Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

The Taoiseach did not answer in any detail about the foreign visits he will undertake during 2006. He was asked to make a statement on that. In particular, does he have an invitation to visit the White House again, on St. Patrick's Day? In view of the fact that even a majority of United States citizens have now abandoned support for Mr. Bush's disastrous occupation of Iraq, should the Taoiseach reconsider and perhaps not help to shore up his credibility on this occasion with the usual bowl of shamrock?

Speaking as an opponent of nuclear power and weapons, I have a question about his talks on the nuclear proliferation issue, Fortunately, the Irish people stopped Fianna Fáil going down that road. This is something that intrigues me and perhaps the Taoiseach could answer it. Has the Taoiseach ever remarked on the incredible hypocrisy of the United States, Britain and the European Union in coming down like a ton of bricks on Iran while being armed to the teeth themselves and powering their electricity grids through nuclear energy? I say this as someone who believes the whole world should disarm and seek alternatives to the nuclear option.

On his visit to India, does the Taoiseach realise that from the extensive coverage in the Irish media, the impression given is that he rubs shoulders exclusively with the very privileged business and political elite, the establishment figures? What with the pink and white garlands, the fetching pink on the Taoiseach's forehead etc., one might have thought he was visiting Shangri-La. What about the hundreds and millions of Indians who live in the most appalling squalor and poverty? The Taoiseach was in Bangalore. I was there on political work a few years ago and saw the appalling hovels in which people lived. Did the Taoiseach offer any solidarity to the struggling hundreds of millions or comment on the Indian Government wasting billions on nuclear weapons, with this appalling poverty on its door-step?

Will the Taoiseach give the House some more detail on how the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, got on with the Bollywood set? Did he entice any of them to make a film in Cahirciveen, for example? The pier in Cromane seems to me to be a very suitable location for a visit by people from Bollywood. Perhaps the Taoiseach might give the House more detail on that.

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