issues risks and indeed opportunities for Ireland in the EU-India free trade agreement? Has it assessed what the ratification process will mean for Ireland?

At the G20 a serious amount of the conversation is on sustainable development. With Storm Chandra, it is fair to say we can see that is not necessarily happening in relation to climate change. We could all come in here and pontificate on the failings of the American President with all the desperate scenarios both domestically in America and internationally. We hope some chickens are coming home to roost and that some sense will prevail but we just cannot tell at this point. I have brought up that my own home town is under severe pressure. Not only do we need to make sure we deal with the issue of climate change, we have to be able to provide the mitigations that are necessary. While huge work is being done by Louth County Council and the fire service, we have a huge level of flooding in Bay Estate, Cluan Enda and Castletown Road as well as out by the Carrickdale hotel on the way north. There could be an element of mitigation that we need to look at. An element of that work needs to be done afterwards while hoping nothing worse happens this evening.

Donald Trump and the US Government chose to boycott the G20 in South Africa on the spurious and ridiculous grounds that there was a genocide going on against white people in South Africa. Of course, the real reason he boycotted it is because South Africa has led the charge against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, rightly indicting the criminals who have committed the genocide against Palestinians and because actually it is a place where masses of people rose up internationally against an apartheid racist regime. Of course, the last countries to join the international boycott against apartheid South Africa were Britain and America, which tells us everything really. Given what is happening now in Minneapolis, with the same Trump who boycotted the G20 on those grounds executing protesters and defending and justifying it, I wonder whether the Taoiseach should indicate his support for those protesting on the streets of Minneapolis against these cruel attacks on protesters.

It really says something when the US boycotts the G20 in South Africa on the grounds of the racist conspiracy theory of white genocide. It is a conspiracy theory propagated by those who want South Africa to go back to apartheid. It is illustrative of a regime that is ruled by a monstrous bully who has torn up any semblance of pretending to care about international law, if US imperialism ever did. Since the start of this year the Americans have kidnapped a president and killed over 100 people in that country of Venezuela, they have threatened to annex Greenland, they have invented this Board of Peace made up of war criminals and authoritarians, and now Donald Trump is excusing and lying about the execution of their own citizens on the streets of Minneapolis by ICE, a state authority. Is the Taoiseach seriously still planning to go to give him a bowl of shamrock and allow him to greenwash himself, to present himself as a friend of the Irish when an Irish grandmother was detained for five months by ICE and when undocumented Irish people are afraid to leave their homes? Why not give the shamrock to them instead of Donald Trump?

The US boycotted the G20 in South Africa on these spurious grounds, further isolating itself from traditional allies. The Taoiseach will go to the White House in couple of months; of that there is no doubt. However, considering what is happening on the streets of Minneapolis, considering the large numbers of members of the Irish diaspora in the United States - that is not to make an exceptional case of the Irish; it is all immigrants and indeed all citizens of the United States who are under threat from ICE - will the Taoiseach use his meeting with the US President as an opportunity to raise the huge human rights concerns we have as a civilised nation, a nation that welcomes immigrants and welcomes asylum seekers, or at least should do, although the Government is rowing back on that? Will he raise that with Donald Trump and ensure, whether it is Irish people living in the United States or other minority groups, that Ireland has their back and we will put pressure on the United States to withdraw its policy in relation to ICE and immigration?

I welcome Margaret Loftus to the Public Gallery. The Taoiseach will know she is a courageous and brave former garda, a survivor of horrific domestic violence whose traumatic experience in seeking justice highlights the urgent need for systemic legislative reform in this country. I want to ask the Taoiseach about the nature and substance of his engagements at the G20 summit specifically in relation to gender-based violence and domestic violence. Were these issues discussed at leader or ministerial level? Can the Taoiseach report on any progress made, commitments secured or concrete arrangements reached as a result of these discussions? How were Ireland's position and the lived experience of survivors like Margaret represented? How will any outcomes from the G20 translate into tangible protections, accountability and access to justice for victims and survivors here in Ireland? It begs the question as to how we can ever adopt a zero-tolerance approach to domestic violence here when the judicial system and the Garda Síochána do not have adequate checks and balances to ensure people like Margaret do not go through the same thing.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach as ucht an nuacht sin a thabhairt don Teach maidir leis an gcruinniú G20. Like Deputy Ó Cearúil I welcome that the EU-India free-trade deal has been finalised today, and the excellent opportunities that provides for SMEs and exporters in our country. What sense did the Taoiseach get from members of the G20 of the importance of continuing to form free-trade deals across the globe and showing multilateralism and free trade is the right approach to take in order to confirm prosperity and peace for everyone? South Africa is a great friend of Ireland and President Ramaphosa was one of the weapons inspectors during the Northern Ireland peace process. There is a strong voice for Africa in this year's G20 summit, which will be hosted by the United States. Ireland will be making it clear that Africa needs to have a voice at this global table.

