Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent phone conversation with the UK Prime Minister following recent events in Northern Ireland. [19969/21]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I spoke to the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on the evening of Tuesday, 27 April, and we updated each other on the Covid-19 situation and progress on the vaccine roll-out. We discussed Northern Ireland and the importance of the British-Irish relationship and had an exchange of views on the EU-UK discussions on the implementation of the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol. We agreed it would be useful to meet in person as soon as possible.

I previously spoke to the Prime Minister on 8 April about the recent concerning developments in Northern Ireland. We agreed that violence is unacceptable and called for calm, dialogue and the need to work with the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. We discussed the importance of the two Governments remaining in close contact to demonstrate a unity of purpose and support for the peace process. Prior to this, I spoke to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, 2 March. We discussed plans for a joint bid for World Cup 2030, bringing together the five football associations of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. We also discussed the situation of the Northern Ireland protocol.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his thoughtful response, as ever, on a range of issues that require deep attention from both him and the UK Prime Minister, the Head of Government of our closest neighbour. I wish to take the Taoiseach up on a couple of issues that are important in the context of their recent conversations. I welcome the fact they agreed on the need to meet in person as soon as possible. On that note, it is very welcome that the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is in Dublin meeting the Tánaiste and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, as we speak. I reiterate that it is of pressing need that the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference meet as soon as possible.

Last week, a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council on the agriculture sector was cancelled and this simply is not good enough. We need the engagement of the Irish and British Governments, completely and intently, on the current activities in Northern Ireland. As the Taoiseach mentioned, he discussed with the Prime Minister the very worrying violence that happened on the streets of Belfast, Coleraine and Derry. There is a need, as we face into a period of potential confusion in Northern Ireland, for the British and Irish Governments to show leadership, and leadership has to come from the top. I refer to the letter from four former Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland of last week, in which they wrote that the British Prime Minister needs to take a personal interest and involvement in what is happening in Northern Ireland right now. I again call on the Taoiseach, as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to play that strong role with the Prime Minister, regardless of what may be happening domestically in the UK, to ensure that both Governments are fully invested in this process.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I agree on the need for the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference to meet. I met the Secretary of State this morning, who is, as Deputy Richmond said, in Dublin. I echo the call for constructive leadership and that means we need to deliver on the spirit and the letter of the Good Friday Agreement. We need to remain steadfast on the need for the protocol to sort out the teething problems and to secure the protections it entails. We also need delivery on the substance of the New Decade, New Approach agreement, the precursor, as Deputies will recall, of the re-establishment of the Executive and the Assembly. That means producing an Irish language Act and that the Stormont House legacy mechanisms need to be in place.

I raised this issue earlier with the British Secretary of State to make clear that any resiling from those Stormont House arrangements, any dilution or watering down of them, simply will not suffice. I very much hope the Taoiseach and the Government at every level, including the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will apply all necessary pressure to ensure we get delivery. This is essential in the short and medium terms for the health and robustness of the Executive and for a government that delivers in the North, but it also has a longer-term significance, which I hope is not lost on any of us.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Irish language Act was an essential part of the Good Friday Agreement, 23 years ago. It was also a central part of the St. Andrews Agreement, 15 years ago, and an essential part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement, which is well over a year old, yet I understand there to have been no progress on the delivery of an Irish language Act. This Act is a threat to nobody. It recognises for the first time the integral quality of the Irish language in the culture of many people in the North of Ireland. One of the major frustrations with the political processes in the North of Ireland is that things are agreed to and then not implemented. It is bad faith on the part of any political party to enter into talks, agree to a process and then simply not implement what has been agreed. Will the Taoiseach give us an update on what steps he has taken to put pressure on both the British Government and the Executive in the North of Ireland to fulfil their commitments in those agreements?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The violent scenes in the North over recent weeks were a worrying reminder of how the institutionalisation of sectarianism can lead to these sectarian outbursts. If we are to challenge that and achieve the unity of this island and the end of partition, and undermine the conscious stirring-up of sectarianism by forces such as the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, we have to offer a better alternative, not just joining together two somewhat dysfunctional states. We cannot hope to convince people in the North to become part of a united Ireland unless we have a state-of-the-art national health service.

Our national health service is failing in many regards. It is a two-tier system. The majority of our student nurses and midwives want to leave the country because they are not paid enough, are treated badly and have to work in intolerable conditions. Over recent weeks, I have raised issues affecting young psychologists. I am overwhelmed by the response I have got from them. They are living in poverty while trying to train to get into psychology to deal with the mental health crisis and they say it is an absolute nightmare. Those are just two examples. We need a single-tier quality national health service. If we do not have that, why would people of a unionist tradition in the North want to be part of our country?

