Richard Boyd Barrett

We have not.

The Taoiseach did not answer the question.

16. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach how he intends to increase the coordination role of his Department in national security. [12374/25]

I strongly advise people to read George Orwell's book 1984 in which the world is divided into three blocs and governments tell people to live in fear of the others all the time to justify increasing authoritarianism and more expenditure on arms and weapons while working people are kept down and denied the money that is going into weapons and arms, which should go into health, education and housing…

It is absolutely disgusting. These were peaceful women protestors on a Mother's Day protest. Does the Taoiseach condone that kind of treatment of people who were a threat to nobody? It is absolutely outrageous behaviour. Does the Taoiseach condemn that? Is that where we are heading? Is that the sort of society we are heading for? They were protesting about our continued complicity with the genocid…

They said they were going to leave after one hour.

Do not compare the two.

These protestors were sitting down.

They said they would leave after one hour.

Israeli war bonds. That is complicity. Absolutely it is.

Israeli war bonds.

We do not have any time to do anything.

Oh, Jesus.

Regrettably, the Ceann Comhairle has compromised the integrity of her position and her independence by involving herself in the grubby deal that was done between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and Michael Lowry, the politician who was found by the Moriarty tribunal to be "profoundly corrupt". The reasons for that, obviously, are that the Government does not care about corruption and is quite willing to…

Exactly.

Why did you not put that on the agenda?

It is your motion.

Fact check.

2. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science following the reduction to higher education student fees, if he will provide assurance that student fees will not rise again in the future; if he is considering fully abolishing further and higher education student fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14941/25]

I have a suggestion for the Minister. It is to abolish all fees for third level and for apprenticeships. We have critical shortages in skills across our economy and across our society. It makes no sense to have fees. My question today particularly relates to the Union of Students in Ireland's concerns that not only is the Government not going to abolish fees, which it should, but it is actually th…

Yes, the Minister comes in and then Deputy McGettigan gets to respond.

It is unusual for Priority Questions to be grouped.

It is unusual for Priority Questions to be grouped.

Yeah, right. Is the Minister considering getting rid of the temporary reduction in fees or not? He should just tell us straight. He should not get rid of it. Doing so is outrageous and he should be going in the opposite direction. Why? There is now a 15% dropout rate among undergraduates. Five thousand drop out in first year, representing an increase in recent times up to 12% from 9%. What governm…

If 5,000 undergraduates dropping out each year does not concern the Minister, he really needs to rethink his being the Minister for higher education. It is obvious that we have an urgent problem affecting our entire economy and society owing to the lack of skilled people, as well as the mental health issues and all the stress put on the students who drop out and their families. I suspect there is …