Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jul 2024

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together.

As colleagues will know, I attended an informal European Council meeting on Monday, 17 June in Brussels that largely took place over a working dinner. At this meeting European leaders took stock of the outcome of the elections for the European Parliament, and we began discussions on the key positions in the European Union institutions. As the House will be aware, the EU institutions renew themselves every five years, with a newly elected Parliament and the appointment of a new College of Commissioners, including the President and a Vice President to serve as High Representative for Foreign Affairs. The latter also presides at the Foreign Affairs Council. A new President of the European Council is also appointed for a term of two and a half years, renewable once.

Europe is facing many challenges and great uncertainties. War is being waged on our continent as Russia continues its relentless, brutal aggression against Ukraine. The conflict in the Middle East is having a devastating humanitarian impact in Gaza and causing dangerous instability in the region. Climate change is also gravely damaging the health of our planet and impacting on people all around the world. At a time of such international uncertainty and geopolitical tension, it is important not only that the right people are appointed to these important roles, but that we also act as efficiently and decisively as we can.

I also attended a formal meeting of the European Council in Brussels last week on 27 and 28 June, when we continued our deliberations and reached agreement on how to proceed. Leaders decided to nominate Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the Commission; to appoint former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa as President of the European Council; and to nominate Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, as high representative and Vice President of the Commission.

The European Parliament will now play its role in the process. It will, of course, also decide on its own President. The Parliament will hold its first plenary meeting in mid-July, when it will elect its President, and I hope it will also on that occasion decide on the President of the Commission in terms of the vote that is required. The President of the Commission will then need to begin the task of assembling a new Commission, based on nominations submitted by member states.

Our Government has nominated Deputy Michael McGrath, who will bring great skill and experience to the task. I wish him well and support him fully. Following hearings in the Parliament, the Parliament will then vote on whether to approve the Commission as a whole.

The more things change, the more things remain the same. Following the most recent European Council meeting, Ursula von der Leyen is set to become European Commission President once again, provided, of course, that she is endorsed by the European Parliament. In addition, the centrist coalition in the Parliament has held, by and large, despite the shift to the right in France. I see that the centrist coalition is about to receive two new members, following the decision of Deputy Michael McNamara and Ciaran Mullooly to join the liberal grouping. That might raise a few eyebrows. As the Taoiseach said, Kaja Kallas from the liberal grouping is set to become the EU's foreign policy chief, subject to ratification by the European Parliament. António Costa from the socialist grouping will be president of the European Council. Of course, all of this is much to annoyance of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The European Council discussed security and defence matters. Reference was also made to defence readiness. Last week, the Taoiseach spoke in the House about the European Commission's new European defence industrial strategy and a regulatory proposal for a European defence investment programme. We can see the direction in which the EU is going as regards these issues. Are the implications of these initiatives for Ireland being analysed and assessed carefully? What will our approach be in the future to these developments?

Israel would not be able to continue what the International Court of Justice has rightly recognised as a possible genocide, the worst possible crime anybody is capable of committing, without the favoured trade status, political support and arms it receives from the European Union. It simply would not be able to do it. The European Union is the biggest trading partner of Israel. Germany gives it the second largest amount of arms after the United States. Any change to that would massively impact on Israel's ability to carry out the horror that is continuing in Gaza as we speak. It shows no sign, wish or desire to stop this horror, massacre and genocide.

No matter what the Taoiseach says or what public opinion has forced Ursula von der Leyen to roll back on slightly, in terms of her standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel when all of this began, the reality is that she is up to her neck in the horror. How on earth can the Government give her support? How can the Taoiseach or Fianna Fáil horse trade Deputy McGrath's position on the Commission in order to give her support? It is outrageous and shows complete moral bankruptcy for us not to say that we need to replace someone who is up to her neck in the horror that is taking place in Gaza.

