Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

If the Government is seeking a slogan for the next election then it should choose "in the next few weeks" because when we ask about the windfall tax we are told "in the next few weeks". Everything seems to be horizon politics. The promised land is on the horizon but when we get to that moment in time it still seems to be further on, unfortunately.

On cross-Border issues and the crisis in the North of Ireland, I sometimes think that we do not realise how bad things are and that the Good Friday Agreement is actually toast in many ways. The structures of the Good Friday Agreement includes the North-South Ministerial Council and Stormont Assembly, which do not meet and the Executive, which does not function. All of this is happening, and the Taoiseach is right to raise this on a regular basis, when the population in the North is significantly suffering from the issues of housing, health and education that we talk about.

Recently, some startling facts came out. The life span of people in the North is akin to many west African countries; the level of people in the North expecting to live physically healthy lives is ten years less than that of the South; the level of people using food banks is radically increasing in the North; and hospitals such as Causeway Hospital, the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen, and the Daisy Hill Hospital, are all radically shedding services. Miss McIlveen, when she was the Minister of Education in the North, before the collapse of the Assembly said there was a £750 million hole in the education budget. So things are very serious right across the socioeconomic elements in the Six Counties and part of the reason is the fact that there is no functioning government. While I respect that major efforts have been made by the European Union and Rishi Sunak's Government to achieve the Windsor Framework, which is a good outcome, I predicted before that that the Democratic Unionist Party would not accept it. Unfortunately, the DUP is focused on its narrow political ambitions. The DUP is afraid of losing votes to the Traditional Unionist Voice, TUV, and will not accept the majoritarian view in the North that we should have a functioning Assembly and Executive. Even the DUP's decision to wait until after the elections to give a decision on this matter shows how politicised its approach is to the Windsor Framework.

I know that the Taoiseach is cautious about making a statement on this matter because he understands the delicate balance in the negotiations and I respect his stance. However, there comes a time where Irish citizens and people in the North of Ireland are entitled to a functional democracy; their MLAs, who are getting paid money, to do their job and work on housing, health and education for them; and to be able to feed their families, and switch on the lights and turn on the heat in their homes. The Government needs to be able to say that if the DUP does not accept the framework that it will be implemented anyway, and there will be a decision and an agreement between the European Union that will be acceptable. Also, if the DUP does not do the right thing, we will have to change the manner in which the Assembly functions and ensure no political party can crash the Assembly ever again, and that no political party can stop an Executive being formed.

Finally, will the Taoiseach say that the Irish Government will bring the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights if it proceeds with the absolutely horrendous Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which seeks to give amnesty to people who have murdered innocent individuals in the North of Ireland over the past 50 years?