Richard Boyd Barrett

We wanted it in public ownership for the students.

He is just a profiteer.

He is the one who started it.

As we speak, flotilla organisers are reporting that the Israeli military is shooting rubber bullets at one of the last boats that has not yet been kidnapped by Israel, which has an Irish citizen on it. The Government has indicated that it will vote tomorrow against the Bill we have put forward calling for sanctions against the state that is doing this.

What crime do the Israelis have to commit-----

-----against Irish citizens or Palestinians before the Government will support sanctions?

Not agreed.

As I said to the Taoiseach earlier on, I am getting reports from the flotilla organisers that Israel is shooting rubber bullets at boats that have Irish citizens on them, who have not yet been kidnapped by this rogue regime. There would be uproar if Russia kidnapped people on the open seas, for example. There were sanctions immediately when it invaded Ukraine. There would be outrage. The Governmen…

Has the Government put sanctions on it?

I did.

The Spanish imposed sanctions; the Government has not.

Not false.

11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland will next meet. [34872/26]

On Sunday in Ardboe, thousands of people marched to save Lough Neagh from environmental disaster due to the extreme eutrophication of the waters of Lough Neagh. The protest saw fishermen, swimmers, trade union activists, environmentalists and many more squarely put the blame on all of the major parties in Stormont for failing to prevent the greenlighting of factory farms that are polluting Lough N…

25. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [34875/26]

The liberalisation of the energy markets across Europe was supposed to benefit consumers. The removal of the ESB’s not-for-profit mandate and the introduction of competition into the market actually resulted across Europe in a 40% increase in energy costs. In Ireland, however, the increase was 267%. What we actually got was competition that led to rampant profiteering by private energy companies. …

Wind has not brought down the price of electricity.

The Taoiseach did not respond to my question about privatisation.

I am sharing time with Deputy O'Gorman. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue of biodiversity. There are a lot of aspects to it. One that is directly relevant to my own area is the issue of marine protected areas. I have raised this point many times. The Government has failed to adequately protect sensitive marine environments. The EU biodiversity strategy 2030 and the UN biodiversity fra…

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Government does not want to solve the housing crisis, and that it is serving the interests of people who profit from it. The worse it gets, the more those people profit. Why do I say that? The consequence of the changes around the rents in resetting them and allowing rent increases up to market levels has been an absolute disaster. For example, in…

He just appeared.

I want to ring the alarm bell in respect of this legislation. Its introduction represents a sleight of hand whereby an apparently benign and innocuous Bill that is supposedly about supporting enterprise and industry is, in fact, a Bill that is being used to smuggle in something much more sinister. That is what is happening with the Bill. If I am right about that, it proves the Government absolutel…

I am paraphrasing.

Since the Ceann Comhairle mentioned that, it might be worth quoting them directly. For example, Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, that is, the minister in charge of the IDF, described the Palestinians in the context of the assault on Gaza as "human animals".

Yes, that was in front of the ICJ. It was part of the evidence submitted to the ICJ.