I thank the Taoiseach and call Deputy Paul Murphy.

In ten days, on St. Patrick's Day, the Taoiseach is scheduled to experience the vice-like grip of Donald Trump. I take it he has been doing his hand exercises.

Steady on.

When it seemed safe that Donald Trump would not be elected, the Taoiseach's predecessor, Deputy Enda Kenny, described his comments as racist and dangerous. Over a year later, it is absolutely clear that it is not only his comments but that Donald Trump himself is racist, sexist and dangerous. His big and beautiful wall, which he continues to push as a means to whip up racist sentiment, has been matched with anti-immigrant executive orders which have resulted in families being broken up across the country, with over 100,000 arrested by immigration officials last year. The so-called dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to America as children, including Irish people, now face the threat of deportation. He has called for National Football League, NFL, bosses to fire American football players such as Colin Kaepernick who take a knee in protest at the killing of black Americans by the police. His response to Charlottesville, a violent protest by far right and fascist forces, which saw the murder of Heather Heyer, was disturbingly revealing. He said there was blame on many sides and went on to describe the anti-fascist protesters as "very, very violent". He is a US President who not only bragged about sexual assault, and has not only been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, but whose policies and appointments reveal a deeply sexist and homophobic outlook. He has opened an attack against Planned Parenthood and implemented a series of anti-LGBT measures, including an attempt to ban transgender people from the military and overturning protections for trans school students.

In January, the doomsday clock for humanity was moved forward by 30 seconds to two minutes to midnight. The scientist responsible wrote:

Never before has the Bulletin decided to advance the clock largely because of the statements of a single person. But when that person is the new president of the United States, his words matter.

Those words include the threat of fire and fury against North Korea. Donald Trump threatens the future of our planet. His withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is matched by rolling back environmental regulations, pushing forward with oil and gas extraction, a drive to restart coal extraction and giving the go-ahead for the Keystone XL pipeline. He is a danger to humanity.

Time please, Deputy.

He is the ugly face of a capitalist system devoted to maximising profit at any cost. The best thing the Taoiseach could do would be to refuse to meet him, refuse to allow his racist, anti-immigrant policies to be greenwashed with a bowl of shamrock. The Taoiseach's response will be predictable - he will not do it.

I thank the Deputy.

I remind him of the commitments he made repeatedly when we have raised these issues over the course of the past year, namely, that he would raise them in the US in March.

The time is up.

March is here. Will the Taoiseach represent the views of ordinary people in this country and explain that there are those who oppose Donald Trump's attacks on the environment, disagree with his anti-immigrant rhetoric and are appalled by his aggressive nationalist stance?

Next week, as part of a one-week mission to the United States, I will be invited to the White House by President Trump. We will hold a bilateral meeting as part of that visit. President Trump is the head of Government of the United States, I am head of Government of Ireland and we are two countries which have very strong links. They are cultural - they run in our blood, most of us have American family and many Americans have Irish family - and they are economic. They are extremely important and I want to maintain and strengthen them. They will outlast any president or Taoiseach and it is important that we see everything through that perspective.

There are many of Donald Trump's policies with which I do not agree. I do not agree with him on migration, climate change or trade. I am very much a supporter of free trade and the politics of Donald Trump are much closer to those of Deputy Paul Murphy on that particular issue. I also believe very strongly in individual freedom, which encompasses women's right and the rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Of course I intend to use the opportunity of the meeting I will have with President Trump, his Administration and the vice president to deal with and raise some of those issues, specifically those relating to trade. I shall point out to the President the extent to which our relationship is truly bilateral. It is not well known but nearly 100,000 Americans across 50 states work for Irish companies. Trade goes in both directions and free trade and free enterprise benefit both countries immeasurably. I shall speak with the President about this in great detail.

The direct answer to the Deputy's question is that one can take two different approaches to these things. The traditional approach of the left and the far left to people they do not agree with is the policy of no platform, not talking to them, not sharing a platform with them and maybe just shouting at them. It has never really worked. The Government I lead will pursue a policy of engagement.

I do not think the Taoiseach understands the politics of the left-----

Perhaps the Deputy will enlighten us.

-----and the differences that exist between our approach and that of Donald Trump. Perhaps the simplest thing is to remind the Taoiseach of his own politics and what he said previously. On 27 June the Taoiseach said:

I have not yet had the phone call with President Trump but I am fairly sure that at some point in my interactions with him, assuming we are both still in office next March, we will be discussing LGBT rights. I will not shirk from raising issues such as climate change, LGBT rights and so on with President Trump.

A week before that, referring to meetings in March, the Taoiseach said, "I will absolutely include in those meetings discussions of the issues he mentioned, whether it be climate change, human rights, LGBT rights and the need to respect Muslim people". Will the Taoiseach clarify if he will discuss those issues with President Trump? Will the Taoiseach discuss the issues of LGBT rights and the issue of the so-called wall?

The Deputy's time is up.

Will the Taoiseach discuss President Trump's anti-Muslim policies? Will the Taoiseach raise those issues with President Trump?

I will raise with President Trump the issues as listed by the Deputy earlier, which I had said I would raise.