Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Global tensions in the area of trade, particularly those relating to the emerging trade war being waged by the United States against many countries and blocs, are creating uncertainty in global markets and across various sectors. Any escalation in these tensions will disrupt supply chains, increase costs and limit access to critical raw materials. There is also some concern about the rhetoric coming from Washington regarding the pharmaceutical sector, particularly that part of it located in Ireland. This sector is extremely important for Waterford and the wider south east. My hometown of Dungarvan is a major manufacturer of pharmaceuticals. We need a strategy from Government to mitigate potential risks to the sector from a protracted trade war launched by the United States.

Our economy is exposed to shocks emanating from uncertainty and movement in international trade. IDA Ireland has a role to play in diversifying our industrial base at the macro level and facilitating job creation across the State. Unfortunately, Waterford has been left in the halfpenny place when it comes to attention and input from IDA Ireland . Fewer than 4% of all international IDA Ireland visits in 2024 were to Waterford, even though we offer an ideal location, a lower cost of doing business and the huge potential that comes with setting up a business in industrial centres like Waterford city and Dungarvan. Of the 466 foreign direct investment visits organised by IDA Ireland so far in 2025, just 18 were to Waterford. Could it be that IDA Ireland is taking its cue from a Government that has presided over a growing housing crisis in the region, which has failed to deliver 24-hour cardiac care in University Hospital Waterford and which has still to make a decision on Waterford Airport? If we are to be resilient in the face of global trade uncertainty, we need to ensure a more diverse and balanced approach to industrial development. That will mean ending the neglect of Waterford and the south east.

I am sure the Minister of State will agree that a commitment to multilateralism, international law, the promotion and vindication of human rights norms and humanitarianism is essential to international security and to our own security as a nation. Our military neutrality has been a cornerstone of Ireland's commitment to international peace and security. It reinforces Ireland's commitment to multilateralism and the rule of law. It is born of our painful experience of colonialism and imperialism and informs our solidarity with countries which share that history. Our military neutrality ensures that our actions are part of a collective effort to maintain peace and security. It underscores our respect for international institutions and our belief in diplomacy over unilateralism. It guards against the slide into militarism that has seen demagogues and arms manufacturers beat the drums of war all too often in the pursuit of power and wealth. Any move to remove the triple lock or water down our neutrality will be opposed by the people of Ireland. I ask that Government, with all the kite flying that has been going on over recent months, seriously consider committing to a referendum on neutrality to enshrine that in the Constitution.

Many of us were at the briefing this morning with Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. Nobody who has been following the news for the past year and a half, and who has a heart and a conscience, could be unaffected by the genocide and destruction of human beings and human life going on in Palestine, both in Gaza and, more recently, the West Bank. This is part of a concerted campaign of erasure of the Palestinian people that has been going on for many decades, but which has reached a critical level and turning point in the past year and a half. Ireland's rhetoric and the words emanating from Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs are good, but they need to be followed by action that ends the impunity that Israel has enjoyed for far too long and far too many decades. The people of Palestine are entitled to a homeland too. They are entitled to live in peace and security. Palestinian mams and dads love their children and mourn them just as we would here in Ireland. We need to stand in solidarity with Palestine. We need to back up with action the words and rhetoric coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs, this Government and its predecessors. That means enacting the occupied territories Bill, ending the preferential treatment of Israel in EU trade, and it means stopping the use of Irish airspace and Irish waters for the transport of munitions and weapons of war that will ultimately be used to murder children, women and men.

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