Real life is showing that the centre right acts as a handmaiden for the far right. In the US, the incompetence and policies of Biden and the Democrats is paving the way for Trump. In France, the policies of Macron have paved the way for Le Pen and the far right. There is now a real threat of a far right government by the end of this weekend. By adopting far right policy proposals, many included in the European Union migration and asylum pact, Macron made anti-immigration politics more mainstream and gave a boost to the racists.

Let that be a warning to this country. The Government's adoption of a more hardline stance on immigration is framing immigration as a problem for society, just as Macron did in France. In France, as here, the key to challenging the far right must come from mass mobilisations and the building of an anti-capitalist left. Democratic and anti-fascist resistance committees could be created in all French working-class neighbourhoods, suburbs, schools, universities and workplaces. Such committees could mobilise votes for the New Popular Front and prepare, once the elections are over, to resist the far right in power or ensure that elected officials from the NFP respect their election promises.

More than 37,900 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed over the past nine months, including nearly 15,000 children. On some level, what we have all seen happening on our TV screens is unreal. Israel has refused calls for a summit of the state parties to the EU-Israel association agreement to discuss its compliance with its human rights obligations under the summit. The Commission President has blocked the commissioning of an independent review.

The Taoiseach has obviously endorsed and supports a second term for Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President. Did he raise the letter of his predecessor, seeking a review of the agreement, with her? What answer did she give? Does the Taoiseach see any movement from other European states regarding a review of this? I appeal to all Irish MEPs, including those in the Taoiseach's party and in government, to join Sinn Féin and other Irish MEPs and reject the reappointment of a Commission President who has provided political cover for genocide. I have spoken about our need to move on this State's divestment from companies involved in illegal settlements and our legislation in regard to that. As has been said, we know many EU states, such as Germany, provide weapons and are parties to the genocide. We need to see a hell of a lot more bravery from European states.

The far right is, unfortunately, on the march across Europe. It is on the verge of coming to power in France. We will see what has happened by the end of the week. We hope it is not in power. It will be the first far right government in France since the Vichy regime. The party of the RN has its origins in that regime. Members of the SS operated within France in support of the Nazi occupation.

The question for all progressive people across Europe is how the far right can be stopped politically across Europe and much of the world. There are lessons to learn from France. One of those is that the so-called centre, or the extreme centre, as Tariq Ali termed it, paved the way for the far right. In the most immediate sense, Macron called these elections in the hope of bolstering himself, catching the left off guard and opening the door to the far right winning a parliamentary majority. Over the past number of years, his policies have included austerity, increased social deprivation, attacks on workers and pension rights and centring the issue of immigration as if it is the problem. He put forward an immigration law that was supported by the far right, which, because it was so bad and racist, has opened the door to the far right. These forces cannot be trusted. At European level, Ursula von der Leyen shamefully tried to delay a report into the crackdown on media freedoms in Italy in order to flirt with Meloni and try to get her support. It is the left that offers an alternative in the form of the New Popular Front but also on the streets.

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. The Cathaoirleach, other Members of the Dáil and Seanad and I met a delegation from the Ukrainian Parliament yesterday. One of the things the delegation emphasised to us was something of which we are all well aware, namely, the difficulty those people face with a reduction in energy grid capacity. It is under enormous pressure. The country needs generators and transformers. In his deliberations with other Heads of Government at formal and informal meetings, I would like the Taoiseach to keep that particular issue on the agenda as much as possible, as well as all of the other important issues.

The delegation was very pleased that we were one of the first countries to emphasise the need to fast-track membership of the European Union for Ukraine. That is particularly important and it is a policy we should keep driving as much as possible with the new Commission and at Heads of Government level. Monitoring of sanctions against Russia is essential. A recent programme on a British television channel showed that Russian products are coming into Europe and are making huge profits for the Russian Government, oligarchs and others.

Europe must be very vigilant in ensuring the sanctions imposed are implemented in full and have the desired effect on Russia.

