Ruth Coppinger

Stick to the question on the occupied territories Bill.

The point of my contribution was that we are the second biggest trader with Israel. It is worth €3.3 billion. The occupied territories Bill is a fraction of that. It is a welcome step. The question is why the Government is not moving forward the whole occupied territories Bill that was originally proposed in the Dáil six years ago. It was unanimously or certainly overwhelmingly supported. Fianna F…

For 20 months, we have all known that what has been going on is wrong and very little has been done by Ireland-----

-----to use the levers. The levers are there, but is the Government willing to pull them?

The first lever is the occupied territories Bill. The Government needs to move it and make sure the Bill gets in before the recess. However, there are other issues such as Shannon Airport and the Bill on the Israeli war bonds, which the Tánaiste and members of Government voted down. The bar is low in the EU. There is no point in comparing yourself to them.

This is about a neutral country standing up for the people of Palestine.

You are collaborators with the Israeli regime.

You are seen as that by Palestinians.

Talk to Palestinians.

Last night, the "Natasha" documentary on RTÉ charted what happened to Natasha O'Brien. It was a valuable documentary. I want the Tánaiste to take seriously the case of a woman who has spoken to me and who was abused by an Army member. He used his Army position, military surveillance, Army guns and even a grenade to threaten her and her family. He told this woman that he was untouchable. I am talki…

The problem with this legislation is defining who are the terrorists in the world right now. The biggest terrorists in the world right now are Israel, the US and Russia. There are many other terrorist states also but they are the big three. To the best of my knowledge, the Government has only condemned one, which is Russia. We are trading and dealing with Israel. We are the second biggest trader, …

Perhaps I could comment on the general maintenance of the Special Criminal Court and the idea of maintaining trials without juries. It is ironic that we talked last month about the counselling notes issue and the Minister said it would be unconstitutional because of the pressing right to a fair trial in our Constitution, yet we can have non-jury trials. How does he match that up? Rape victims can …

You should be.

4. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the Labour Employer Economic Forum; and when it will next meet. [32397/25]

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of union busting and anti-union tactics by companies which are in receipt of huge State contracts and whether he thinks that is acceptable. One of the companies is one of the largest mechanical contractors in the State, Jones Engineering, which has a contract for the national children's hospital and potentially other State contracts. It has consistentl…

13. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will next meet. [32398/25]

On the issue of children's health in this country, the Taoiseach gave a glowing introduction, but we have the ongoing scandals at CHI. The latest is no disclosure to parents of the failure of CHI to operate or give treatment to boys with undescended testes leading to potential infertility and cancer issues. Yet, that did not meet the threshold for disclosure. I do not have time in this interaction…

There is a huge shortage.

On that same issue, Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a muscle-wasting progressive illness that normally starts affecting boys aged between two to three years. It is a life-altering condition. One parent said her four-year-old could be knocked down by gust of wind. The condition is progressive. Walking can sometimes become difficult and the patient can become a wheelchair user. The disorder has no cu…

3. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the climate action plan progress reports for the remainder of 2024 will be published by his Department. [29591/25]

Is this a government of climate deniers? Has the Government just given up any pretence of trying to deal with the climate crisis? We are due to reach a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 23% rather than 51%. We are not going to reach one third of the targets for agriculture. We have the worst emissions in Europe. We are now the dirty country of Europe. Half of Dublin's electricity is going …

19. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the progress of the national security strategy. [29592/25]

What is our country's security strategy going forward? It seems to be so tied in with the EU that we cannot assert our own so-called values and beliefs. For example, the Taoiseach says there is a genocide on Gaza, as does the Tánaiste. Ursula von der Leyen says it is Israel defending itself. It was an incredible statement that was put out over the weekend, after Israel had bombed Iran, to say that…

We are doing all this to impress the EU but it is not what the Irish people want.

The Taoiseach mentioned the Middle East. That is why I mentioned it.