I will make a few concluding remarks to follow on from some of the points made by the Taoiseach in his opening iteration because in his 20 minutes he did not cover them all. In regard to the items discussed at the June European Council meeting, as we just finished off on the crucial issue of European defence, it was revisited at the meeting and leaders took stock of progress on the implementation of the defence readiness roadmap. Of course, security is one of Ireland's overarching priorities and that is why we will…

Yes. As Deputies Ó Laoghaire and Smith alluded to, we went through this in quite a bit of detail on Committee Stage and I recognise that as such. It is very much the firm opinion of the Government that such amendments are not required. For the benefit of the House, I will go through the reasons for this. First, I want to address the issue of intention, as raised by Deputy Ó Laoghaire. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Bill is specifically aimed at Israeli settlements. This is stated in both the Long Title and S…

The debate on this issue went into quite a bit of technical and hypothetical detail on Committee Stage. It must be stated clearly that the postcodes are very specific. They do not apply to a broad area. It is not the case that the Netherlands and Belgium have decided to go in a different direction. They are in a public consultation phase, which means it is not a fair comparison. There is the 90% covered by the postcode list and then there is the less than 10% that would, quite clearly, be trading under a different …

I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of Senator Frances Black. I look forward to engaging with her on the legislation in the Seanad next week, all going well. I recall debating with her in the Seanad when she initially introduced her Bill. We sat beside each other. I will try to address as many points as possible in the time allowed to me, bearing in mind the extensive debate, over a number of hours last week, on Committee Stage when Deputies had the opportunity to contribute. It goes without saying that the c…

I have no doubt the Deputy was. I was merely a second-year arts student following Deputy Murphy's lead. In this area, when we talk about what other member states are doing, Slovenia does not have legislation. That is crucial here. I remember sitting with the then Slovenian foreign minister at the Foreign Affairs Council last year. She came up to me and asked, "What are you doing in Ireland? How can we follow your lead?" Unfortunately, that Slovenian Government lost the most recent election, and I say "unfortunately…

That is mad.

I appreciate the opportunity to come back in. This goes to the very clear place that in the case of goods, a public policy exception exists in EU regulation controlling the importation of goods. This gives the Government the opportunity, on foot of the ICJ opinion, to act in this manner on a domestic footing. I am taken by some of the language. Deputy Gibney used the terms "sinister" and "weaponising". We have had quite a cordial debate. I think such terms are out of place. What is sinister about seeking to bring i…

Respectfully, I did not interrupt the Deputy. I waited for my opportunity to intervene. This legislation is absolutely cast iron in line with international and EU law. It moves us towards our full obligations under the ICJ opinion. That is something we have to reflect on. However, there are issues with services, which have been well elucidated. When it comes to the example of Spain, Deputies cannot come into this Chamber and say that a royal degree amendment to a consumer Act, which has only resulted in some 60 or …

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I will speak to the amendments, first and foremost, and then touch on some of the other interventions. On amendment No. 3, the designation of postal codes is not a one-off event. I have them in my hand. The Minister will be required to do this whenever the EU list of postcodes is periodically reviewed and updated. This is just something that is done. Placing a time limit on designation is neither operable nor necessary because we have them designated already. To Dep…

I thank the Deputy for consistently raising this issue in questions and debates and shining a light on what is the greatest humanitarian disaster currently happening on this planet. The conflict in Sudan continues to have a devastating impact on the Sudanese people, particularly women and children. I am particularly alarmed by the Rapid Support Forces' offensive of the city of El Obeid. Following their appalling attacks in El Fasher last year, there is a grave risk of the RSF committing further mass atrocities. The…

In reference to El-Obeid, on 19 June, Fr. Youhanna Al-Amin, a Roman Catholic priest, was killed in an attack on Holy Cross parish church. On the same date, in another attack on an office and warehouse of a partner organisation of Trócaire in South Kordofan, a guard working for the organisation was killed and a colleague wounded. The warehouse, which contained UNICEF medical and nutrition supplies, was looted. Trócaire is an organisation familiar to all of us. We know that the work of Trócaire takes place on a world…

Absolutely. Let us not mince our words. What is occurring in Sudan is the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet. There are acts of pure depravity being perpetrated. Rape is being used as a weapon of war on a scale that has not been seen for a long time. The Irish Government is absolutely committed to continuing to keeping Sudan at the top of the agenda. We have done this consistently at European Council meetings. We have done this through the UN, particularly at the UN General Assembly high-level week. The Mini…

I am very grateful to Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this issue. The Government remains deeply concerned by the security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some progress has been made in the peace process facilitated by the United States, Qatar and the African Union, but the situation remains a matter for very serious concern. We join calls on all parties to respect ceasefire agreements and engage in a process to attain a sustainable peace. All sides must respect their obligations un…

We can all agree that the history of this part of Africa, from the pillaging days of King Leopold, to the decades after, to the time when Irish peacekeepers lost their lives there and to the days of Zaire and beyond, has been absolutely horrendous and has been marred by conflict, disease and cruelty. To be quite frank, there was cruelty on the part of western partners as well as domestic actors. Unfortunately, this is the latest chapter of a very vicious conflict that is compounding the escalation of an outbreak of…

I am very grateful to the Deputy for referring to the very real Irish connection, not just with Democratic Republic of Congo but also with the wider region, including Uganda and neighbouring countries that are often responsible for many of the impacts of these crises, be they conflicts or humanitarian crises. There are over 2,000 Irish citizens in the broader region. Most of them work in the aid sector. Trócaire has a significant presence there. The CEO of Trócaire was due to travel there until very recently. He wa…

I thank Deputy Gould sincerely for bringing forward this very timely issue. Supporting the all-island economy is a priority for the Government. This continues to grow, with figures for cross-Border trade now at over €17.2 billion. The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement help us co-operate with and understand one another, North and South, east and west, for the benefit of all the citizens of these islands. Since the restoration of the institutions in 2024, the North-South Ministerial Council has met 49 times a…

I will try to answer this as much politically as well as from a departmental and ministerial point of view. I acknowledge the Deputy's comments in relation to the Tánaiste's announcement in recent days. The name of my party is Fine Gael, or The United Ireland Party. I have been speaking about this for my entire political career. I go back to Dr. Garret FitzGerald's book Towards a New Ireland from 1972 and his work on bringing about an Anglo-Irish Agreement over 40 years ago that gave Dublin a say. I participated at…

Just to clarify, it is not a matter of waiting for someone. It is the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Ultimately, the responsibility to deem whether a border poll is necessary lies with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. That is just a legal fact. Deputy Gould and I might not like it but we cannot fight it. It is not a matter of waiting. In my opinion, it is a period to use those two years to learn from the lessons of Brexit and the Scottish independence referendum and identify the issues. I l…

I am very grateful to Deputy Ó Fearghaíl for raising an issue and a country that, perhaps, never receives the sort of attention it deserves. The Government's international development programme, Irish Aid, works globally to support the furthest behind first, focusing the major part of our official development assistance on the world's least developed countries. Nepal is classified as a least developed country. We have a number of multi-annual commitments in place for assistance in Nepal, and funding levels are expe…

It is really important to mention that over the last number of years Nepal has, unfortunately, been the victim of a number of very serious natural disasters. In 2023, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck, killing 153 people and injuring 400, at which time Ireland, through the Red Cross and Red Crescent, contributed to an EU aid package of €2 million. In April 2015, a more devastating earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck just north west of Kathmandu. It was the worst in 80 years and over 8,700 people died. In response, I…