Duncan Smith

I welcome the opportunity to speak on these statements today. Some may believe the situation in Ukraine has gone away, calmed down or settled. Nothing could be further from the truth. This war is becoming more fraught by the day. Despite the invasion and aggression by Russia, the Ukrainian people continue to display immense bravery and dedication to their nation. We are now nearly four years into …

11. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the current levels of staffing in the naval force as of October 2025; the operational capacity of current staffing levels in regard to naval vessels; the timeframe for recruitment to ensure operation of all existing vessels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60493/25]

I continue to be deeply concerned about the level of staffing in the Naval Service. I ask for an update on the operational capacity of the current staffing levels of our naval vessels and the timeframe for recruitment to ensure the operation of all existing vessels.

I thank the Tánaiste for the detail in his reply. He mentioned the difficulty in hiring specialists. A total of €250,000 has been spent this year for external contractors to service naval vessels due to the lack of trained personnel. In August, we read a report that the €300 million project to purchase Ireland's biggest ever naval ship is in the doldrums, as senior Defence Forces personnel seek a …

I appreciate the Tánaiste's candour in terms of the numbers going up, but we may not be able to meet the establishment figure. I hope that we will and we really need to strive for it. The Russian shadow fleet as a huge threat and our undersea cables are very vulnerable. Our neutrality is best served by being able to stand on our own two feet and to engage with our allies on our terms rather than h…

While the world is watching on, Sudan is, in the words of UN Secretary General António Guterres, spiralling out of control. The Yale humanitarian research lab has described the genocide and killings as happening at a velocity and ferocity not seen since the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. Since the civil war began, 15 million people have been displaced. More than 150,000 have been killed in the c…

We are asking the Government to listen to this Chamber, the people's Chamber. It should listen to its own senior backbenchers if it will not listen to the Opposition, follow the data and change its drug policy. We know it is listening to tech bros running op eds about trying to rebrand itself as a government that can deliver on infrastructure. It needs to deliver on people suffering with drug addi…

Since the Business Committee last met the company, Fastway Couriers, has gone into receivership resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs in almost every constituency in the country. We need urgent statements because, as tragic as every job loss is, there are a number of competing factors here which point to huge gaps in our workers' rights legislation that need urgent debate. When will these workers, m…

The Minister will know from his time on Fingal County Council that Donabate-Portrane is one area where the State is delivering houses at scale. Despite the population increase, there is only one direct bus service to Dublin city centre, the 33D at 7.20 a.m., and one back at 5.45 p.m. I have a sheaf of emails from the NTA and Dublin Bus that committed to one extra bus service in the morning and one…

Hear, hear.

I fully support what my colleague, Deputy Kenny, said regarding supporting the Minister on her work in this area. It is very important that work takes place on that side of the House, as well as the Government being held to account. I was present in the Chamber when the Minister made one of the most impactful speeches to the House I have ever seen. We will not allow this to stand in our Parliament…

Our party strongly echoes those concerns, as raised previously.

87. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his engagement with the European Union and other allies in regard to the peace deal in the Middle East; the role Ireland will play in delivering aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57172/25]

It feels odd asking a question about a peace plan and a ceasefire when we see continued attacks perpetrated by Israel on Gaza but we are ostensibly in a peace plan space. I met the Palestinian ambassador last week who was looking forward with hope that we can move towards a real and just peace. There is a long road to go but what is Ireland doing now that we have moved to - hopefully - a phase whe…

What pressure are we able to exert on our European allies and on Israel to ensure that UNRWA can get back up and running as best it can? In fairness, we in Ireland tried to continue to fund UNRWA over the last couple of years when others were pulling back and bowing to Israeli pressure. In calmer times, Ireland has been able to assist and help deliver structural aid in Gaza, such as a solar farm, …

The US Vice President has been in Israel and has been talking about this peace plan albeit 153 tonnes of bombs were dropped by Israel on Gaza yesterday. The US Vice President spoke about a stabilisation force and a peace force. We have a proud tradition in that region of peacekeeping. However, given what we are debating in the coming weeks and months in terms of the triple lock and the future of o…

The Bill before us is not complicated. It makes a small, focused change to the way in which the National Training Fund can be spent. We in the Labour Party have long advocated for better use to be made of this fund. For too long we have seen huge surpluses built up with little in the way of ideas, imagination or indeed a mechanism being put forward on how to spend this money. In the years ahead we…

I echo what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said. At all the Business Committee meetings I have been at, we have seldom had such a direct discussion about needing time as last week - it was on the fisheries issue - and the Chief Whip came down strongly, saying the schedule was full, there was loads of legislation and there was no time for anything. Yet we are engineering a parliamentary schedule that has nev…

While I will not be calling a vote on this, I believe that, given the significant developments in Palestine in the past couple of days, it would be of relevance to the House if we had an update on the overall situation in Palestine, particularly in relation to the provision of aid, both emergency and structural, and Ireland's role in that. What does the Tánaiste mean by having an open mind on peac…

I want to raise the early years sector with the Taoiseach today. Much has been made of the Government's failure to live up to its pre-election promises in this area. I want to focus on a specific area, that is, the community not-for-profit and voluntary sector for early years. In the wider Fingal area there are 291 early years service providers but only 16, or 5%, of them are from the community no…

This was not a budget for the ordinary worker, the fleeced generation or the hoodwinked masses whom the Government fooled into voting for it last year. I got an e-mail from a constituent of mine in Malahide yesterday afternoon. It might interest the Minister because this individual is not a voter of mine. She is actually a voter of the Minister's party. This constituent wrote to me and said she w…

We have no issue with the increase in price on tobacco, but it is worth stating on the record in the debate on this financial resolution that 2025 was supposed to the year that the policy target of a tobacco-free Ireland would be met and that tobacco prevalence would be at 5%. It has been a common thread through the last four Governments - this Government and previous governments, with Fine Gael b…

It cannot be lost on us what we have done here today, in terms of adapting Leaders' Questions to deal with this issue. I commend the Government Chief Whip on allowing this today. I cannot remember a precedent for this, given all the crises we have had before. It was right to do it but it shows that this House can act, adapt and be flexible. I have to bring the Tánaiste back to the occupied territ…

In light of that, would the Tánaiste be confident it will be before the end of November?

Okay. We will have it before the end of November.