Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I believe 12 of the questions are in the name of Deputy Gerry Adams. Let me do my best to deal with them.

Over the weekend and last night we saw many incidents of race hatred in the North. The targets in many of them were Sinn Féin representatives whose election posters were placed on bonfires. In a particularly offensive incident an effigy of Michelle Gildernew was hung over a bonfire in Moygashel.

A sign on the bonfire read "Sinn Fein Scum, hands off our culture. Public hanging 10.30pm." Election posters for others, including the Alliance Party, were also placed on bonfires. Last night there was trouble at the Ardoyne when members of the Orange Order attacked the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI, following a decision by the Parades Commission not to allow them walk back through the nationalist area. A young teenager was run over by a car. I commend the efforts of local residents and PSNI officers who had to lift the car physically off the teenager.

Will the Taoiseach join with me in condemning all acts of race hatred and sectarianism and in calling on the leadership of the loyal orders and the Unionists’ political leadership to take a stand against all acts of race hatred and especially to use their influence to prevent the future burning of posters, banners, flags and effigies on 12 July bonfires? They cannot describe bonfires as part of their culture and not at the same time accept responsibility for the sectarian use to which many are put. The events of recent days are a source of deep concern to one and all but we should not lose sight of the fact that there were hundreds of loyal order marches yesterday which passed off peacefully. It is important to note that also. That certainly, by any standard, represents progress in the North.

In his so-called emergency budget the British Chancellor has spelt out plans to slash a further £12 billion from the British welfare budget. The British Government’s rationale and excuse for these measures is that support for the low paid and vulnerable is at the root of Britain’s current economic difficulties, or at least that is how the Tories see it.

I remind the Taoiseach that the British Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, who refused for months to detail the wider impact of potential cuts had told Martin McGuinness, joint First Minister, that they would be eyewatering. She was right in that assessment. The Northern Executive has little control of its own fiscal arrangements. It relies on a block grant from the British Exchequer. Many of the measures introduced by the Chancellor, George Osborne, last week are the direct responsibility of the British. The Executive has precious little say in them and we were conscious of all those factors in the negotiation of the Stormont House Agreement. Has the Taoiseach raised concerns with David Cameron, the Prime Minister, and the British system, about the welfare cuts and the block grant, and if so to what extent? Although the crisis hinges on the issue of welfare and protecting the most vulnerable in society, the cuts the British have introduced are much wider than that in respect of public service provision. We are, or need to be, very aware of the specific circumstances in the North of Ireland of a community and society coming out of conflict and the potentially destabilising effect of a system of vicious Tory cuts to basic public service provision there, bearing in mind that the Tories enjoy no electoral mandate from any section of the community in the North of Ireland.

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