Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I will return to a theme the Minister of State has heard me discuss in the past, namely, the scandal of Ireland's share of the fish in our exclusive economic zone. As the Minister of State is aware, we have an exclusive economic zone, as do all coastal countries, of 200 miles. It is estimated that we get approximately 15% to 20% of the fish in the waters of our exclusive economic zone, which are among the richest waters in the European Union. Outside of the Common Fisheries Policy, can Members imagine any self-respecting country in the world accepting such a proportion of the wealth in its seas? This precious resource should create wealth and jobs in coastal communities if we fish sustainably. One of the features of the Common Fisheries Policy is that there is generally sustainable fishing and proper oversight of what is happening at sea, which is sadly not the case in many other parts of the world.

We need to fish sustainably. We need to get a balance of fish for our inshore and offshore fishermen. That has not been attained. It is shocking that even after Brexit, when we lost another 15% of the terrible share we had, that was not given back. We got a redundancy payment called the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, which is now being used to invest in piers and harbours and decommission 60 vessels. What will that mean? I ask the Minister of State to remember this shocking statistic. Our whitefish fleet will soon be one third of the size it was in 2005. The potential of fishing in our coastal communities is being destroyed and we are not putting up a proper fight. The world is not being told of the injustice that is occurring. If we fought hard, that injustice could not be sustained because it is so profound.

The latest development tells me everything about whoever runs the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, or the Department against the marine. How can it be that every single fishing organisation in this State, from those representing local community groups and island and inshore fishermen to the co-operatives and producer organisations, has appealed and begged for financial assistance? Such assistance is being provided by almost every other European member state with a coastal fishing community. We have not done so and fishermen literally cannot afford to go to sea. We have a disgraceful share of our fish, the impact of Brexit and we now have this.

I appeal to the Minister of State, with his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, to stand up for fishing in coastal communities in Europe and Ireland and confront the people in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine who are blocking doing what is right by our fishing communities.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I begin by welcoming the Georgian ambassador, Mr. George Zurabashvili, to the Chamber. His presence is very welcome. Our last pre-European Council statements coincided with the restrictions based on Georgia's accession to the European Union, following the advanced status given to Ukraine and Moldova. In that time, 12 recommendations were attached to Georgia's candidacy. It is very welcome that the Parliament of Georgia has established nine different working groups to advance those aims.

There is an onus Ireland, as a country of a similar size, to extend the hand of friendship to Georgia. The candidacy of Moldova and Ukraine will now be fast-tracked and, like Georgia, they also share a border with Russia. Georgia has been occupied since 2008. We cannot forget the Georgian people and their cause and I know we will not do so in this Chamber.

These statements coincide with a period in which winter is descending upon us, as it is throughout Europe. With homes becoming cold, people fear they will be unable to use their lights or heat their homes. For the one in six people in Ireland experiencing poverty, the Government measures announced in the budget will keep the lights on for a while but rising costs mean that may not be the case for the whole winter.

If the European Union is to mean anything - as a proud European, I believe it means a hell of a lot to us in Ireland - it has to stand up for people, especially in times of crisis. We cannot simply say that rising energy costs or Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine will mean that homes throughout Ireland may go cold this winter. The European Union has to stand for far more than that.

The greatest threat I see to the European Union is that of poverty and the poverty being experienced by the citizens within the Union who are not feeling the warmth of European Union membership. We saw that in the case of Brexit when the communities in the UK that were suffering most at the coalface of poverty voted to leave the European Union.

The last year of discussions on the European Union have rightly focused on Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Within the European Union, people are not only at risk of poverty but are experiencing hunger, malnutrition and inability to access heat in some cases. My Green Party colleague, Deputy Leddin, highlighted that Germany was previously dependent on Russian gas for 70% of its energy needs. Does that not encapsulate the problem when a leading EU member state is so closely tied to the Russian Federation? If European Council meetings are to mean anything, they should be about how we move away from that as fast as possible and disentangle ourselves forever more from fossil fuel dependency.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the opportunity to make a few points on the upcoming European Council meeting and also the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community, which is long overdue and extremely welcome. It is a forum of aspirant and former member states that is much needed by everyone in the orbit of the European Union at a time when talking has never been this important. Historically, the European Union has, sadly, treated many applicants from accession countries quite badly. It has strung them along and put them on the long finger. While at times there is a need for domestic reforms, this should not always be the responsibility of accession countries. It is also the responsibility of the European Union to ease that process.

This is a very welcome step forward. The European Political Community is at the initial stages and is being done on a head-of-government basis, which is very welcome. In due course, there must be an opportunity to provide for an interparliamentary and interministerial element in the European Political Community if it is to genuinely have a real endorsement from member state parliaments and have teeth.

When it comes to Ireland-UK relationships, the inability to meet colleagues on the margins, as the Minister of State does at European Council meetings and parliamentarians do at meetings of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs, COSAC, and elsewhere, has been diminishing to those relationships. That has been very evident after a difficult couple of months. We all hope we are starting to turn a corner, albeit a moving one.

With regard to the European Political Community, the Council of Europe, the OECD and other bodies and interparliamentary assemblies, we have to see a formalising of relationships and engagements between us and our British colleagues at interparliamentary and intergovernmental level, notwithstanding the desperate need to see the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement back up and fully running in due course.

On the European Council meeting, which will take place later this week, like others, I welcome the eighth round of sanctions on Russia. However, I fear that in the next month or six weeks, we will be talking about a ninth and, inevitably, a tenth round of sanctions.

