Sinéad Gibney

79. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether her Department will prioritise overseas aid and development as a key topic during the EU presidency, particularly in the context of decreasing overseas development aid budgets across Europe, and the impact those cuts are having on communities around the world; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8704/26]

I had not prepared for this as such but I am keen to get the Minister of State's thoughts on it. It is about whether the Department will prioritise overseas aid and development as a key topic during the EU Presidency. I am sure this is a topic he will happily speak to for two minutes, particularly in the context of decreasing overseas development aid budgets across Europe and the impact those cuts…

I agree. It is great to hear that it will be a point of focus for the Minister of State in the second half of this year, when we have the opportunity during the Presidency of the European Union. As he referenced, which I also did in my question, this is obviously within the context of USAID being cut, for example. That is really just storing up problems. It is the definition of storing up problems…

On defence without peacebuilding, you can end conflicts and ensure peace and human rights are championed, which builds the off-ramp for war-torn regions. This is concerning for me because earlier this week at the European affairs committee, I pressed Commissioner Serafin on this. It is clear to me that Europe is investing in war and military spending. All of the mechanisms that are available to me…

I share my sympathies and condolences with everybody involved in the terrible accident this morning on North Earl Street. I am contacted regularly by my constituents in Dublin Rathdown about road safety issues. I will focus my comments today on cycling. There are so many topics I want to talk about but this is to get the best use out of my time. People contact me about things like the need for pe…

I echo my party colleague's baffled and confounded response to this legislation. It fails to acknowledge the absolutely dire situation that so many renters are in, the crisis and emergency that this Government has created and the failure of the Government to provide any solutions. The system is pricing people out of renting and this Bill is only going to make matters worse. In my constituency, gr…

It does.

That is untrue. You are so cynical.

You have known that for a decade. You have been in power for a decade and you have not delivered.

I welcome this incredibly timely Bill from Deputy O'Gorman on the regulation of drones because it is long overdue. I share others' concerns that the Government does not agree that it is timely, given that it is kicking it down the road. I want to address the kind of message I get back when I push for greater regulation across the tech space more broadly. I am thinking of online safety and the onl…

I appreciate the confirmation. As we have heard, that is genuinely what people are using them for. That is my point.

Yes, I agree with Deputy Coppinger. If this can save lives by delivering medical equipment-----

Can I continue, please? If this can save lives, make a meaningful contribution to the public interest or help in the delivery of health services or essential public services, I am all for it. I am all for creating a regulatory framework that will facilitate that but what we do not have is exactly that. A regulatory framework is absent; therefore, trivial and mass-scale commercial drone usage is wh…

Genuinely.

People with disabilities in this country consistently live in poverty and experience financial struggles much more than the general population, as we have heard in detail from my colleagues this morning. Addressing the cost of disability is not giving something extra for people with disabilities as an act of generosity or pity. It is about creating a more equal Ireland and realising the rights of …

You are in government.

Schools.

In his opening comments, the Minister said that the Government fundamentally believes in the right to claim asylum, yet, this legislation brings us in exactly the opposite direction as a State. That has been the case since we have seen this Government take office, where we have simply seen an attack on international protection as a concept, and language and rhetoric that demonises people in their …

The Taoiseach said in 2013 that the triple lock is at the heart of Irish neutrality. The Government proceeds to say it supports neutrality while it advances its plans to abandon the triple lock, even though, in poll after poll, the people say they want to protect Irish neutrality. We need a serious discussion about it this week.

First, I would like to move amendment No. 2 to the motion.

Okay. To summarise it briefly, it is a small amendment that simply adds a day-one entitlement to the request for remote working. This is based on the fact that I am currently working on legislation in this area which I will soon be bringing to the floor of the Dáil. I will come back to that at the end of my comments. I thank the Labour Party for bringing this important motion forward. Remote and …

I will spend my time speaking about international law and global order, which has been the focus of some of the Minister's comments. Increasingly the talk we hear from leaders in our Government and from other European leaders is about the global order and the rules-based order. I am so frustrated with people essentially speaking out of both sides of their mouths. We cannot speak about global order…

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I welcome this Bill to finally regulate home care services. The Social Democrats have long advocated for a statutory right to home care and this regulatory framework is an important element of that. As it stands, home care services remain unregulated, despite the vast majority of home care hours being funded by the HSE. While State-provided and State-funded home …

Compliance with the law is not a gift for X to give to this State but this is the benevolent tone in which it announced this morning that it will indeed comply with law in jurisdictions where that law exists. This belated assurance for geo-blocking, which in itself is hugely problematic because it can be so easily circumnavigated, is too little, too late. It is not surprising that we are hearing …

But they are not doing-----