We also have to separate church and state. It is unbelievable that the national maternity hospital is to be controlled by a Catholic religious order. How could people in the North want any part of a health service like that?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Richmond for tabling this question in the first instance. I accept the points he made. He has retained a very consistent and constructive interest in this issue for quite some time. He mentioned the importance of meeting with the British Prime Minister and the necessity for ongoing open exchanges between the British Prime Minister and myself. Such exchanges will continue in the context of the realisation of the Good Friday Agreement agenda, the spirit of that agenda and the legal obligations associated with it. In that context, any pulling back from obligations under the Good Friday Agreement in respect of the North-South Ministerial Council or sectoral meetings is not acceptable and is very regrettable. A number of such meetings have now been cancelled due to non-attendance, the most recent being a meeting with regard to agriculture. That is not conducive to the full realisation and operation of the agreement.

I am conscious of the correspondence of the four former Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland. This is important because of their experience and their insights into how the British Government should approach these issues. I briefly met with the current Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, this morning in advance of his substantive meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, this afternoon, during which a range of issues will be discussed.

I take the Deputy's point with regard to the importance of the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference, an important institution of the Good Friday Agreement. It brings together the Irish and British Governments under strand 3 of the agreement on matters of mutual interest which lie within the competence of both Governments. The continuing importance we place on this institution is reflected in the programme for Government. We believe it is important that the next meeting of the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference, BIIGC, takes place at an early stage, as circumstances allow. We are currently engaging with the Government of the United Kingdom through the secretariat of the BIIGC to set a date and agenda. The most recent meeting of the BIIGC took place at the Cabinet Office in London on 8 May 2019. At that stage, the conference discussed east-west matters, economic and security co-operation, legacy rights, citizenship matters and political stability.

We are, of course, continuing to engage bilaterally with the British Government on a range of key issues. As I have said, such engagement is continuing today. Crucially, we continue to engage in support of the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland. As the Deputy will know, since the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has been in regular contact with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, on a range of matters including Covid, the implementation of the New Decade, New Approach agreement which was referenced by Deputy McDonald, Brexit and issues pertaining to the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. There is also regular contact and co-operation between our two governments at official level. We have to work closely on North-South and east-west agendas in support of the power-sharing institutions and, in the context of what Deputy McDonald said, the fulfilment of what has already been agreed with regard to a range of issues.

With regard to the Irish language Act, is Acht tábhachtach é gan dabht. Tá dualgas ar gach éinne an tAcht a chur i bhfeidhm agus tacaíocht a thabhairt dó, mar a luaigh an Teachta Tóibín. Níl aon dhainséar leis. Léiríonn sé an meas atá ag gach éinne ar an teanga agus tábhacht na teanga i ngnáthshaol agus i gcultúr daoine mórthimpeall an Tuaiscirt agus ar fud an oileáin ar fad. The Irish language Act is important legislation that respects and reflects the principle of parity of esteem that is embedded in the Good Friday Agreement. That idea of cultural and linguistic parity of esteem is very important. The initiatives in Wales with regard to language give context to the importance of the language Act. It has been committed to on all sides and should be followed through on. Language should never be weaponised politically. That can undermine a language. Fundamentally, it sheds light on a culture and creates opportunity for creativity and enjoyment. That is what a language is all about. I would like to see the Irish language Act enacted by the Assembly and brought forward. I would also like to see the commitments in the New Decade, New Approach agreement followed through on. The spirit and letter of the Good Friday Agreement should be preserved.

I could not agree more with Deputy Boyd Barrett's points on the need to deal with sectarianism. We need more substantive work with regard to disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland, particularly with regard to encouraging those young people in disadvantaged communities who might leave school early to complete the second level cycle of education. They should be enabled and empowered to progress to further and higher education. That is a critical policy area that needs far more attention from the Executive, the Assembly and the British and Irish Governments collectively. They must do something fundamental to give people a brighter future, particularly those young people who do not have that future at the moment. This relates to access to work or further education and to people's capacity to complete the second level cycle. That is critical.

With regard to the state of our national health service, in the context of this pandemic, we should acknowledge that, relatively speaking, our health service has stood up well in terms of both the quality of its personnel and the planning and work the HSE carried out. We love to knock and criticise but at times we seem very slow to acknowledge that the Irish healthcare service responded in a very positive, robust and resilient way at different stages of the pandemic while under a lot of pressure. We need to build on that. We need to learn lessons from the pandemic and embed the reforms that have been introduced during the pandemic. This Government has put unprecedented investment into health through the winter initiative, which led to those reforms. We need to embed these into the future of the health service.