The scenes over the past few days of indiscriminate Russian bombing of Ukraine stand to that. I would be making the point repeatedly at European Council meetings that sanctions on Russia or indeed Belarus, which we have seen extensively, are not good enough by themselves. We also need sanctions on third-party actors that fuel the Russian war machine. We are led to believe the Iranian Government has provided the drones for so many of the awful scenes we have witnessed over the last few days. I also think more widely of the other states the EU has detailed and important relationships with. These are countries that benefit from lucrative trade deals and other relationships with the EU and they have not put any sanctions on Vladimir Putin's vicious regime, or if they have they are fairly light-touch, to say the least. Crucially, the biggest failures in that regard are within the EU itself. They are within member states that are exploiting the loopholes and flagrantly breaching the sanctions or allowing business as usual to carry on as it suits them. That is somewhere where we in the EU must get our own house in order. We must make the point to other member states and other countries around the world that if they wish to continue to have a good, profitable and lucrative relationship with the EU on an economic, cultural and societal level, they need to start taking firm and genuine action against Vladimir Putin and his war machine.

We can see how this ties into the situation with energy supply. As we edge ever closer to the depths of winter and appreciate how much this is going to start to have a huge impact on every household across the EU and much more widely, we see the targeting by the Russian regime of power plants in Ukraine. The regime has already used food as a weapon of war and now it is going to use energy and the ability to heat one's home as such a weapon. It is an absolutely vile approach but when we look in an EU context at what is needed from this Council meeting, it is a swift decision on the level of intervention when it comes to the so-called windfall tax or to engaging with energy companies. There is no point in individual member states, especially smaller ones, going it alone and it is disappointing when bigger ones do so. Compare that with the vaccine roll-out when we worked as a collective EU 27. That is how genuine improvement can be made. I implore the Minister of State to ensure we see clear action at this week's Council meeting when it comes to energy. There must be clear action that can be translated to the bills of people at home or in business to say this is something the EU has done and it is a saving the EU is ensuring every citizen can make the most of in advance of extremely difficult times.

Another key point that will be discussed is the economy. We are obviously aware of the impact of the war. One of the areas I wanted to focus on was the resilience funds. These were born out of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was a global pandemic the likes of which had not been seen for a century, but there is going to be a much greater need for them now and a much more diverse need. That changing set of circumstances needs to be reflected in an ability for flexibility to allow member states to tweak their own resilience plans but crucially for the Commission to respond to any tweaks or alterations by member states in a swift manner. Deputy Lahart and I attended a European Presidency meeting in Prague on behalf of the committees on budgetary oversight and finance. The point was made that there is a huge concern that the needs of resilience and recovery plans will change or have changed but that unfortunately the Commission is being too slow in its response to member states.

On the economy more widely, we can look at the data collected in the ESRI report on the UK's trading relationship with Ireland and the EU and how it has so drastically changed since Brexit. There has been a massive drop in trade in both directions between Great Britain and the EU. That is of huge concern. We always said the impact of Brexit will be masked by the pandemic. Now it is being masked by the war in Ukraine and the related crises that fall out of it, but we need increasing emphasis on engagement between Ireland and our EU member state partners. The fact only 6% of SMEs are exporting to the Continent is worrying and shows the opportunity in these extremely challenging times for Irish businesses and the wider economy to limit the damage of Brexit and the more general economic challenges that are presenting, and to try to offset that as best as possible.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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I have less than two minutes so I want to focus on the issue of our neutrality. One of the most formative experiences of my earlier political life was the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. That was a war built on lies. It is estimated to have killed between 500,000 and over 1 million people. The final chapter of the war and the resulting occupation was only closed in December 2021. It was the opposition to the launching of the Iraq War that convinced me of the need for our neutrality. I was not the only one as over 100,000 people took to the streets of Dublin and Belfast to protest that illegal invasion. However, it is what I have learned since that has shown me the need for our neutrality to be protected. I am shocked and outraged by the members of this Government who want us to join NATO and want to send our Defence Forces to war. We would do well to remember that when this State canvassed for a seat on the UN Security Council, we made it clear to non-aligned countries that we would be champions for peace and pointed to our long and proud record of peacekeeping. Now that we have won the seat, however, we seem to want to renege on our neutrality and I just do not get that. The vast majority of people are in favour of neutrality and I am proud of our neutrality. I for one, along with other Members of this House, will stand with many other people across this State, not quietly but loudly, to demand our continued neutrality.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Energy will again be at the top of the agenda when the European Council meets. We have the power to act independently of the EU to decouple the price of gas, implement a windfall tax and cap electricity prices over the winter. Gas prices have been at historically high levels for over a year and the Government failed to protect people last winter. Artificially high electricity prices have meant the transfer of hundred of millions of euro from ordinary people to the coffers of companies. For over a year the Government has repeatedly dismissed calls from Sinn Féin to stop gas from setting the price of electricity and to apply a windfall tax. I have been asking since last November. The Government did a U-turn on the reforms and the windfall tax as soon as it knew the tide had turned in Europe but the EU policies show an alarming lack of ambition. We will still pay artificially high prices for wind energy, the windfall tax is far too low and will not even apply to electricity companies and we will still pay global gas prices for the gas from the Corrib field even though we are the only possible customers.

If we continue to limit ourselves by the agreement that can be reached at EU level, the Government will again fail the people this winter. There are real knock-on implications. It may seem the Taoiseach and the Minister of State go to Europe and there are no consequences but there are real consequences when the electricity bills are hitting people's doormats, when people are living in fear and anxiety of those bills and when the Government could do something about it. It is time to stop this nonsense of having electricity prices based on gas prices. It makes no sense whatsoever and has not made any sense for at least 18 months, if not before that.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Minister of State was reported as saying, I think on Friday of last week, that the Irish people were not ready to join NATO yet. He revealed the cynical agenda and the attempt to condition Irish public opinion by exploiting the tragic situation in Ukraine to try to shred the last remnants of Ireland's neutrality. We all of course condemn in the strongest terms Putin's bloody imperialist invasion and occupation of Ukraine and the attempt to crush the legitimate right of Ukrainians to self-determination.

