Duncan Smith

It was incredible for the Minister of State to say our motivation for calling for the introduction of a mini-budget was impatience and that it was because the Government is not bringing in its budgets quickly enough. We do not support the programme for Government. If its first budget is anything to go by, the Government has no interest in helping ordinary workers and families given that it priorit…

Now that Ireland is lamentably at the top of the list in terms of the highest cost of electricity, and people are pinned to their absolute collar, there has to be an emergency debate and discussion for a mini-budget this week. We cannot agree to the Order of Business on those grounds.

We, in the Labour Party, also welcome the International Claims Commission for Ukraine being established and the Irish support for the same. In a world where the international rules-based order is unravelling and disintegrating, it is instruments such as this that we need to support and hold firm with, along with many others. Of course, as stated by the Minister, the success of this instrument will…

I raise with the Tánaiste Loreto College in Swords, a State school that was not included in the roll-out of 105 new projects to progress to tender or construction earlier this year. This omission is not without its immediate consequences. Existing students and staff will continue to work and learn in overcrowded conditions. Most pertinently, up to 16 girls will be unable to take part in transitio…

In the long history of this Dáil there have only been two debates on football. This is the second, and the first was in 2023, put forward by the Labour Party. This debate is only happening because of a request from the Labour Party to put football front and centre in terms of much-needed funding. Our colleague, Deputy Ged Nash, is convening a cross-party group on football in the coming weeks, whic…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 3, to delete lines 11 to 13. I will be pressing this amendment.

This amendment will delete section 2. Section 2 inserts a number of references to the new section 25A which would be inserted into the Arbitration Act 2010 under section 4 of this Bill. A separate amendment to delete that subsection itself has, unfortunately, been ruled out of order. The new section 25A provides that awards made pursuant to Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CET…

It is worth clarifying that we know the difference between an ISDS system and an investor court system. There is not much of a difference. The investor court system really formalises the previous ISDS system, but in effect they do the same thing. We have had this at committee. It was an absolute disgrace that we did not have pre-legislative scrutiny on this. It was remiss of me to not commend Lynn…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 3, to delete lines 14 to 18.

I move amendment No. 11: In page 4, to delete lines 3 to 13. This amendment would delete subsection (2) of the new section 25A, to be inserted to the Arbitration Act 2010 under section 4 of the Bill. The purpose of the amendment is to allow us time to consider whether subsection (4)(2) of the new section 25A is compatible with agreements such as CETA. If CETA or any other international agreement…

We did not have much time to debate this even on Committee Stage. The Minister of State accused us of putting forward hypotheticals to scaremonger even though we are basing them on a number of cases that have taken place internationally. He has constantly told us that X, Y and Z have to happen, ultimately this is really rare and probably will not happen anyway so what is the big worry but this is …

It is unacceptable, after three weeks, that the Taoiseach is not having Leaders' Questions, Taoiseach's Questions or Questions on Policy or Legislation when we need scrutiny more than ever, given what we have had over the past week. It is utterly unacceptable. It is absolutely unprecedented that all we are going to have today is a proper spectacle when we should be having accountability.

71. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether she supports the calls from Colombian President Gustavo Petros for states to invoke Resolution 377, the UN’s uniting for peace mechanism in relation to Gaza; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22633/26]

Staying with the issue of Gaza, I accept the Minister's point that we all want to work together and make progress towards peace but what we have now is Trump's odious, so-called Board of Peace, which is anything but that. Would the Minister and the Irish State support the calls from the Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, for states to invoke UN Resolution 377, the UN's uniting for peace mechanism…

I thank the Minister. I am fully aware of the limits and obligations of the uniting for peace resolution. However, we are in a desperate situation. The ceasefire is Gaza is a ceasefire only in name. Bombardments continue. People continue to be killed daily. Aid continues to be blocked. Earlier this week, three planned UN convoys to collect supplies from the crossing had to be cancelled after the I…

That is what I want. What is the Irish Government's position on the Board of Peace? Are we in favour of it? Are we backing this board or are we remaining silent and seeing what, if anything, it manages to achieve? It seems we are paralysed in terms of calling it out. The Government needs to support Resolution 377 A at the UN. We need to pass the occupied territories Bill in full. Deputy Ó Laoghai…

I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Dillon. I acknowledge his endurance this afternoon after taking eight Topical Issue matters in advance of this debate. I also thank Edel O'Shea, a constituent of mine, who worked with me on this Bill. I thank the Irish Cancer Society, which as many of us in this Chamber will know has always been fantasti…

I am deeply disappointed by the response. We believe the Organisation of Working Time Act is the correct legislative mechanism for this. What makes this different from carer's leave, maternity leave or paternity leave is that this is a short period of leave of no more than a day, sometimes a morning. This is not extended leave. This is not leave for weeks or months. The Minister of State feels dif…

I thank Deputy Kelly for bringing this motion forward today. It is very important. One of the biggest failures of successive governments has been the failure to invest in our gardaí, Garda resources and Garda stations. It is an absolute scandal and it is vitally important we are talking about this today. Our Garda numbers are very far down. I will talk about road traffic gardaí in a few moments b…

I will pick up on what my colleague, Deputy Ahern, was speaking about. We are living in an era in which shock events are becoming more regular due to irrational, unpredictable and, quite frankly, dangerous leadership among the big powers. The world's reliance on fossil fuels has become the source of global conflict. The ultimate impact of this is not only that it causes deaths in those regions whe…

I register my utter dissatisfaction with how business is being operated. Eight minutes before we were due to sit today, we got a new agenda that will give us just an hour to discuss the financial resolutions on the only thing that people have been talking about over the past couple of weeks. It is utterly unsatisfactory and we register huge objection.

The Taoiseach, like me and probably many people in this Chamber, probably learned to swim in a local authority or community pool. Fingal has no local authority pool. The closest we have to one is the not-for-profit pool provided by Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Centre. Due to extensive works needed for the pool roof, the pool is closed indefinitely. This is not only threatening jobs and the viabi…

And vital.

Before I discuss the issue of the Middle East, I preface my comments with reference to the consular response to our citizens who have been stuck, indeed trapped, in the Middle East. Our consular response has been really good. We need to remember our missions are not set up or orientated towards the mass evacuation of citizens or people stuck in transit. There will be difficulties and we hope peopl…

I welcome the fact the Minister of State from the Department of Education and Youth is here to take this Topical Issue. As the Minister of State knows, I represent Dublin Fingal East. It is a rapidly growing area, with house building in east Fingal, and all towns are growing rapidly. This is good and we need houses. With this come a lot of young families and pressure on local infrastructure. This …