I am pleased that Deputy Smith, the Cathaoirleach Gníómhach and others met the delegation from the Ukrainian Parliament yesterday. I had the opportunity to meet President Zelenskyy in Brussels last week and, two weeks previously, at the peace summit for Ukraine in Switzerland. I have also had the opportunity to speak to him by telephone twice since becoming Taoiseach. In addition, I had a video call with the Ukrainian Prime Minister. We are in regular contact. We are eager to show solidarity with Ukraine and, for as long as it takes, to show the support the people of this country and the Government have for Ukraine. Deputy Smith is right that energy is a huge concern for the Ukrainian Government and for President Zelenskyy. We are already actively helping in that regard. The ESB has actively helped. The two areas in which we are helping the most are demining and electricity supply. We will continue to do that. I will continue to raise the issues in every forum I attend.

Deputy Smith also made a point about membership of the European Union. I am really pleased that the intergovernmental conference took place. It was a major ask of Ukraine to have it take place in June. It was seen as quite an ambitious timeline. We met it, however, and we got there. That gives a message to Ukraine, and to the world, that we very much see it as part of the European family. That was important to Ukraine. We will keep engaging on that issue.

I want to make a very clear statement that immigration is a good thing. This country is better for the people who have come here and made it their home. Our health service, economy, society, schools, public sector and private sector are the better for it. This is a country that has benefited from migration and from immigration. I say that very clearly. Saying it is not in any way contradictory of the fact that we must, of course, have rules around our migration system and we must enforce those rules. I have a very different political outlook from some of the colleagues sitting across the floor. I have a different perspective from them on how to take on the far right. It is the job of centrist politicians like me not to shirk issues. If they are shirked, it allows a vacuum to develop. That vacuum is often exploited by the far right, which tries to sow division in this country. We may disagree on many issues and on how to address those issues but I certainly do not think there is any disagreement from any Deputy currently present in the Chamber that immigration is a good thing. I wanted to state that clearly as Taoiseach.

I do not want to predict the outcome of the French elections. There is a second round taking place. I am conscious that the various alliances I am reading about, the withdrawal of candidates and so on could have a significant impact on the final outcome. I will be very happy to comment on the issue once the election is concluded.

On the re-election of President von der Leyen, one gets the impression that it was only Ireland that backed her. In fact, with the exception of the Prime Ministers of Hungary and Italy, all other member states, whether they have a socialist government, as many do, or a conservative government-----

Let us not have a debate on the meaning of socialism. We can have that discussion another time. I am pointing out that across the political spectrum represented at the European Council, there was backing for President von der Leyen. There is an important democratic point to consider in regard to the lead candidate system. Ursula von der Leyen was the lead candidate for the European People's Party, EPP, which is the party that won the most seats in the European Parliament elections.

President von der Leyen's position on the Middle East has been misrepresented entirely. It is for member states to find the courage they need to find on this issue. I have raised the March letter with her. The position set out in that letter remains our position. At the European Council, I have raised the question of recognition. I have raised, and changed, the European conclusions in regard to the International Court of Justice. Europe needed to be much stronger in that regard. I have raised the issue of UNRWA and the importance of financially supporting the Palestinian Authority.

I might come back to Deputy Haughey in the next round on his question about defence readiness. In fact, I think the Cathaoirleach Gníómhach is indicating that I can continue. I initially thought he was going to ask me to finish.

I will do my best to be quick. It is fair to say at this stage that the conversations that are happening at a European level on security and defence are in the provisional and preliminary space. By that I mean we are yet to see proposals tabled. There are a lot of views, particularly from countries in eastern Europe, which are much closer to the front line in terms of Russian aggression, on how Europe should deal with its security and defence. Ireland should never recuse itself from those conversations. We live in Europe and we are of Europe. The security, defence and well-being of this country matters to me. It is the greatest obligation of any government to keep its people safe.

As discussions develop, we will have two main concerns. First, everything we participate in will have to be consistent with our military neutrality. Second, the question of how these initiatives are funded will be a really important discussion. The idea of changing the mandate of the European Investment Bank is interesting in and of itself. However, if the pot for the bank is still the same, what will that mean for the work on climate and digital transition? I am happy to keep the House updated as those discussions progress.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 13, inclusive, together.