If anybody believes for one minute that this motivates Irish Government policy, the policy of the European Union or the major powers that dominate NATO, particularly the United States, France, the UK and so on, and that they have some principled opposition to military occupation, war, or that they support legitimate forms of resistance and struggles for self-determination, then they need to look again at what the European Union is doing.

Let us look at Palestine. A criminal siege of Gaza has been going on for 15 years, creating a permanent humanitarian crisis in a flagrant and ongoing breach of international law. There is ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank. Some 750,000 illegal settlers are on land that, under international law, is Palestinian. Are there any sanctions against Israel or any mention of sanctions against it in the Taoiseach's speech? Is there any support for Palestinian armed resistance against an illegal occupation? There is none at all. If a Palestinian picked up a gun, there would be condemnation all round. I am not proposing that they pick up guns, but could we at least take the guns out of the Israelis' hands? Could we stop arming the Israelis and giving them favourable trade status? There is not a word, because Israel is an ally of the powers that dominate the European Union and NATO, so Ireland does not care about the crimes it commits against the Palestinian people and it is not going to do anything about those crimes.

Another particularly disgraceful example of the gross hypocrisy and double standards at work in the European Union and in our Government policy relates to the situation in Western Sahara. We heard from representatives of the occupied, oppressed people of Western Sahara, who have been subject to a brutal military occupation by Morocco since the 1970s. The United Nations believes it is an unjust occupation. Most importantly, the European Court of Justice has issued three rulings saying that the trade deal and fisheries deal which have been concluded over the last years between the European Union and Morocco to steal the fish and phosphates from the people of Western Sahara is illegal. The European courts annulled that deal, but the European Council and the European Commission have appealed the courts' rulings. Ireland went along with it. It is outrageous. The only country which had the courage to stand with European legal decisions and international law, in insisting that the people of Western Sahara had the right to self-determination and to oppose a deal that they had not played any role in assenting to, which is required under international law, was Sweden. Ireland, pathetically and outrageously, went along with it.

Let us not forget about Saudi Arabia. The irony is that we will increase our imports of energy from Saudi Arabia, which has simultaneously increased its oil and gas imports from Russia. Saudi Arabia is effectively laundering Russian gas and oil, but we will do more deals with the Saudis to deal with our energy crisis. It is the most brutal and autocratic regime imaginable. Let us do away with the hypocrisy. The Irish Government wants to shred our military neutrality and our political neutrality, which we should retain. It wants to abandon the revolutionary traditions that founded this State and to join with the hypocrites and warmongers like the United States, France and Britain, which have foreign policy riddled with double standards.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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Putin's brutal war on the people of Ukraine continues relentlessly. His actions in recent weeks show that he is losing this war and the survival of his regime in Russia is now being questioned. As we know, he has formally annexed four Ukrainian territories, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. These areas constitute 15% of Ukrainian sovereign territory. The annexation came about following sham referendums. This is an illegal land grab which has no basis in international law. Ireland, the EU and democracies of the international community will not recognise these Russian claims. The fighting back and the counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces to take back control of these areas is extraordinary. We are in awe of their exceptional bravery. Some 300,000 reservists have been mobilised in Russia. By all accounts, this move has been extremely unpopular with the Russian population. Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons is chilling. This threat has rightly been condemned by Ireland, the EU and much of the international community.

In recent days, Russia has bombarded many Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, with missiles, rockets and drone strikes. Power plants are also being knocked out. Civilian targets, including apartment buildings, have been singled out. There have been many deaths. Some of these strikes took place during the morning rush hour, thus causing the maximum possible casualties. These activities surely constitute war crimes. They must be investigated by the International Criminal Court. There are also suggestions that the killer drones may have been manufactured in Iran. If this is the case, the EU must consider imposing even tougher sanctions on that country. If I have time, I will come back to the situation in Iran and recent events there.

I welcome the agreement reached by the EU on the eighth sanctions package. I was pleased to see that Ireland, with others, was to the forefront in calling for these sanctions. I note that EU foreign ministers, at their meeting in Luxembourg this week, agreed to send a two-year training mission for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, starting next month. It will involve 15,000 Ukrainian troops. This is an initiative under the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy. Our Minister said that Ireland is agreeable to participating in this mission, given our skills in demining and dealing with improvised explosive devices. The Irish response in this regard is reasonable, given the circumstances, but I suggest that the Dáil should be kept fully involved about this matter as the situation evolves.

Turning to the price of energy, we are all too well aware that wholesale energy prices have risen rapidly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is causing real hardship for householders and businesses. Under European treaties, energy policy is a shared responsibility between EU member states. The member states are free to decide on their own energy mix. However, they are all subject to common energy market rules. So far, the EU has agreed to a new regulation on gas storage. The options for Ireland in that regard need to be finalised so that we can have gas storage in due course. A new regulation has an objective of reducing the demand for gas. There is a new regulation to deal with high energy prices. As part of this, there will be a revenue cap for electricity producers with lower costs and a once-off windfall tax on excess profits in the energy sector. These measures are welcome, given the complexity of the issue.

Commissioner Kadri Simson will announce new proposals in respect of energy supply this week with a view to getting agreement of energy ministers when they meet on 25 October. These measures include a new pricing benchmark to limit prices, a 15% cut in energy use which will be mandatory, the sharing of energy capacity through solidarity mechanisms and joint procurement of energy. There is also talk of a longer-term reform of the energy market. These new initiatives are all welcome. They tie in with the goals of the European green deal and the objective of transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050.

