Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The then Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, was right to attend the traditional St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington this year despite the urging of some in this House for him not to do so. Ireland has deep historical, social, cultural and economic links with the USA which combine to make it a very special relationship. St. Patrick's Day allows us to have unrivalled access to the US Administration. The then Taoiseach had a number of high-level engagements in the US as we have heard, including meetings with President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other senior politicians on Capitol Hill. As we know, US investment in Ireland is significant, as is Irish investment in the US. Successive US Administrations have strongly supported the Good Friday Agreement and articulated Ireland's calls during the complex Brexit negotiations.

The then Taoiseach rightly delivered a strong message in the US regarding Israeli actions and the terrible events taking place in Gaza. Although this coincided with a change in tone in Washington regarding Israeli actions, I am not sure that his message was well received. Does the Taoiseach have any plans to talk with President Biden and other US politicians as well as with the US special envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy. I ask him to outline his plans to link up with US politicians in the coming weeks.

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