Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

My question is about the talks with foreign leaders. I was very surprised to read the Taoiseach's tweet at the weekend in which he said he had a really great conversation on the night in question with US Vice President-elect Mike Pence. He stated Mr. Pence certainly knows Ireland and the issues that matter to our people. To be honest, that is a pretty shocking statement. Does the Taoiseach know what Mr. Mike Pence thinks of LGBT people? Has he any idea? He knows what the Irish people think about LGBT rights. They believe in those rights and in equality.

Let me give the Taoiseach a flavour of what Mr. Mike Pence said:

Homosexuals are not as a group able bodied. They are known to carry extremely high rates of disease brought on because of the nature of their sexual practices and the promiscuity which is a hallmark of their lifestyle.

That is disgusting bigotry. He said gay journalists cannot remain unbiased because of the pathological nature of their "gaydom". This is unbelievable stuff. In 2006, he supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex weddings and suggested that if same-sex weddings were allowed, societal collapse would occur. In 2013, as Governor of Indiana, he signed a Bill that would jail same-sex couples who applied for a marriage license. The Bill also suggested that clerks or clergy who supplied a licence or performed a wedding for LGBT couples should be jailed. I have not got time to list the remaining instances of disgusting bigotry on the part of this man. I would like to know what the Taoiseach thinks we have in common with an outright bigot and anti-gay, anti-lesbian and anti-trans person such as Mr. Mike Pence. It seems we have nothing in common with him and that he knows nothing about the values of people in this country.

See this speech in context