Of particular interest to Ireland is the aim to develop Europe's offshore wind energy.

Ireland is one of the most fossil fuel reliant countries in Europe. It is reported that we spend €1 million every hour on imports of fossil fuels. We have a great deal of work to do to develop offshore wind energy in Ireland and we need to get moving in this regard. It is clear that this energy crisis will extend into next winter too. We need to be fully prepared for this. I await developments at EU level concerning these matters. I take a keen interest in how Ireland intends to implement these proposals in the weeks and months ahead.

It is worth highlighting that the first meeting of the European Political Community took place in Prague earlier this month. This was an initiative of the French President, Emmanuel Macron. The meeting was attended by 44 European nation-states, including Ireland. The British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, also attended, thus giving the UK a chance to show solidarity with fellow European countries. The European Political Community is a welcome initiative. It is worth enhancing and developing this forum into the future. No doubt it came about as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, in particular, the need for democracies to come together and stand up to the threat posed by autocracies. It also gives encouragement to applicants for full EU membership and demonstrates solidarity with them, which is a good thing.

In the state of the Union address given by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last month, she outlined the Commission’s priorities for the coming year. Her primary objective can be summarised as the goal of building up the EU’s autonomy and self-reliance and of creating a strong alliance of democracies to confront the global threat of autocracy. I look forward to seeing the details of the proposed defence of democracy initiative in the coming weeks.

There is a great deal happening in regard to the EU and this European Council meeting. I look forward to addressing the outcome of this meeting in due course - presumably next week - and to discussing the joint communiqué which will issue from the European Council.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Since the beginning of this year, 140 Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli military forces in Palestine. There have been zero consequences following these murders. In May, the Israeli high court gave a green light to the ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta with a mass expulsion order of more than 1,300 Palestinians from the area. The rate at which Israel has been inflicting a cruel system of apartheid on the Palestinian people has been intensifying. It is easy to see why this is the case following the comments from European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, when she stated, "Our shared culture and values have created a deep connection between Europe and Israel." This is an example of the disconnect between European leaders and the public. I am confident when I say that I and the vast majority of people living on this island share no culture or values with apartheid. In fact, we firmly oppose apartheid in Israel just as we did in South Africa. Will the Minister of State raise opposition to these comments and state clearly that Israeli apartheid is not to be welcomed in the EU? Will he demand that Israel will be held to the same rule of law to which Russia is held?

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The proposition advanced by Deputy Andrews is absolutely necessary. We have all seen the European Union as a bright light in the sense of democracy and rights, but that means we have to be that bastion throughout the world. It means we have to engage with other states and other countries on that basis. At this point in time, we have failed the Palestinian people and that needs to be rectified. The Government needs to bring this to the attention of the powers-that-be in Europe. It is absolutely necessary.

On the Ukrainian crisis, we all know we are dealing with a brutal regime in Russia. We know about the disgraceful war criminality - it is beyond warmongering - that has been carried out by that regime. The conditions of that war are not going particularly well at this point for Vladimir Putin. However, the one thing he has in play is the possibility of economic carnage. We really need the European Union to get to grips with the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis. We are now talking about caps and windfall taxes. We need to ensure we are sufficiently imaginative because if we do not protect our people and our citizens, the impact is going to be huge in economic terms and in societal terms. That is what we have to do to protect our people.

It is fair to say that across Europe, certain parties have left room open for certain types of right-wing parties such as that associated with Marine Le Pen in France. The real protection against that is to look after the needs and wants of our people. That is an absolute necessity.

Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate in advance of the European Council meeting tomorrow and Friday in Brussels. I begin by welcoming the creation of the European Political Community. It is a good idea and a good initiative. It is appropriate that EU and non-EU countries across Europe can sit around the same table and discuss the pressing matters of the day. It was good that Belarus was not invited. We have no cribs at all with the Belarusian people - quite the opposite in fact; we are supportive of them - but the Lukashenko regime should not be welcomed and it was not. I am glad to see that. It is important from Ireland’s point of view that we involve ourselves in this new community, particularly in light of our new relationship with our nearest neighbour, which is now a third country. I hope the Government and our diplomatic people are taking full advantage of that. The best thing about the inaugural meeting in Prague was the decision to hold a subsequent meeting. Next year’s meeting is to take place in Moldova. That is completely appropriate. It sends all the right strategic signals, first of all to Moldova which wants to lean westwards and join the European Union. It is important that we reassure it in that respect. It also signals to Moscow that even though it has 1,500 troops in the Transnistria area of Moldova, the EU will not back away from supporting Moldova in that regard. I welcome the creation of the European Political Community, which will make a positive contribution to the Continent.

It is completely appropriate that the agenda for this week's meeting is quite rightly dominated by Ukraine. I welcome the fact that the European Union continues to reassert its support from an economic, political, financial, diplomatic, logistical, military and humanitarian point of view. That is also appropriate.

I share the concerns about the possibility that the Black Sea grain deal will be wound down next month. That would be bad for two reasons. First, we need to get grain out of Odesa to the rest of the world and free up the silos for this year’s harvest. Second, it was the only chink of light from a diplomatic point of view over the past eight months. It is something we should be building on rather than winding down. I hope the Black Sea grain deal is expanded and extended into next year.

I agree with the establishment of the European Union training mission that was announced on Monday, whereby Ukrainian troops will be trained most likely in Germany and Poland. I welcome the fact that Ireland will make a very small contribution to that mission, particularly on de-mining and countering improvised explosive devices. That is important because already we are starting to plan for a post-conflict situation. Post conflict, there will be a great deal of ordnance in the ground. This will disproportionately affect children who pick up these explosive devices and lose life and limb as a result. The concern is whether our Defence Forces can actually facilitate that request. We will not be able to provide a very meaningful contribution there.