I had a telephone conversation with President Biden on the evening of Monday, 17 June. He congratulated me on my recent appointment as Taoiseach and I thanked him for his enduring friendship to our country. We spoke of the deep and growing co-operation between our two countries, built on deep historical and ancestral ties, on a range of issues. We discussed the deepening of our economic ties, the importance of the two-way flow of investment for both our economies, and how the US and Ireland can continue to work together in areas of great importance to those business-to-business links, including in cybersecurity.

I thanked President Biden for his contribution and that of the United States to peace in Northern Ireland. I welcomed the ongoing work of the US special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs, Joe Kennedy, in supporting initiatives to bring sustainable economic development to Northern Ireland. We agreed on the essential role of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement in maintaining not only political stability but also the efficient functioning of government in the North for the benefit of all of the people in Northern Ireland. I updated him, as co-guarantor of the agreement, on some of the work that is going on under the shared island initiative and the work the Government is doing to support the Northern Ireland institutions.

I briefed President Biden on my attendance at the global summit on peace in Ukraine in Switzerland on 15 and 16 June and my engagement with Vice President Kamala Harris, who was attending on behalf of the US. The President and I agreed on the need to continue to support Ukraine in every way we can. I thanked him for his personal commitment to this effort and all that he and his Administration are doing to support Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression.

The President and I also discussed the conflict in the Middle East and the need for an immediate ceasefire. I outlined my views on the horrific humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding. I thanked the President for his ongoing efforts to bring about a ceasefire and a permanent end to the conflict. We shared the view that an immediate ceasefire is required and a two-state solution is the way to achieve permanent peace and stability in the region. Of course, we agreed and reiterated that all hostages held by Hamas must be released and on the need for unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. As I said, we both reiterated our commitment to a two-state solution as the only way to ensure a just and lasting peace.

I finished by wishing President Biden and the American people well.

The US Supreme Court found this week that Presidents are immune from prosecution in respect of official acts. One wonders what direction the US is going in at this time. President Biden is firmly committed to liberal democratic values. It was important that the Taoiseach spoke to him following his nomination and appointment, given the close relations between our two countries.

As the Taoiseach indicated, he has briefed President Biden on developments in Northern Ireland. With a general election taking place in the UK tomorrow, it is timely to reflect on the fateful Brexit vote on 23 June 2016 and all that has happened since then. We have been dealing with the fallout ever since, particularly as it relates to Northern Ireland. President Biden has been of enormous help in defending the Good Friday Agreement and avoiding the creation of a hard border on the island of Ireland following the Brexit vote. With the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland now enjoys full market access to both Britain and the EU. As the Taoiseach noted, President Biden has appointed Joe Kennedy as special economic envoy to Northern Ireland.

I would like to know how Northern Ireland is doing from an economic point of view under these new arrangements. Is that something the Government is monitoring and assessing on an ongoing basis? I presume the restoration of the Northern Ireland institutions is helping in that regard. Given all that has happened since 2016, what is the Taoiseach's view on the future economic development of Northern Ireland? How is it proceeding? Presumably, it is something we fully support and encourage.

I welcome the Taoiseach's engagement with President Biden and the US Administration. An issue that has concerned me for a considerable number of years is the plight of the undocumented Irish in the US. They face particular difficulties. I am aware that both the Tánaiste and the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, raised this issue during their meetings in Washington in March. I hope the current Taoiseach will be able to keep this very much on the agenda. We need to secure legal pathways to visas and citizenship for Irish people who are working, paying their taxes and rearing their families in the US. Unfortunately, those people are not able to come home to Ireland if there is a family bereavement or celebration. Despite their taking part in normal day-to-day activity in the US, they cannot come home if they need to, provided they do not have visa status. I sincerely hope the matter can be kept on the agenda.

