Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit, I add our voice of sympathy to and express our solidarity with the families of the victims of the Buncrana tragedy, the McGrotty and Daniels families, and with their relatives, friends and everyone affected in the communities in Donegal and Derry. In relation to what is happening in Brussels at the moment, we add our voice of condemnation to what appear to be ongoing terrorist attacks. The purpose of the attacks seems at this very early stage to be to strike terror into the hearts of people and to divide them. It is to create an environment of hatred, division and racism which is the kind of environment where very right-wing reactionary forces can benefit and grow. At this stage, we must say clearly that there is solidarity and sympathy with all those affected by the attacks and that we are opposed to terror, division, racism and war. People should stand together fighting for a very different sort of society and a peaceful society.

In terms of the Order of Business, the statements today are fine. While will discuss important topics, including the EU-Turkey agreement and the housing and homelessness crisis, the Dáil should not be sitting just waiting for whoever is going to form the Government to do so. In effect, it is reducing itself to a debating Chamber which does not believe it has the power to pass anything. The Dáil exists and we have a mandate. We were elected on the basis of the positions we put forward. As such, the Dáil should be discussing motions today. There are a number of motions on the Order Paper and we in the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit have three motions down which we consider are vital. One is on the abolition of water charges and Irish Water, another is on a series of measures to deal with the housing crisis, but the most urgent, which will be reflected in a protest today and in the Dáil discussion later, is the urgent situation of people facing eviction in Tyrrelstown and in Blackrock, Cork.

We should discuss these issues as motions today. The Dáil should have the ability to pass motions instructing the caretaker Government to take action.

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