It will be tokenism more than anything else in light of the staffing and retention crisis in our armed forces at the moment.

Turning to the energy issue, the Minister of State can correct me if I am wrong, but it seemed from the tone of the Taoiseach’s opening remarks that we are trying to prevent energy prices rising further. The focus should be on putting downward pressure on energy prices. If the Minister of State can correct me, I look forward to it. We should be looking to reduce energy prices rather than just stopping them from rising. It is all about ambition. Whatever that takes, whether it is price caps, windfall taxes or the decoupling of the gas market, we need to do this. We know that there is a crisis in the EU in relation to the disconnect between the EU institutions and its citizenry across the Continent. This was a classic example and a very important opportunity for the EU institutions to prove to the people that they can have a direct positive impact on their lives. I would encourage as much ambition as possible from an energy point of view.

On the Iranian situation, perhaps the Minister of State might be mentioning this in his closing remarks, but a very strong message needs to go to Tehran for two reasons. The first and primary reason is that abuses of human rights and women’s rights have been happening there over the past number of weeks – or number of years, one could argue. The second reason is that loitering munitions, which are the so-called suicide or kamikaze drones, have been given to the Russians and have been used to devastating effect against civilian infrastructure in Kyiv.

In conclusion, I recognise the importance of the meeting on Thursday and Friday and the high stakes at play. I wish Ireland’s negotiating team the best.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I want to talk about the restoration land policy that is now being formulated by the Commission and the very significant impact it will have on this country. At the outset, there needs to be much more discussion on this restoration policy. It has to be modified greatly. This country will suffer very severe consequences if it goes through as outlined in the proposals that we are seeing coming out of the Commission at the moment. France and Germany seem to be pushing this policy. As there are little or no peatlands in those two countries, it will have very little impact on them. Sweden is fundamentally opposed to it, as is Finland. We need to take a similar stance.

This morning in the audiovisual room, we had a presentation on the economics of afforestation, on what it can do in respect of meeting our challenges on climate change and on the economic benefits it can bring to rural Ireland. I met the chief executive of Coillte last week. If the policy being proposed by the Commission comes forward in its present format, Coillte will be able to replant just 35% to 40% of its forestry land. That land would have to be let grow wild, which would have an economic impact. Consideration must also be given to the lack of calculation of the carbon sink of grown forestry. The reality is that some of our peatland that trees are on at the moment is not suitable for forestry. However, the majority of our peatland can grow Sitka spruce three times faster than other lands across continental Europe. At the moment, Europe is only 80% self-sufficient in timber. If we have learned anything from Ukraine, the energy crisis and the threat to food and energy security, surely it is that Europe has to concentrate and make sure it has security on all fronts as much as is practical.

A representative from COPA-COGECA attended a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine two weeks ago. The obligation that is being put on member states at the moment is that a minimum of 30% of land and sea, including all remaining primary and old-growth forests, has to come under this restoration law. The devastation that this would have on rural Ireland would be immense.

The last time we had a significant designation of land in my part of Tipperary was for the hen harrier. At the time, there was a promise that a good scheme, with adequate compensation, would be brought in. The scheme lasted for two years. The scheme which is there now is a pale imitation of the scheme that was there at the time when that this designation was introduced. The designation on hen harrier land has managed to reduce the capital value of the land by 80% to 85%. If the land was eligible for forestry, at the moment it would probably make €6,000 or €7,000 an acre as the price for forestry land is escalating rapidly. However, if it was put on the open market with the designation, all it would make is €1,200 to €1,300 an acre. This designation has had a huge economic impact on those landowners.

That aside, they are saying that some of the arable land that has been drained over the years will have to be rewetted. The Commission can hear this loud and clear. There is no farmer in this country that will allow land that was painstakingly drained and put into arable production to be rewetted. That is not a runner and it cannot be allowed to happen.

This proposal on restoration is coming from Brussels. Unless it is modified to properly suit this country, our forestry industry will be decimated. We had representatives from the forestry sector there this morning. They have huge challenges at the moment. There is huge competition to get available land. We had all the hassle with licences in the past. They are waiting for a new forestry strategy that hopefully will mend some of their problems. However, the restoration that is being proposed in Brussels at the moment has to be opposed by this country in the same way that Sweden and Finland are doing it, and it has to be modified.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I commend the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, on their work in Europe. I want to especially welcome confirmation on the Commission’s agreement on energy regulation to address high gas prices and security of supply. It is unquestionable that the biggest issue facing businesses, small and large, in the country at the moment is rising energy costs as we face into the winter. Obviously, the introduction of the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, in budget 2023 has been welcome. However, there is still a genuine fear and a concern that it will not be enough. Indeed, I have to echo the comments of my colleague Deputy Berry that we seem to be focused on just containing the price of energy, when the focus needs to be on driving it down.

As I came into the Chamber today, I was contacted by Roy Davis, who runs the very popular SuperValu store in Longford town. It is a run by a family who have continually invested in keeping their business modern and efficient. As a result, their energy bills have been, in the main, manageable heretofore. However, sadly, this is no longer the case. Their energy bill has gone from €10,000 per month to €32,000 per month in the past year – an increase of 220%. Even when we take into account the TBESS, their bills will still be €14,000 per month higher than they were last year. It is an incredible additional cost to have to carry. The rain comes down upon us here in the Chamber, but we will persevere. This is just one example of the many businesses struggling. More needs to be done for them.