I am realistic enough to know that comprehensive immigration reform is difficult in the US because of the political divisions there at present, but bipartisan legislation was introduced recently in Congress regarding the E-3 visa programme and there is now a renewed effort to have an Irish-specific category of E-3 visa. I sincerely hope that in the Taoiseach's deliberations and engagement between the Department and the embassy, this can be very much kept on the agenda as well.

The work of special envoy Joe Kennedy is very important. Thankfully, since 1998 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, we have seen the growth of the all-Ireland economy. If investment comes to Northern Ireland, it is good for us, and if investment comes to our State, it is good for Northern Ireland. We now have one economy. We are all interdependent, so what benefits Northern Ireland benefits us. Similarly, what benefits us indirectly benefits Northern Ireland. Therefore, it is very important to continue to grow the all-Ireland economy, engage with the US Administration and, importantly, endorse strongly the work of special envoy Joe Kennedy, as the Taoiseach does.

I do not know whether the Taoiseach watched the US presidential debate last week. It was a spectacle that in many ways is like a microcosm of the death agony or decline of US imperialism. On the one hand, there was a man who is a congenital liar who basically could not open his mouth without telling a lie, a sexual abuser and an authoritarian, hard-right politician who encouraged an insurrection after losing the last election and, on the other, facing off against him, was an extreme establishment politician of the Democratic Party who could not coherently string a sentence or argument together and who continues to fund Israeli genocide against the Palestinians. It is no wonder, therefore, that parts of the Democratic Party establishment are scrambling to see whether Biden can be moved aside and an alternative can be put in place. Many ordinary Americans hope a credible alternative to Trump can be offered at the next election but ultimately, this does not come down to personality; it comes down to politics.

The agreement on the question of Palestine in the debate was striking. In fact, Trump criticised Biden for saying Hamas is the reason there is no ceasefire. Trump actually told the truth and said it was not because of Hamas but because of Israel, but he was actually supporting Israel going on. The word "Palestinian" was used as an insult, with nobody challenging it, by Trump against Biden. What is needed is an alternative to this profit-based system based on exploitation, environmental destruction, racism and support for genocide.

Regarding US support in the early stages of and throughout the entire period of the peace process from the Good Friday Agreement right through to Brexit and the issues that it caused, including the fear of a hard border in Ireland, it would be fair to say the US was on the right side. Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have a huge issue in their campaign against Trump at this point, but we need to recognise the abject failure of US foreign policy, particularly in supporting Israel. The Taoiseach said we want to see a two-state solution and roadmap that will provide justice, peace and security for both Palestine and Israel but what America is doing at this point in backing Israel and Netanyahu is not helpful. In any of his conversations, did the Taoiseach have any reason for hope in the sense of a change in US policy? Does he see any movement regarding the EU-Israel association agreement? Are more states willing to consider reviewing it in light of humanitarian conditions? It does not make sense to us in Ireland and we want to see movement on it. We demand movement but I get that many of our partners are not necessarily in the right place. We need to maintain whatever pressure we can on the Americans and other EU states.

Since Israel's genocidal massacre commenced in Gaza, hundreds of millions of people across the world have taken to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians, including in the US, where Jewish people have said Israel's crimes are not committed in their name and that Biden's arming and supporting of Israel does not represent them.

Considering the depressing spectacle of Trump versus Biden – somebody complicit with genocide versus somebody who is a pathological liar, racist, abuser and proto-fascist – should we not stand with the millions in America, ordinary people, who are saying, "Not in our name; these people do not represent us", and acknowledge that the fundamental problem, whether it is Trump, Biden or successive US regimes, is the fact that those regimes continue to arm Israel to commit the sorts of crimes it is committing in Gaza and, prior to those, carry out the siege of Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under an apartheid system? Biden, on several occasions when he could string a sentence together, summed it up when he said that if Israel did not exist, the US would invent it. In those words, he spoke the truth of US foreign policy. Is it not time that people like the Taoiseach and the leaders of governments around the world who are horrified at this spoke the truth about the malign influence of US foreign policy in providing the succour that can allow Israel to commit the sort of genocide it is committing now?