I thank all the Deputies for raising these issues. This was the first time ever Ireland was invited to be a participant at the G20. It is interesting some people questioned whether I should attend. We have a strong pro-development agenda in Ireland through our development aid programme across different Departments but mainly delivered through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and through Irish Aid. Within that is a strong financial provision and policy around women and girls in conflict and domestic abuse. Margaret Lotus is in the Gallery and I appreciate her bravery and courage in coming forward to tell her story, so we can continue to improve our legislation and the transparency of our agencies, Garda, Defence Forces and so forth. Deputy Ó Cearúil referred to diversification of trade. There is a need for global engagement. We need to engage on a global level with as many countries as possible. The world has dramatically changed since the time of apartheid in South Africa and is a much more interdependent world today than it was back then. I had some very good meetings with Cyril Ramaphosa. I met him on quite a number of occasions. He remembers fondly the time he spent in Ireland helping to decommission weapons. He has the odd humorous anecdote about where he had to go to find some of those weapons and verify their destruction and decommissioning. What was interesting in the declaration was that he skilfully got an outcome, notwithstanding the fact the US was not formally represented but it was at the negotiations in some respects. Other countries were as well. On the trade issue, the EU-India trade agreement is positive. I have to go through the details of it. If you take the Europe-Canada trade agreement, Irish trade has exponentially grown as a result of that CETA trade deal. There is a lot of opposition in the House to it, which I find hard to comprehend. Many Irish small and medium-size companies have done well through exporting goods and services. Many of our multinationals do well also, which improves Irish jobs. India is an important market. It is enormous. This is a historic agreement and it counteracts the push towards protectionism and a tariff-based approach the US has initiated through its policies. Europe is endeavouring to create a counter approach which involves doing trade deals with others and easing trade between different blocs and markets across the world. It is interesting that Canada is pivoting more to Europe as a result of that changed global position in terms of trade. On my visit to China, not only did we get the beef market reopened but it was interesting the Chinese leadership said it acknowledged the interdependence of the world and wanted smoother trading relationships with Europe. There are issues on both sides there: industrial resilience, strategic autonomy and so forth. This is a significant agreement the Commission has arrived at with India. I will get further clarity on the precise mechanisms for agreement on that. There are various mechanisms through which trade deals or aspects of trade deals can be ratified. CETA, for example, was a provisional agreement. We have yet to ratify it but are bringing legislation to the House to do so. Notwithstanding that fact, it has entered provisionally and we have had tremendous growth. A very good document was commissioned by our embassy on the impact of CETA on Ireland and Canada's trade. Our embassy has produced that and it is a very good snapshot of the dramatic improvements. I envisage something similar in India. In the early 2000s, we took a trade mission to India to try to create a significant base for the first time. There were about five Ministers and the then Taoiseach. The idea was to open up India. We did similar with China and look what has happened. The trade has exponentially grown both ways and we have a surplus with China. Likewise, there is lots of potential in Europe-India and the impact on Ireland. Deputy Ó Murchú skilfully wove the G20 and County Louth together in respect of adaptation and mitigation measures.

Irish Water infrastructure as well.

It is a fair point. When you attend these meetings, you see the enormous impact of climate on many African countries, resulting in migration, economic disruption and significant disruption of food production systems. The area of mitigation and adaptation is one we need to focus on more urgently, globally and in Ireland. I will talk to the Minister on the specific issues the Deputy raised. If you look at the weather over the past while, it is changing. Climate is changing. The ground is saturated. It is a serious issue. After Storm Éowyn we did a fundamental review of certain areas - power corridors and so on - and brought in legislation to clarify powers of EirGrid and the ESB vis-á-vis landowners and to have a comprehensive solution to that. There were also generators for Irish Water, generators for community hubs and stronger resourcing of community-based organisations to develop greater resilience on the ground, given the severity of storms that have happened and that are coming our way. Storm Chandra is the latest manifestation of that and serious flooding has resulted from it. The US President did not turn up at G20, although he met with President Ramaphosa earlier in the White House. I had good meetings with President Ramaphosa during our visit to South Africa. There is a degree of self-confidence in the South African approach. South Africa invited Ireland, which speaks volumes for the Irish position on the issues Deputy Boyd Barrett raised. Despite what gets said in the House, South Africa was minded to invite Ireland because of the role we play globally. We are serious. Our officials attended about 130 meetings. Our Ministers did as well. We took it very seriously. We engaged constructively. There is a range of issues like agriculture; anti-corruption; culture; development; digital economy; disaster risk reduction - our officials, the sherpas, were working on that area; education; employment; empowerment of women; energy transitions; environment and climate sustainability; health; research and innovation; tourism; and trade and investment. There is a variety of workshops throughout the year. The debt burden on developing countries was probably the most critical issue that emerged at the G20 summit. It was raised by a lot of African nations. The G20 leaders' declaration acknowledges that debt vulnerabilities, along with other factors, can constrain countries' fiscal space and undermine their ability to deal with poverty and inequality and their capacity to invest in growth and development. Interest payments on public debt have more than doubled over the past decade for low-income countries. It hampers their capacity to lift people out of poverty. There is a need for multilateral development banks to develop more liberal policies in respect of that. The commitment to empowering women and girls and to urgently removing social and economic barriers to gender equity was reaffirmed by the G20 summit. Then there is a whole range of other issues in terms of food security. On the Board of Peace, we met the European Union last week. Obviously, we have very significant concerns in terms of its broad remit. What Europe and Ireland are interested in is the application to Gaza and whether there is a role for the EU in respect of the second phase of the peace process within Gaza. All of the hostages have now been released. I spoke to the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority last week in Davos and he said the most immediate need is shelter. There is an absolutely urgent need in Gaza for shelter. He believes aid is coming in but it is in a very haphazard way in the sense that a lot of basic vital stuff like proteins and that is not coming in to the degree that is necessary. We need a more comprehensive approach. I had a very brief meeting with Tom Fletcher, and a number of Irish officials are doing everything they can to contribute and to help. That is an area on which we are very focused in terms of our engagement with the US both at European and Irish level. Deputy Shane Moynihan again raised the issue of the EU-India trade agreement. Diversification of markets is the key and the opening up of new markets with a view to benefiting world trade more generally, but also our own country. We are a small exporting country. As we export 90% of what we produce, instinctively trade deals are better for us in that scenario. Taking drink products alone, such as whiskey and so on, the tariffs are enormous now. After a trade deal, they come way down. That is very good news for producers of that kind. Obviously, we can go through it sector by sector later, but it will be significant.

I thank the Taoiseach. We will now move to the next questions. Question Nos. 13 to 23 are grouped.