Cian O'Callaghan

162. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will ensure the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, is fully divested from all companies, directly and indirectly, involved in illegally occupied Palestinian territories; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10053/26]

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, still has investments in companies operating in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories. Over €6 million of our money remained invested in six companies identified on the UN database at the end of 2024. This is an arm of our State actively profiting from companies working on illegally occupied land. Will the Tánaiste ensure that the ISIF fully di…

The issue here is that there should not be a single cent of Irish public money invested in companies operating illegally in the occupied territories of Palestine. I do not believe there is any public support for our money being used in that way. What is clearly needed is an absolutely full divestment by the ISIF - which invests public money - from companies operating in the occupied territories. I…

I am not clear whether the Tánaiste is actually justifying the current situation. Is he justifying it or making excuses for it? Not a single cent of our money should be invested in companies operating in illegally occupied territories in Palestine. The Tánaiste knows this and I know this. The public do not want their money invested there. I am making an easy ask to the Tánaiste. I am not asking h…

"Who will care for our daughter when we are no longer able to do so? Nobody is able to answer that question." These are the words of Tony Murray, a 71-year-old man from Dublin who is at his wits' end looking for answers. Tony and his wife Susan are full-time carers for their 42-year-old daughter, Aoife, who has an intellectual disability. They are just one of the thousands of families where elderl…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. The disability capacity review in 2021 identified a very urgent need to substantially increase the amount of appropriate housing for adults with intellectual disabilities. What precisely has been done on foot of that review in 2021? The State is literally waiting for the advocates for people with intellectual disabilities to die before anything happens so not…

16. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach for an update on the programme for Government. [6067/26]

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the unacceptable delay in paying agreed pension increases to retired workers of An Post and CIÉ. A 7% increase for An Post pensioners was agreed back in September. The Minister was asked to approve this increase from 23 October, yet pensioners are still waiting while the Minister stalls and delays. It has been almost 18 years since CIÉ pensioners have received an…

The housing completion figures announced earlier show that we are thousands of homes short of the target the Tánaiste set. The number of homes is almost 5,000 short of the 41,000 that he promised to deliver. Of course, the Government is trying to run away from that target now. The housing Minister has decided that annual targets are a distraction. A distraction from what? This is the number of new…

Just over a year ago, the Tánaiste promised voters 41,000 homes in his party's election manifesto. Just weeks before the election, the Government promised the delivery of 41,000 homes in 2025. The Government failed to meet the target it set for itself by almost 5,000 homes, and the Tánaiste is dressing up this failure as some sort of success. The Government is presiding over a situation where ren…

You are going to evade your targets and your promises.

I thank everyone who contributed to the discussion and my colleagues, Deputies Quaide and Hayes, for bringing forward the motion and all the work they did on it. I first want to address the very serious comments made by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, earlier on. He said he did not want a misleading or dangerous message going out that people must choose between food and heating. These comments sho…

If there is any implication of getting onto them to-----

I am glad the Minister clarified that. However, his comments are nonetheless very disturbing. They do not show a knowledge of the realities that are faced by disabled people due to the Government's decision to cut the incomes of disabled people by €1,400 in the budget. That is an absolutely unforgivable decision on any scale and is utterly unnecessary at a time when we have a budget surplus runnin…

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our sympathies to the family of the late Brian O'Shea. He indeed was a gentleman. The Government recognises the significant additional costs disabled people can face in their daily lives. Those are not my words. That is a line that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Dara Calleary, has trotted out repeatedly since he was appointed last year. He …

There is no misrepresentation. Disabled people's organisations have been saying this. I quoted exactly what Joan Carthy from the Irish Wheelchair Association said in response to the Taoiseach's comments a couple of weeks ago. She said that disabled people are being forced to choose between heating and food. For the Government to label what disabled people are saying as misleading and dangerous is …

Yes, you did.

They are €1,400 worse off.

I will make some general points on infrastructure but I want to say at the outset that the Government decision on pausing DART+ South West, which is not in my constituency and is not an issue for most people in my constituency, is incredibly regressive. The project should be going ahead straight away. It is ready to go in terms of planning. The only delay has been caused by the Government. It is i…

There is record homelessness.

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our continued solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The horrific bombardment of civilians and civilian infrastructure by Putin and his forces over the past four years has been utterly reprehensible, as has been the abduction of children. The ordinary people of Ukraine are suffering day by day because of this needless war, whether that is the loss of li…

Donald Trump's Board of Peace was billed as a body that would oversee governance and reconstruction in Gaza. However, its proposed charter does not even mention Gaza. Instead it gives a broad mandate to resolve global conflicts. Given the list of people who have signalled they will join it is clear the outfit should be renamed the board of autocrats and war criminals. Included in their number are …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Tánaiste. The stated position, therefore, of the Government on Trump's so-called Board of Peace is that it is considering its response. That has been the stated position up to now. Will the Tánaiste rule out, unequivocally and categorically, that Ireland will not be involved in any shape or form with this travesty Trump is putting forward? Will he do that and do that now? …

What about the occupied territories Bill?

I welcome to the Gallery healthcare assistants from Northside Home Care. They are workers who do incredibly important work. They work antisocial hours, on evenings and weekends. Many of them worked on Christmas Day and despite their Trojan work for our elderly, they receive only the minimum wage or just above it. Their pay levels are effectively below what they were paid in 2009. They received pay…