I thank my colleagues, who raised a range of issues. On Deputy Haughey's comments on Northern Ireland, the role played by special envoy Joe Kennedy is very helpful. That President Biden appointed him as envoy to Northern Ireland but also as economic envoy to Northern Ireland is significant in and of itself for the reasons the Deputy outlined. We can be proud of the peace process on this island, which is something so cherished that we can never take for granted, but the prosperity element is the next step. That is the way to embed peace. The Irish Government takes a very active interest in all these issues in terms of our shared future and role as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement.

The investment conference held by special envoy Kennedy was important and I would like to see it followed up with a skills conference. There is a genuine deficit owing to young people leaving Northern Ireland, resulting in a skills drain in the economy, but we are very much putting our money where our mouth is regarding the economic well-being of Northern Ireland, Ireland and the island of Ireland. In this regard, let us consider the projects we are investing in through the shared island unit, whether they involve key road infrastructure like the A5; the expansion of educational provision in Derry through the Magee campus, a huge project; the Ulster Canal and the Narrow Water bridge, which will both provide genuine tourism benefits to Northern Ireland and the Republic; or our support for Casement Park, with its ability to provide opportunities and attract events to Northern Ireland. We continue to take every opportunity to play a positive role regarding our shared future. The Tánaiste and I are very aligned on and committed to this. However, there is a huge body of work to be done. There is absolutely no doubt that the economic impact of political inertia for several years has had a particularly challenging effect on Northern Ireland's public services. The First Minister, Deputy First Minister and Executive are working hard on all these issues.

I acknowledge Deputy Smith's acknowledgement of Joe Kennedy. I am honoured to have met Mr. Kennedy in Boston in March. I spoke to him on the phone within days of my becoming Taoiseach and I hope to meet him in person soon.

I am very supportive of the work he is doing. I will continue to keep the issue of undocumented Irish on the agenda, as will the Tánaiste, our ambassador in Washington, the Department of Foreign Affairs and my own Department. The innovative work being done in respect of E-3 visas and trying to find a way forward is important as well.

I saw the debate between the two US presidential candidates. I have a policy of not commenting on elections in other countries, but it was at a very early stage of the electoral cycle to have a debate for an election that will take place in November. I believe it might have been the earliest presidential debate so far.

Our foreign policy is an independent one. We will continue at every forum to speak our views on international issues, for example, our decision to recognise the State of Palestine when others would probably have preferred us not to, how we vote at the UN, how we speak at the European Council and how we vote on the Council of Ministers. We will continue to speak up for international law and in favour of human rights.

It was important that Deputy Ó Murchú acknowledged the support of the US and the key role it played in the peace process. I had the chance to thank former Senator George Mitchell, one of the architects of that work, when he visited me in my office in recent weeks.

As to whether I got some hope from the call is a fair question. I definitely left the call with President Biden with a clear understanding of the intensity of the work that is going on in the background to try to bring about a ceasefire. There are a range of vital issues that need to be discussed regarding the Middle East, but the most important is an immediate cessation of violence, and that is where the focus must be.

Regarding the association agreement, I do not want to mislead the Deputy. We are still the holder of a minority opinion at European level in that regard, but we continue to maintain that position.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 20, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment was re-established by the Government on 10 April and most recently met on Monday, 1 July. The next meeting of that Cabinet committee has not yet been scheduled. Membership of the committee comprises me, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence, the Ministers for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Finance, Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Other Ministers or Ministers of State are invited to participate as required. The committee oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments aimed at sustainable economic recovery, investment and job creation, including Harnessing Digital, our national digital strategy.

Despite many external challenges, we continue to see a very strong economic performance from the economy, with more people at work than ever before, low levels of unemployment and, thankfully, a return this year to real wage growth. Inflation continues to fall while households and businesses have been supported through the cost-of-living crisis. The Government remains committed to continuing to support people through that crisis. Our economic model continues to be founded on a well-established and successful pro-enterprise policy framework, providing a stable and sustainable regulatory and tax environment, with sound management of the public finances and significant investment in the infrastructure and skills required to ensure our future competitiveness.