I also welcome the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, that a fleet of turbines will be bought to bolster the country's electricity supply and stave off outages. They will account for €350 million worth of the Government’s emergency power generation capacity. These mobile turbines are similar to what are deployed in countries in the wake of natural disasters, etc., where power plants have been destroyed. Some 24 are to be bought and will be installed in two clusters at key points across the country.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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No, we will persevere.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Why would it not, with all the hot wind he is blowing?

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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We are okay. The rain is afraid of Deputy McGrath. There would be some puddle if the rain fell on him.

The Minister and everybody in the House is well aware that the midlands has paid a massive price with the escalation of decarbonisation and the forced closure of two peat-generated power plants and the Bord na Móna peat harvesting operation. It would be a terrible and further slight on the people of Longford if the former power station in Lanesborough was not considered as one of the locations for these emergency power plants. It provides much of the necessary infrastructure and a necessary connection to the grid.

If the energy crisis is to have any commercial or job opportunity windfall, it is only right that County Longford share in that.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and the Taoiseach are behaving treacherously in respect of Irish neutrality. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I listened to Deputy Cahill, my colleague from Tipperary, and Deputy Flaherty and their lovely grand talk. I do not want it to be raining down on top of them but what is going on is scandalous. The Government has abandoned the people in this globalism and dragging us into a crowd we should not be in. Does it have any idea of the impacts of this quarrel? I spoke to the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, previously about the import of grain. He said there were no restrictions on grain coming into Ireland.

I have before me a letter here from Paul and his partner Caroline, a wonderful couple from Cahir who adopted their son in Russia in 2014. They brought him home to Ireland after a long and arduous campaign. Their late grandad, John, who I knew well, set up a credit union account for him, as grandparents do. In 2017, after John passed away, they transferred that few bob into the AIB branch in Cahir. AIB has now sent a letter saying that he is one of the people affected due to the restrictions. It has not been easy for the parents of children adopted from Russia. Can the Minister of State imagine their angst and anxiety on the evening they saw on television the outbreak of hostilities? I praise Coláiste Dún Iascaigh, the school Kian is attending. According to Paul, the school is incredible in how it offers supports for children in Cahir. The town has one of the biggest populations of people from eastern Europe in Ireland per head of population. Nationality does not matter in Cahir. Now, however, courtesy of AIB, this boy's life has been devastated. AIB has sent a letter to a búchaill óg of 17 to say that his account has to be monitored as a result of the restrictions.

What is the Government doing to people? It has got so involved in this war in Ukraine that it is not funny. People are aghast. Ships coming into Cork Harbour will not answer questions about whatever it is they are doing. The Government has really lost the run of itself. The Taoiseach certainly has lost the run of himself, while the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and all the other junior Ministers and backbenchers support him and listen to the devastation of the agriculture industry and all the other industries.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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What is the appetite in Europe to regulate the standing charges that appear on utility bills? Will the windfall solidarity tax bring down the cost of energy for the 2.1 million domestic electricity customers in Ireland or is it just another tax? Deputy Flaherty referred to mobile wind turbines. It states on Electric Ireland bills that 64% of the electricity is from renewable energy, yet the costs are going up and Government Deputies are talking about mobile wind turbines. If people go for paperless billing - which is a good idea - Electric Ireland will give them a percentage off. That means it is built into the bill. The energy providers say that those who pay by direct debit will pay less. If a person pays on time, the provider gives the person money off. That means it is all built into the original bill. If the energy providers can take those charges off, that means they are built into the bill. That is €30 or €40 on bills that could be done away with straightaway because it is an excessive charge. The Government had control over the fuel taxes but it did nothing about it. It is taking 50% in taxes on fuel. Excise charges, VAT and everything else add up to 50% on petrol and 44% on diesel. Now the Government is coming along saying it is going to do something for the ESB with a token. Do not be a joke. It is an absolute joke.

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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I agree with the remarks of Deputy Mattie McGrath regarding the Government attacking Irish neutrality. It is obvious what is going on.

There are many issues that need to be raised at European level, such as why each member state has sat back while energy bills have spiralled out of control or how the price of a barrel of oil is spiralling downwards yet at the same time it has never been as high in Ireland as it is now. It was €2.05 a litre at the pumps in west Cork last weekend. The Government takes 50% of that and throws it around to its little pet projects.

In the short time I have, I will concentrate on the fishing industry as, when I attended the AGM of the Irish South and West Fish Producer's Organisation last Saturday week in Bantry, I was asked to raise a number of questions. There is no doubt that the fishing industry is the industry that has been most abandoned by the State, not only years ago, but when this Government bought into a bad Brexit deal that almost wiped out the industry. The only deal the Minister can speak about is decommissioning and tie-up schemes. That is a shameful return for what could be one of the biggest employment industries in the country. What the industry and I cannot understand is the current cost of fuel for boat users. A fuel relief scheme is now in play in France and Spain for fishermen there and providing relief to hard-pressed fishermen, but there is not a cent from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party to fishermen in Ireland. This is a further attempt to wipe out more Irish fishermen from our waters. When will Fianna Fáil learn how to treat Irish fishermen the same as their fellow fishermen in other EU countries are treated? They do not want to be treated better. All they ask for is equal treatment with their fellow Europeans. That goes for quotas also. There has been a lot of huffing and puffing but no delivery from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue. All he ever mentions is decommissioning and tie-up schemes. This is a shambles of a Government and that is obvious from the way it carries on with fishermen. Its candidates should be run from every fisherman's door when the next election comes in. That is certainly what will happen down in west Cork.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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In the two minutes I have, I will try to focus on certain issues. I will have to leave the Chamber afterwards, although that is not because I do not want to hear the reply of the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne. I am appalled at his comments that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing Ireland to rethink its long tradition of military neutrality.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I ask the Minister of State to withdraw those comments or, at least, to explain or justify them. There are so many things I would like to discuss but in the three minutes I have I will focus on the direction that Europe is heading, and has been heading for a long time. I proudly canvassed against the Lisbon and Nice treaties on the grounds of the militarisation of Europe. That militarisation continues unabated and I judge the comments of the Minister of State within that context. If I was in any doubt at all, that was dispelled by the comments of Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He is unelected. Addressing the former holder of that post, who is now the director of the College of Europe in Bruges, in the context of a pilot project for the training of diplomats, he stated:

Bruges is a good example of the European garden. Yes, Europe is a garden. We have built a garden. Everything works. [He goes on to tell us everything that works]

The rest of the world - and you know this very well, Federica [His predecessor] - is not exactly a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.

