Over the course of the next week the Taoiseach will engage in three crucially important meetings for Ireland's future. The first is a meeting with the British Prime Minister in which I hope the Taoiseach will press for a reset of relationships as equal partners. Then there is an EU Council meeting at a time when the European Commission has kickstarted an EU arms race, proposing a colossal €800 billion in military spending. Then the Taoiseach travels to the United States to meet the US President in the White House at a time when an outrageous threat of mass expulsion from Gaza hangs over 2 million Palestinians.

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day meeting comes at a time of conflict, challenge and deep uncertainty in the world. It also comes at a time of deep public concern regarding the Government’s moves to dismantle the triple lock and undermine Ireland’s neutrality. People ask why Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not bring that same urgency when dealing with housing, access to healthcare or the cost of living. It has never been more important for Ireland to protect and assert our long-standing neutrality fully intact. The meeting with the US President presents an opportunity to address Ireland’s interests, but also a moment to speak honestly with him and voice Ireland’s position clearly on pressing international affairs. I am certain the Taoiseach will impress upon President Trump the importance of continued US support for our peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, the need for a solution for the undocumented Irish and of course the real concerns regarding the impact tariffs could have on Ireland’s economy, on jobs and on future prosperity. The message has to be that Ireland is a location of choice for American investment for very good reason, that the economic relationship between our two countries is a two-way street and that it must continue in the time ahead.

This will be the Taoiseach’s last time taking Leaders’ Questions before he makes that journey to the United States, so I ask him to set out for the Dáil very clearly what it is he will say to the US President regarding Ukraine and Gaza. Will he put it to President Trump that Ireland stands on the side of international law and diplomacy, that the sovereignty of Ukraine must be upheld, that the pressing and immediate priority now is to build peace through inclusive engagement and good faith dialogue? What will be the Taoiseach’s message to the American President in standing with the Palestinian people? Will he express Ireland’s strong view the US is catastrophically wrong on Gaza, that the proposal for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is an absolutely unacceptable breach of international law and deeply destabilising for the Middle East and the wider world? Remember this view can be most powerfully delivered by an Ireland that is a military neutral. Remember it was the unaligned countries that spoke for Palestine's right to exist while those in powerful military alliances failed to stop the genocide and have in fact financed it and armed the Israeli war machine. Mar sin, caithfidh an teachtaireacht ó Éirinn sa Teach Bán a rá gur féidir agus gur gá dár dtíortha a bheith mar leathbhádóirí rathúla ar son na síochána, ar son an dul chun cinn, agus ar son rathúnas na cruinne. Ireland and America can be successful partners for peace, progress and prosperity, but only if we choose to be and only if we are determined to be. I ask the Taoiseach to set out clearly what his message is to the United States on Palestine and Gaza.

Tá an ceart ag an Teachta go bhfuil na cruinnithe a bheidh agam an tseachtain seo agus an tseachtain seo chugainn tábhachtach. Léiríonn siad an gaol láidir agus tábhachtach atá idir ár dtír agus an Bhreatain. Léiríonn siad cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an gaol idir na tíortha san Aontas Eorpach agus, gan amhras, an gaol an-láidir atá idir na Stáit Aontaithe agus ár dtír. Sa trí chás sin, tá cúrsaí eacnamaíochta ríthábhachtach. Ní aon amhras ach go mbraitheann forbairt cúrsaí geilleagair na tíre seo ar na gaolta sin idir na Stáit Aontaithe, an Bhreatain agus an tAontas Eorpach, ós rud é go bhfuilimid páirteach san Aontas Eorpach anois ó 1973 ar aghaidh.

Since I became Taoiseach I have identified a number of relationships that are key to Ireland's future and have been key to our success over the last 30 or 40 years. The Irish-United Kingdom relationship is an extremely important one. The UK is our closest neighbour and tonight we begin an annual summit that will now occur every year between the UK Government and the Irish Government. It is a relationship of family, a relationship of neighbours and a very strong economic relationship and we should not forget that, notwithstanding Brexit. Many Irish small- to medium-sized companies begin their export story in the British market. We will be seeking and working to see if we can ease the barriers that are in the way of trade between the United Kingdom and Ireland and indeed the EU more generally because economic growth in Britain will be good for Ireland and will help economic growth in Ireland. I am looking forward to that meeting along with my colleagues in government. A number of Ministers will be meeting their counterparts as part of this UK-Ireland Summit also.

The EU Council is a moment of huge importance. I am somewhat perplexed by the Deputy’s reference to Europe kickstarting an arms race. She is, I think, missing the point. Many European countries are very fearful of the threat Russia poses to their very existence. Many of these countries have history with Russia, particularly the Baltics, Poland and many others. We should not forget that or, in our complacency in this part of the world, undermine or seek to dismiss very legitimate fears these countries have about their very survival – and it is real. Europe has to be self-reliant. This is in order to ensure peace and prosperity because Europe wants peace. President von der Leyen made that clear in her opening remarks. Europe is about peace, it is about prosperity and it is about quality of life for its citizens. No one wants war but the bottom line is Europe is exposed right now and EU member states need military capability and security capability across a lot of domains including cybersecurity, maritime security, energy security and so forth.

The relationship of the United States with Ireland is older than the State itself and is an extremely important one. We are going fundamentally of course to celebrate the historical links between Ireland and the US. St. Patrick’s Day has always been the traditional day to do that, and St. Patrick’s week as well, and to be there for our diaspora.

Some 30 million people claim Irish descent.

In terms of the core issues, the economic relationship is very important. We are an open small economy.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

We are pro-free trade and I will articulate that perspective. We will also articulate our views regarding Ukraine and the Middle East.

Gan dabht, tá na gaolta sin uilig an-tábhachtach ar fad. That is why I have raised the question with the Taoiseach. I am not in the least bit complacent. I am deeply concerned about the international order at this time and Ireland's place within it. Peace is not achieved by investing in and financing war. Every rule in the book is being set aside to enable Europe to invest €800 billion in weapons of war. That is patently not a peace strategy. This country is a neutral country and militarily unaligned, and that places us in the strongest position to advocate for international law, the UN system and real processes of dialogue and conflict resolution, which is where we need to be. Can the Taoiseach set out much more clearly what exactly he will say on Ukraine and, in particular, on Gaza and the Palestinian question?

First of all, I invite Deputy McDonald to talk to political parties in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. She should ask them if our position is somehow going to ease their concern and anxiety. I do not think she gets it and I think she needs to engage more widely in terms of the perspectives of others on the European Continent. They have bitter experience of what happened to their people over many decades and centuries. The one bright spot for them was that, with the collapse of the old Soviet Union, they got access to the European Union. That is where they want to be, and they want to be secure.

In respect of peace, we want a peace settlement that is durable and sustainable in Ukraine. President Trump wants a peace settlement in Ukraine. There are different perspectives on how to arrive at that.

What about Palestine and Gaza?

Thank you, Taoiseach.

In terms of Gaza and the Middle East, let us be clear. We want to consolidate the ceasefire and will be making that point very strongly. We want a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Arab peace initiative and the Arab proposals in respect of Gaza have come through, which have a lot to commend themselves.