As with all policy areas, economic issues are not just discussed at the Cabinet committee, but regularly at full Government meetings, where all formal decisions are made.

Yes, with a reply attached from the chief executive officer of Uisce Éireann on the issue of discoloured water in Cork city, so I thank the Taoiseach for that. However, the correspondence does not include what the Taoiseach promised to get for me, that being, a timescale for the resolution of the problem. The correspondence names mid-November as a target date for the completion of a number of local flushing programmes, but local flushing only lessens the problem, and then only temporarily. It does not solve it.

The correspondence indicates that a major part of the problem is the fact that more than 50% of the Cork water mains system is cast iron and 100 or more years old. According to the correspondence, replacing the system would require an investment of €500 million across several decades. I hope to God that the chief executive officer of Uisce Éireann is not telling the people of Cork that it is going to take decades to solve this problem. Is it?

I received a letter from BD, or Becton, Dickinson and Company, which is a global medtech company with an operation in Drogheda. I believe this issue was raised with the Taoiseach earlier. Deputy Munster and I were contacted and I spoke to Councillor Joanna Byrne about the matter. There is a great deal of shock and fear in Drogheda and other parts of County Louth. BD plans to cease and exit operations in Drogheda by the end of quarter 4 2026. A consequence of this decision is the possibility of redundancies at the Drogheda site. The company has entered into a redundancy consultation process with its workforce of 170 people and their representatives. It goes without saying that we are asking for full State engagement in this somewhat disastrous situation. Is there any possibility of a row back? We are asking for complete support for the workers and their families.

We need to examine the tech and pharma sectors, including medtech. There have been job losses, so we at least need to prepare ourselves for further losses. This is a major blow to Drogheda specifically. I hope that IDA Ireland will be involved in finding new operations. I have spoken with representatives of PayPal and many other companies that have experienced job losses over the past while. We in County Louth need to see the reverse happening soon.

The issue of housing is not only responsible for untold hardship, anxiety and suffering for large numbers of people who are at the wrong end of the housing crisis, but it is also probably the greatest economic problem we now face, and increasingly so. We cannot recruit teachers because they cannot afford to live in places like Dublin. We cannot recruit enough health workers because they cannot afford to pay rents or hope to buy homes. Many of our young people coming out of university are leaving the country because they do not believe they have the prospect of ever owning their own homes or affording these rents.

The ESRI has produced a report that states the Government has to dramatically increase its housing targets. I hope there is finally an acknowledgement from the Government that that is the case. However, the main question is not whether we will increase output, which we have to do, but whether that output will be affordable. When considering what has happened on Oscar Traynor Road, I am fearful about what will happen at Shanganagh and Cherrywood in terms of affordable housing. Where the latter is concerned, we still do not know how many houses we will get, whether they will be affordable, etc. The policy of delivering affordable housing or even cost-rental housing is not working because the private developers we are relying on or the market benchmarks we are using are incapable of delivering affordability. When will the Government cop on and see that the State, through its own construction company or capacity, has to build housing on a not-for-profit basis that is genuinely affordable and sufficient to address the chronic waiting lists?

I wish to raise the issue of investment in our sewerage infrastructure. I have raised this issue previously, but I encountered two new cases of it while campaigning in the local elections, one in Alderwood Grove and the other in Glenview Park, both of which are in Tallaght. I presume there are hundreds of such cases across the country whereby people have raw sewage coming out through manholes in their back gardens because the system is such that there is a private pipe from houses to the public sewerage line and, if there is a blockage further up the road or, as in Glenview Park’s case, too many new housing developments have been connected to one pipe, the house at the bottom of the line suffers raw sewage flooding up into its back garden when there is a great deal of rain or usage. The issue in all of these cases is that they cannot get to the bottom of who is responsible and who will deal with the problem.

