Many in this room will be aware that at the fall of Kabul, when the western states left Afghanistan, the Irish ambassador to the UN at the time issued a statement that Ireland stood with the women of Afghanistan. What exactly did that mean? It meant sweet damn all, to be honest about it. Few of us can be unaware of what is going on in the Middle East. It does not matter which side of the argument you are on, whether it is the side of Israel, Gaza or Hezbollah. All three sides - Hamas, Hezbollah and the Israel Defen…

The Minister is welcome to the House. This is my first time addressing him since he was appointed to this role and it is good to have him here. I will start by saying that I have no time for the Israelis and what they have done. I compliment the Irish Government on taking the decision to support the South African case. What is being done by Israel - and I include Hamas and Hezbollah in this - with the slaughter of innocent citizens is unacceptable on any scale. What Israel has done is murder on almost an industrial…

The Minister, before he left the Chamber, gave oxygen to this legislation, and thank God for that. I oppose the Bill as it is currently written. I compliment the Civil Engagement Group on the work it has done. Senator Black has been a strong voice for Palestine in this House for as long as she has been here. She is to be commended for that. I ask that we suspend Committee Stage and allow the engagement the Minister offered. This Bill needs to be passed but it needs to be revised and broadened out. I fully appreciat…

Why would we single out one country? Let us look at the practice of bringing armaments through Ireland by any country. It is wrong in every sense of the word. When we offered our unequivocal support to Ukraine, which I fully endorsed, it never came before the Oireachtas to be debated. People talk in this Chamber about neutrality but we have never-----

Yes, and section 2 is about controlling armaments.

I thank the Acting Chairperson for the clarification. I want the Bill to pass but to pass in such a way that it can actually be implemented. All speakers referred to aircraft flying through our airspace. We cannot see what is in our airspace. We cannot get up to our airspace and force rogue aircraft carrying munitions to land in Ireland in order to inspect what is in their fuselage. How can we pass legislation that is impossible to implement? There is an offer on the table from the Minister to work with Department …

I understand why people want to finish Committee Stage today. However, my colleagues have been long enough in this House to know that on Committee Stage, we can thoroughly debate each amendment as it comes forward. One can speak as often as one wants, for as long as one wants, to drive home the message, try to convince people of one’s position and have a matter thoroughly debated for people to consider. Members know that when we get to Report Stage, they get to speak once and that is it. Each contributor can speak …

I understand that but-----

I would like to respond, if I may.

I wish to respond. There was an allegation made that I am being disingenuous. I am not being disingenuous. The Bill needs redrafting. Amendments would not do it.

Section 3(4)(b) refers to “arrang[ing] for the seizure of any goods on board in contravention of this Act by the Defence Forces”. Let us say, for example, an aircraft is inspected and is found to have goods that are in contravention of the Act. Under what legislation specifically would this action be legally carried out by our Defence Forces? Where in the legislation have our Defence Forces got the authority to go onto an aircraft belonging to a foreign country and seize goods that are in contravention of the Bill,…

The N24.

I wish Jeremy well as he moves on. Onwards and upwards. George has a tough act to follow. We will be watching and we will appraise him at the end of the year and let him know how he is doing. Last week, my colleague Senator Ahearn spoke about debates and discussions on whether Ireland is neutral or what its position is. We have an obligation in this House and the other House to speak factually about what exactly Ireland is. Ireland is not neutral and never was. Ireland's triple lock has absolutely nothing to do wit…

It is Daffodil Day. My beautiful daughter, at the age of 19, found a mouth ulcer under her tongue that simply would not go away. Being young, getting her to go to the doctor was quite a problem, but eventually she went. Long story short, she had a diagnosis of cancer of the tongue. I remember the day we brought her to theatre. I remember her consultant telling us to speak to her for the few days she would be at home before the surgery because she may never speak again, and that she may never eat again. We brought h…

I am wondering today about the woman who is in a queue in some consultant's room awaiting a diagnosis which tells her she has breast cancer, or that her child, husband or brother has cancer. I also wonder about the mother who is at home today with an autistic child who cannot get a place in school, or the young couple who have had their dreams dashed to the ground because they will never see a home. In this Oireachtas, the Dáil has been in session for 62 days and all we can do is argue over eight God-damn minutes. …

I understand that but it reflects on us, a Chathaoirligh, in that, if the Dáil is doing no business, we can do no business. At the end of the day, this has to stop. The public elects us. I know people say Senators are not elected by the public, but we are by default. I plead with all sides to set aside this nonsense and get on with the work of running this State. We need housing, health and education. We need the Defence Forces to be put right. We need so many things in this country. Is eight minutes worth all this…

Hear, hear.

I join with my colleagues who spoke about the man who was invited to the White House on St. Patrick's Day. What an insult to the Irish people to bring somebody over there who had been forced to pay a young woman €250,000 for the horrific way he treated her, and to watch a female in the White House introduce him and say how delighted, proud and fitting it was for this thug to speak to the American people. It was outrageous. The Leader will recall in the last session of the previous Dáil that we debated the local com…

The Minister is welcome to the House. This is my first time to meet her in this House and I offer my congratulations on her elevation. I heard the Minister interviewed on a recent RTÉ programme. She came across as a person who is not prepared to take any old answer. She came across as an assertive and committed Minister. One of the problems with the position she holds is that when things go wrong, the Minister is held accountable and fired while the people who made things go wrong continue in their posts. My collea…

I want to briefly talk about the move by the Government on the triple lock. It is important to point out that no Bill has been published yet. It looks very much as if the debate will go on until the summer because it will take at least that long before the Bill comes before the joint committee and, from there, through Parliament to be debated. It is a matter of great concern that the debate taking place in the public arena is totally ill informed. We have people talking about the great neutral state of Ireland. Ire…