This is the man in charge of foreign policy in the EU. He went on and on. That is the language he used. I have serious difficulties with that. I wish I had time to elaborate on it, but I do not.

One year ago today, Israel declared six organisations to be terrorist organisations. Many Deputies have asked questions on that issue and we have been told the Government remains seriously concerned. Other than it being seriously concerned, not a step has been taken in respect of Israel's action. Six human rights organisations were designated as terrorist organisations. Arms conferences or arms fairs are hosted in Dublin. There is a duplicity of language and a dual role in all this and, all the time, the Government is building up the State's military alliance with Europe - I absolutely deplore that alliance - without the permission of the Irish people. The Taoiseach likes to talk about Orwell. To refer to this as the European peace facility is to use Orwellian language.

It is terrible that there are now multiple layers in terms of how refugees are treated. I am sure the Minister of State has seen the article published yesterday in The Irish Timesin respect of naked refugees on the border between Greece and Turkey. The UN Refugee Agency has called for an investigation into the matter. The incident is a direct result of what the EU has done in terms of its agreement with Turkey going back to 2016.

There is also the double role in Ireland when it comes to asylum seekers. Apart from family reunification, not a single person from Afghanistan has been taken in, despite the promises that were made. I will stop mid-sentence to allow my colleague in.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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My time is limited but I want to say a few words on energy prices and energy supply. We are aware that Russia is using drones to target people in their homes - killing, maiming and destroying - and now we see the systematic and targeted bombing of energy installations across Ukraine. This is further evidence, not that we need it, that Russia is blindly determined to destroy Ukraine and to use energy as a weapon of war.

We need a cap on gas prices and we need to be at the forefront when it comes to pushing for this. My understanding is that we are not. If so, can the Minister of State please tell me why?

The reality is that Russia made significant money because the price of pipeline gas was not capped early on and now we see how they are using that money.

I ask about the joint procurement process across the EU. The Commission cannot do this but the Council can push it forward. Any go-alone strategy damages all of us.

I raise the issue of a windfall tax. It is my understanding that this is being looked at as a one-off and it cannot be retrospective. I understand that and, of course, the EU has no competence when it comes to tax but we in this country could move quickly on this and put in place our own windfall tax. What are the obstacles and how much revenue are we forgoing by not doing this? What are the Government's plans for a solidarity tax?

Finally, we will hear plenty of advice about households and individuals saving energy and that is important because people want to save money and energy. That message, however, must be accompanied by strong action on a windfall tax, a solidarity tax and a cap on gas prices, or at least a decoupling of gas prices from electricity prices.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Unfortunately, many questions have been asked but the format does not give me the opportunity to respond to all of them but I will try to respond to some of them. I am obliged to respond, however, to the specific issues that the Taoiseach indicated that he would ask me to respond to and it is important that I do that.

I will deal with the comments by Sinn Féin on two fronts. One was on the issue of the protocol and why this was not on the agenda of the European Council. That is very simple. Britain will not be there, the EU is currently in negotiations with Britain, and the EU is fully united, thankfully, on the issue of the protocol. Those negotiations are happening between the EU, of which we are a member, and the UK. We have full unity around that EU table and, therefore, there is no need for us to discuss it and we are being kept apprised of what is going on.

Yesterday in Luxembourg, I had discussions with many of my EU colleagues on the protocol, as did the Minister for Foreign Affairs on Monday. The Taoiseach will undoubtedly have discussions with his colleagues on Thursday, just as he had discussions with all the northern parties, including Sinn Fein, on Monday.

Sinn Féin said that there is a clamour for war within the EU but exactly the opposite is the case. There is a clamour within the EU for the stopping of war. Sinn Féin’s proposes that Ireland become some kind of a dissenting voice on the issue of Ukraine or Russia. There has been no dissent on sanctions at the EU table, no dissent on the temporary peace facility, although Ireland has taken a different approach because of our very important neutrality, and on the issue of Ukrainian refugees. The only dissenting voices that I hear are at the UN from countries such as North Korea, Eritrea, Syria and Belarus. Sinn Féin would need to think a little bit more carefully about what it is proposing because it does not make sense and the fact is-----

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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We are proposing an alternative to war with a focus on humanitarian assistance. I ask the Minister of State not to take this out of context. We need to take account of how much-----

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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On humanitarian assistance, Ireland has done almost more than any other country. I have quoted the Deputy exactly.

I thank Deputies for their statements and it is very important that we engage in these debates before and after the European Council meeting. The agenda was discussed and this was the main item yesterday in Luxembourg where I attended the General Affairs Council of the EU affairs ministers.

