Peadar Tóibín

I wish to raise neutrality in the European context. Incredibly, there was an article published in The Times in the last few weeks that reported an allegation made by British intelligence that Wexford fishermen have been approached by the Russian army to pull cable-cutting tools behind their trawlers to cut Irish cables. It is an incredible allegation that besmirches and blackens the names of those…

Will the Minister of State raise the issue of the shocking allegations being made by British intelligence against fishermen in this country about the cutting of cables off the coast of Ireland? Will he demand the British ambassador and Keir Starmer's Government provide evidence and information about these allegations, desist from making them and withdraw them? Will he also call out the objective b…

The Taoiseach’s record on Mercosur has been a disaster. Last week saw one of the most incredible flip-flops in political history. One day, the Taoiseach was in support of Mercosur, saying it could be of benefit to the State and the next day he came out against it as well. I am not sure if that flip-flop came as a result of instability within Fianna Fáil and the backlash from its TDs or because Fin…

We have not discussed the changes or why the Taoiseach changed his mind on Mercosur within 24 hours.

The Taoiseach changed his language, then.

It is still an existential threat to rural Ireland.

For many, it will be.

I wish to raise the decision by Paschal Donohoe to excessively fund the World Bank to the tune of €10 million. There is potentially a serious conflict of interest in relation to this. That a former Minister for Finance would provide an extra €10 million of funding in excess of what the World Bank sought and in excess of what his own officials in the Department advised, an increase of 33% in fundin…

It was €148 million.

That is not what the FOI states.

14. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [71606/25]

The housing crisis has had varied and wide ramifications in Irish society. One of them is a serious fall in the fertility rate in this State. There has been a 30% fall in the number of births annually. There has been a 20,000 fall in the number of births annually since Celtic tiger times. Some 69% of people aged 25 years or under are living with their parents. Well over 40% of adults who are under…

They are; 30 schools are falling this year. And childcare.

23. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at COP30. [71607/25]

Today the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, stated that the Mercosur deal held many benefits for the Irish farmers and the wider economy. He said that for Ireland, Mercosur could be a significant beneficiary. This is incredible. It is the Minister of State putting up the white flag of surrender in terms of Mercosur. It comes just a few days after the Government put up the white flag in terms…

What is our position?

10. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national security strategy. [67809/25]

Can the Taoiseach categorically say that the Government is able to protect all of the EU leaders who will come to this country during the EU Presidency? Who launched the drones that were seen off Dublin Bay during the Zelenskyy visit? Why were those drones not dealt with? Where did these drones come from? Where did they retreat to? How come none of that information is known at this stage? Who was …

The Taoiseach has not categorically-----

-----stated that EU leaders will be safe during the Presidency.

He also has not stated where those drones came from and where they went.

He has not answered those questions.

Why will the Taoiseach not answer the question about the drones?

22. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [67810/25]

The Navan to Dublin rail line is not included in the national development plan review as a project that will start to be built before 2030. It has no start date for construction at all at the moment. It is up to a future government to fund the construction of a Navan to Dublin rail line. No money has been assigned or ring-fenced for that particular project, despite the fact there are 90,000 people…