Sinéad Gibney

None of them are combat vessels; excellent. We need to have a candid conversation about sub-sea infrastructure and the shadow fleet because that is the other context in which this arises. We could have the finest combat vessels available patrolling every inch of Irish waters, but most of the sub-sea infrastructure we are talking about also runs outside of our territorial waters. In those situation…

A third were reversed.

As the Social Democrats Party's spokesperson on the arts, I warmly thank and congratulate Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation, for championing this and for bringing in comedians today to brief us as a House. As Deputy Ahern has just done, I wish to outline my own comedy connections and why I feel such a connection with this legislation. One of the most important people in my li…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic today because this is an area I have deep expertise in. For ten years before becoming a TD, I worked in human rights and equality and for the second half of that decade, international protection was my primary focus. I find it incredible to listen to the statements from Government representatives here today calling for action on certain elements of …

Families up and down the country are struggling with energy affordability. Despite the fact this Government and the previous one failed to act on that and failed to invest in the grid and in renewable energy, what we saw yesterday was a report from another toothless task force telling us it will put forward recommendations next year. We need statements this week to discuss what action can be taken…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this vital topic. I also acknowledge Deputy Mac Lochlainn for his continued efforts to push for this and the Minister of State's attendance here as the relevant member of the Government. I want to make a few points today. This is a community that has been consistently left behind. It speaks to an area of my portfolio, which is the trade and sustainable industr…

Táimid uilig sásta go bhfuilimid ag iarraidh Éire aontaithe ach caithfimid an obair a dhéanamh ionas go dtarlóidh sé. We in the Social Democrats welcome this motion because the work needs to be done. We need to prepare for and implement the suggestions to build that road towards a united Ireland. They are not new suggestions. They have been knocking around for a long time now. This is a position a…

89. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in the context of the recent ceasefire, the steps Ireland is taking to pursue accountability over the genocide in Gaza, and the continued occupation of the West Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57171/25]

I know we all welcome the ceasefire in Gaza, fragile as it is, as we heard this evening, but it is disheartening that Palestinians continue to die at the hands of Israel. With continuing illegal annexation of the West Bank and the Tánaiste's own words calling what happened in Gaza a genocide, what is he doing to seek accountability for these crimes against humanity?

With respect, the Government has kicked the occupied territories Bill down the road. It appears set to exclude services, despite that being legally necessary and legally possible and recommended by Government backbenchers on the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. The ceasefire does not negate the ICJ ruling on the occupied territories, neither do statements on difficulties with ser…

Of course I support the peace and of course we also support the priority of delivering aid to the starving people of Palestine, but that does not remove the elephant in the room of the occupied territories Bill, because that is the very tangible way we can enact sanctions and action against Israel. The aid and leadership we provided are very welcome, but people are keen to hear that, just because …

92. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will consider not granting authorisation for future stopovers of US military planes and planes under the command of the US military in Shannon Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57130/25]

For a long time we have allowed the US military to use Shannon Airport. Over a number of years, we have seen countless protests on this subject - it has been decades, in fact - of a threat to our neutrality and a facilitation of US military operations which contravene our foreign policy. Despite this, on 12 October a US Department of War charter plane carrying troops and munitions of war to Israel…

In November 2023, the then Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar, told the Dáil that no US military flights going through Shannon were going to Israel. This seems to have been the policy of successive Irish Governments since 2006. Now it appears that as well as diplomatic clearance, the Department of Transport signed off on the plane carrying munitions of war through Irish airspace to Israel, as well as …

It is 12 October.

No, 12 October, this month.

That is correct.

I find it baffling that the Minister cannot tell me why he has allowed this to happen. He is saying that it is the Department of Transport. Surely this is a foreign affairs issue, and surely he should be taking responsibility for it. It has been raised in this Chamber many times. It was bad enough that we have stood by and allowed munitions of war to pass through Irish airspace en route to Israel …

This morning I hosted a briefing with Uplift, ICCL and the Hope and Courage Collective. We talked about the dangers we all face online, including the security risks, the threats to democracy and the threats to our children, all posed by the lack of regulation of social media giants. We do not enforce the laws that we have. We were told by experts this morning that the perception internationally is…

I wish to make three main points in my contribution: building defects are a legacy of lack of oversight from this Government; it is clear the parameters around redress are wrong and we are leaving people behind so let us fix it; and, finally, the burden for fixing this problem has been placed until now, on people who did not do anything wrong. Building defects are a legacy of a lack of oversight,…

In this budget, the Government has clearly prioritised big business interests and big developers over ordinary people, ordinary families and ordinary businesses. It is a "McBudget". It is hard to swallow what has been put forward, particularly when the Government had the chance to lift 40,000 children out of poverty, help families who are struggling by providing targeted energy credits, introduce …

Hear, hear.

5. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether he has had any engagement with other Departments on the basic income for the arts scheme, to share learnings from the scheme and help identify other cohorts who may benefit from a basic income scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52579/25]

I echo the words of the Deputy. This scheme has been life-changing for artists. Apologies-----

Thank you. As I was saying, it has been life-changing for artists but also for the rest of us as we benefit from their art. As the RTÉ ad says, "Ag tacú leis na healaíona, ag tacú linn." I have heard from many artists of how vital the scheme is. I am keen to ensure it is improved and extended. It is also a chance to explore a new model of how we support work that is a public good.