Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is marvellous that we had several weeks of briefings from Government spokespeople and backbenchers about the need to fight and vindicate the right of Government backbenchers to be able to put questions and make statements. There is one in the Chamber at this moment. I hope the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will give me a bit of extra time since the speaker from the Government backbenches who was to speak immediately prior to me did not bother to turn up.

I note also that Deputy Geoghegan gave an impassioned speech not so long ago asking questions of Sinn Féin about our positions. He has also left the Chamber and is not here to hear my response. I do not know that this is question time for the Opposition, but I will humour him if he is listening somewhere on the campus. Sinn Féin is unashamedly and unapologetically on the side of the Irish people and Irish interests and of vindicating the Irish economy. That is to answer any question and put anything beyond doubt. Where those interests coincide with the interests of the European Union, we will stand in solidarity with member states of the European Union, as they did with us during the Brexit negotiations. However, we will never forget either how Ireland was left out on a limb, our sovereignty was sold and our people were subjected to a decade of austerity to save the margins of European capital.

I will talk about the pharmaceutical sector in the brief time I have available to me. There was a sigh of relief last week when the pharmaceutical sector was seemingly exempted from the 20% tariffs on European exports, but I note that President Trump, in a speech late last night at an event in Washington, signalled that an announcement is imminent and that a major tariff will be announced on pharmaceutical imports. This is an act of self-sabotage by the US Administration. It will hurt its economy. The number one priority of the Government has to be to protect Irish interests and Irish jobs. This crisis exposes the failure by successive Governments from the time of austerity and before to address fundamental weaknesses in our economy. Decades of underinvestment have left us exposed and nowhere is that neglect more evident than in Waterford and the wider south east, where the Government's failure to deliver critical infrastructure and services has actively hindered our economic potential. We see this clearly in examples such as that of Waterford Airport. It is long past time that the Government invest in its essential runway extension. The Government has failed to provide funding of scale to upgrade the N25 which connects Waterford with Waterford port, Rosslare and Cork and we need to see more from IDA Ireland when it comes to visits to Waterford. Waterford is clearly at the bottom of the pecking order, way down the priority list-----

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