The Taoiseach said that a number of external relations matters would be discussed this week. Leaders will discuss the EU’s relations with Asia, in particular, with the ten Asian countries that make up the membership of the Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN, and in preparation for the upcoming EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on 14 December 2022. Ireland is a strong supporter of EU-ASEAN relations. The 45 years of partnership between the EU and ASEAN is a significant milestone. A strong relationship with ASEAN is one of the most useful ways for the EU to deepen the political and economic relationship with southeast Asia. The summit will be a key opportunity to give a strong political signal that we want to strengthen our strategic relations through concrete and practical co-operation so that the full potential of both regions can be realised. It will also be an opportunity for the EU and ASEAN to demonstrate a shared political determination to address regional and global issues of concern. The summit comes at a critical time in the current geopolitical context, with Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the ongoing conflict in Myanmar. It will be a welcome opportunity for the EU and ASEAN to clearly signal shared support for the international rules-based order. Planned outputs from the summit will include a leaders' joint statement, signing of the EU-ASEAN Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement, and the signing of the EU partnership co-operation agreements with Malaysia and Thailand, respectively.

Leaders will also have a strategic discussion on the EU’s relationship with China. China has long been recognised by the EU as a partner, a competitor and a rival. The EU co-operates with China, for example, to address important global issues such as climate change and global health issues. China is also a part of increasingly integrated global supply chains, as we saw clearly during the pandemic. At the same time, this week’s discussion takes place in the context of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, including as regards China’s stance on Russia’s war on Ukraine, credible evidence of crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, and genuine concerns about human rights in Hong Kong. This week will be an opportunity to reflect on this important relationship for the EU and how we can, collectively, use our influence to shape developments.

Leaders will also discuss the unjustifiable and unacceptable use of force by the Iranian authorities, as mentioned by Deputy Berry, against peaceful protestors, particularly targeted against women. People in Iran, as everywhere else, have the right to peacefully protest and this must be protected. On behalf of the Taoiseach, I asked at the General Affairs Council that this issue be raised at the European Council meeting and there will be conclusions on it.

The European Council will also take stock of one of the most important meetings coming up, which is COP27. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, COP27, will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt in November. This year will mark 30 years since the UNFCCC was adopted and seven years since the Paris Agreement was agreed at COP21. The four goals of the incoming Egyptian Presidency are for increased ambition in the areas of mitigation, adaptation, finance and collaboration. Ireland strongly supports the climate ambition of the EU and is committed to playing its part in achieving the target set by the EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. There is an urgent need to strengthen the global response to the climate emergency in the face of increasingly intense and frequent extreme weather events, such as heat waves, wildfires and floods.

To keep our 1.5°C objective within reach, it is essential that collective efforts across the globe are strengthened. Ireland also welcomed the outcome from COP26 last year that urged developed countries to double the collective provision of climate finance for adaptation. In July this year, Ireland published its International Climate Finance Roadmap, which sets the pathway for achieving the target set by the Taoiseach at COP26 to provide at least €225 million by 2025.

Leaders will also take stock of preparations for COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which will take place in November to agree anew a global framework that provides for the transformative change that the biodiversity crisis urgently demands. Ireland is committed to continuing to working effectively together in order that the EU and member states present a strong and coherent voice for nature and biodiversity at COP 15 to help bring about this change. This will support our role in the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and also the commitments underpinning the leaders’ pledge for nature, signed at the UN Summit on Biodiversity in 2020.

Ireland is currently developing its fourth national biodiversity action plan. This will be underpinned by the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, particularly the outcomes of the discussions at COP15.

I thank Members for their participation in the debate. Before I conclude, I want to give a flavour of the energy issues, which everybody has rightly raised. What I feel is sometimes absent from the debate in this country is any acknowledgement of the complexity of the issues that surround us. We go from one extreme, with Deputy O'Donoghue talking about direct debit mandates and paperless billing, but the issue is just far more complicated than that. I agree those are issues we have to consider. What we find is that every country has specificities. We are specific because we are on an island. The Corrib gas field was mentioned, but it provides a declining share of our gas and we have to import gas from elsewhere. As the British Government has seen recently, none of us has complete control over this. We only get results when we work together, and we must acknowledge that.

Deputy Bacik mentioned the Spanish and Portuguese solution. Yes, it is an attractive solution but it works for them because they have large volumes of renewable energy, particularly from solar energy. However, it does imply a tax on the bills to pay for it. It works for them at the moment but that is because they have a different situation from us. We are not opposed to that but other countries have shown that they have different issues and not everybody agrees with that.

We heard lots of talk about the decoupling of natural gas. I would love to do that in the morning but no Member has put forward any plan to decouple natural gas prices from electricity prices. They have simply asked for it. One way of doing that is what we have done, which is the windfall tax on renewable producers. That is a way of getting money back into the system from people who are earning too much money. The reality is that the only way to completely decouple the gas price is not to use gas, or at least reduce it dramatically, and increase our renewables. That is why we talk about increasing our renewables all of the time. It is because we want, as was said, to decouple gas prices.

The Commission put forward proposals yesterday and departments in this country and throughout the EU are examining those proposals relating the price of natural gas, which is clearly of huge concern. This will be on the agenda tomorrow evening as the leaders make their decisions. This is complex and there are different positions in every country, but we have achieved a lot already by working together. When the leaders get into that room and the meetings are well prepared by officials and experts, and even through this debate, for example, with all of the ideas flowing into it, we can achieve results. We achieved that last month with the windfall tax. We must acknowledge that the way to do this is to work together.

In fairness, if we consider the Taoiseach's contribution, the objective is clearly to reduce prices. However, what he is concerned about on this island, where we only have the small Corrib gas field, is to ensure that we have a supply of natural gas. I hear a lot of people asking for low prices, and the Government and myself want low prices, but nobody talks about making sure that we secure our gas supply in the short term, and we secure our energy and, hopefully, our renewable energy sources in the short-, medium- and longer-term.