They go to the council and it says that it is a private matter and that it is nothing to do with it. They go to Irish Water and it says again that it is not to do with it. These people are not capable of dealing with the problem. The problem exists off their property, outside of their sewerage line. It is up the line where either too many properties have been connected or a neighbour up the road is putting in items such as nappies, wipes or whatever, in the toilet, should not be doing so, which is then causing a blockage. This is a serious problem and it is being exacerbated by the kind of offloading of the responsibility mostly from the council to Irish Water. A situation now exists in every one of these circumstances where each one points to the other and no one takes responsibility.

These all dominate the Cabinet committee on the economy but, these are all, nonetheless, serious issues and I do not doubt that. I am just still getting used to where the questions start and where the issues go but I will do my best on these issues.

First, in reply to Deputy Barry, and my now weekly exchange in what is a genuinely serious issue, I am nearly as invested in the issue as he is at this stage because he has brought it to my attention on quite a few times. I passed on the letter and I thank him for acknowledging that. I have also written a follow-up letter to the CEO asking that I be kept informed on the next steps. On a serious point, I will push for a timeline. I am not a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann but my understanding is that it is not talking about decades before there are solutions but to just give people an honest view of the scale of work that will be required to replace the cast-iron pipe network. That is not to say that nothing is going to happen in the here and now and, indeed, in the interim. It is not an unfair point to ask for a continued timeline and I will pursue that. I welcome some of the work that has been done by Uisce Éireann and I get a sense from its correspondence that there is a high level of awareness on this.

I will make a broader point to both Deputies Barry and Murphy on the issue of raw sewerage in manholes in back gardens. It is a horrific situation. I see it in my own constituency from time to time also and it is an awful thing to happen. If there are children, pets or anything in the garden, it is an horrifically distressing situation for people.

It does all point to the need to invest a great deal more in the water network. We all agree on that, even if we might have debates on how best to do that. I am hopeful that the Government will be able to make some concrete decisions shortly to increase levels of public investment through Uisce Éireann in some basic infrastructure. How that gets played out in specific schemes will be a matter for Uisce Éireann but there is a real need to invest a hell of a lot more in our water and sewerage network as well and I will take away the points made by Deputy Murphy on Tallaght.

Turning to Deputy Ó Murchú, I thank him for raising the issue around BD. I assure the Deputy that the full State supports will be available. I will work with the Deputy and colleagues in Louth on this issue and my immediate thoughts, as I know are the Deputy's, are with the workers and their families. There is a broader conversation that we should and want to have on Drogheda and how we can continue to support it to be the enterprising town with employment that it wants to be. It is such a large town and wants to be a city. We are ambitious for it as well.

Turning to Deputy Boyd Barrett, while we will not have time for a full debate on affordable housing on this occasion, the Government has taken a number of actions to try to address the issue of affordability. I believe that supply, supply and supply is the key because I believe in demand and supply and I believe that as one increases supply, that has a positive effects on demand and, over time, on price. We have also brought in a number of schemes and incentives that help with the price somebody actually pays for the house, as opposed to the headline price, be they the help-to-buy or the first home schemes, as two examples. We obviously have social housing schemes where we have had the largest number of such houses given out last year since the 1970s. That can be seen them right across every county, including in Deputy Boyd Barrett's own county. We also have direct affordable housing schemes.

For example a three-bed duplex under a Government affordable housing scheme in the south County Dublin area that is available for €299,000. There is a three-bed home in Mulhuddart for €320,000 and a three-bed house in Kilbarry, Waterford for €284,000, which is a stone's throw away from our newest university. Nyne Park in Kilkenny has a three-bed home available from €255,000 and in the same city, Abbey Meadows has a four-bed home available for €284,000. Cork city's White Cross has three-bedroom homes available for €316,000. I give these as some examples because often outliers are referred to in this House but these are some examples of the affordable housing schemes we have in place.