Speeches: 7 May 2026

You have spectacularly failed to deliver on that promise which is a very serious cost of living issue for many.

The workers get screwed, the rich get richer.

With the European Union showing complete moral bankruptcy in the face of genocide, the worst crime it has possibly committed.

When will Ireland be in a position to fully ratify that piece of important, important safeguard legislation?

Without values, without democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, none of it matters and none of it, quite frankly, exists.

we would have engaged external companies to help us with the maintenance because our technicians are down to around 50% of what they should be

The primary function of any state is to provide for the security of its citizens and in this state we are woefully, woefully, neglecting our citizens.

The primary function of any state is to provide for the security of its citizens and in this state we are woefully, woefully neglecting our citizens.

It strikes me that the department has gone off and bought helicopters that were not recommended in the Commission on the Future of Defence.

I find it incredibly dangerous to have piled all of our eggs into one basket.

We do not support a European Union which a small number of large member states take it on themselves to dictate economic security or foreign policy to smaller states.

This isn't just waste, Minister. This is a culture of arrogance.

The workers and families in this country are being screwed and it's time to act and it's time to act now.

I am frightened by the level of militarization that the European Union is pursuing.

We need to be less dependent on global fuel markets for the cost of living, and that's where we have an opportunity to lead.

There is a genuine message that needs to be brought back into the European institutions and leadership that Ireland needs to be providing to help Europe turn around in terms of that wrong direction.

The issue with education in Ireland Minister, it is supposed to be free and it is quite clear to parents now across the country that it is only free in name.

If the EU project is to keep the trust of its citizens it must respect the balance between Brussels and the nation-states and it must be led by people with full openness to scrutiny.

Last week we heard from young people and some of them were online six to eight hours a day. That's far too much time for young people to be online. So that is addictive whether you like it or not.

I want to talk to you about rage baiting and there was a programme on in the BBC called Inside the Rage Machine there in March where whistleblowers state how the company's meta and TikTok in particular were allowing more harmful content on people's feeds due to the internal research revealing outraged fuel engagement.

That is not democracy. That is simply bureaucratic structures imposing their desire to send the European Union or have it go in a particular direction and not take into consideration consequences for its members.

Well then, don't try and claim that it's a peace project if it's involved in supporting, facilitating, arming genocide.

This government has abandoned hard-working families on middle and low incomes.

So Minister, why does Fianna Gael keep on making and breaking promises? And when will the Occupied Territories Bill be brought to the Dáil?

Difference and diversity is the essence of humanity, and we should be not trying to assimilate the travellers and deal with the traveller quote problem, we should actually be celebrating the fact that we actually have what a fascinating ethnic group we have that lots of other countries don't have.

Any considerations on international peacekeeping engagement should be within Ireland's exclusive sovereign control.

It is downright wrong that Europe is not calling out Israel for the genocide that it is carrying out on the people of Palestine, for what it's doing in Lebanon, for its continued expansion of the illegal settlements in the West Bank.

From your reply, I take it that there's four that are seaworthy at any one time.

We can't have vacant homes of any kind lying empty in a crisis, in the housing crisis that we have at the moment.

The combined total of all of this is bringing huge pressure on ordinary hard working people who cannot keep up.

The Realpolitik of today is that Europe is under threat and it must be prepared to defend itself.

Our response has been targeted, temporary and proportionate.

This government has no idea of the level of anger and frustration out there.