Last Tuesday, I raised with the Taoiseach the serious threat posed by US President Trump to Europe and to international law with his proposed annexation of Greenland. Over the weekend we have seen the threats from Trump become ever more serious. He has ratcheted up his language. He is essentially looking to blackmail his European allies with yet more tariffs. With these latest Oval Office outbursts, we are seeing dysfunction in D.C. wreaking havoc across the world. This is cause for huge concern. Not content with tanking his own country's economy, Trump's actions seem set on everyone else's too. Following his perceived Nobel Peace Prize snub, he has publicly acknowledged that his sights are set on imperialist action. We know the enormous threat to Europe posed from the east by Putin's barbaric authoritarian regime in Russia, but now we are seeing a threat of annexation of European territory from the west, from our so-called ally in the US. Trump is ripping up the rulebook when it comes to international diplomacy. After just a year in office, the uncertainty he is causing is doing enormous damage with his territory grabs, his tariffs and now the real likelihood of a Trump slump.

Today I ask the Taoiseach about the potential impact of such a slump on Ireland and what we can do about it. Economic shocks do not just impact spreadsheets nationally. They hit kitchen cupboards, homes and communities across the country. When governments fail to prepare, ordinary people pay the price for failure. We all know how exposed our public finances are due to our disproportionate over-reliance on corporation tax from a small number of large US multinationals. Behind every export figure are workers, families, mortgages, rents and household bills that have to be paid. A great many people and households across the country are already living payslip to payslip in a cost-of-living crisis. The question we are hearing from people is: what happens if the work dries up? The uncomfortable truth is that this vulnerability to a global slump is no accident. It reflects choices made by the Government parties over many years. First is its failure to diversify our economic base, as the unions have pointed out. Second is its failure to use a historic boom to build resilience. Irish society is generally cash rich but asset poor with weak infrastructure, unaffordable housing, overstretched public transport and creaking healthcare.

When the shock hits, these failures become dangerous. That is why the risk of a global Trump slump matters so much here at home. Fear alone is already destabilising investment decisions across Ireland and Europe. We know the EU must respond robustly and strategically to Trump's threats, but we must also work here at home to control the controllables and protect people.

Labour has argued for a State-backed short-time working scheme to protect families and households against this potential shock. Will the Taoiseach consider this now and will he respond to Trump's tantrums with real action and a robust responses?

Aontaím leis an Teachta go bhfuil cúrsaí an tsaoil an-dainséarach, deacair faoi láthair agus go bhfuil dúshláin an-mhóra amach romhainn agus roimh mhuintir na hEorpa i gcoitinne. Is maith an rud é go ndearnamar an-chuid ó thaobh cúrsaí eacnamaíochta de agus ó thaobh an gheilleagair. Tá an geilleagar i bhfad níos láidre anois ná mar a bhí.

We are in very uncharted territory and the situation is serious and potentially very grave for the European and Irish economies and, indeed, for the United States economy, if a trade war were to break out and if we have a series of tariffs and counter-tariffs. In the latest iteration of this in the aftermath of the so-called Liberation Day last year, Europe prepared different scenarios in terms of tariffs. Those scenarios are still in place and can be deployed, if necessary.

We are very conscious of this and the Deputy was correct that this affects people's jobs and their capacity to look after themselves and their families. That has always been my number one interest because in the conduct of foreign policy, we have national interests and the protection of livelihoods and workers is a key national interest in terms of how we contribute to these issues and how we help to try and resolve these issues. It is good that we are members of the European Union, by the way. At moments like this, the value of being a Single Market and being in a European Union should not be underestimated. Others are not and find it more difficult and more challenging as a result.

The first principle that we adhere to is European Union solidarity in terms of fellow member states. Second, I recall that in the context of the budget, we focused on infrastructure. We said we wanted to deliver more and we allocated money through the national development plan to water, public transport ad the electricity grid with potentially up to €18 billion to be invested. We got criticised because we did not do the once-off packages, which could have been €2 billion or €3 billion and which Labour wanted us to do. Now it is criticising us for not being budgetarily or fiscally prepared. It is a bit rich, to be frank. I argue that we are better-----

We were against narrowing the tax base.

We are probably in a better position, although you could never be in a good position because of this. Tariffs are bad, but fiscally we are probably in a better position than we would have been if we had taken Labour's advice in terms of the expenditure side because we concentrated on looking after those on the lowest incomes and we concentrated on infrastructure to really make sure we can invest in the productive capacity of our economy, which is something we control and we can govern in the time ahead. It is very important that we protect that.

We also put aside the future Ireland fund, which, again, Members of the Opposition criticised.

We supported it.

I did not say Labour. I said other Members opposed it. We also created the climate infrastructure and nature fund, which I think are important buffers, as well as having significant cash balances to hopefully help us deal with any potential negativity that could arise from this.

I do not appreciate taking lectures on the budget from the party that brought in the tax break for the burger barons and big builders. The Labour Party stood against the narrowing of the tax base. I do agree with the Taoiseach on European solidarity, absolutely. Between them, Putin and Trump have made the unthinkable normal now. They are normalising this hideous threat of annexation and the hideous threat of trade wars that are going damage us all. As my colleague Deputy Lawlor pointed out, there are huge implications for Ireland, by the way, if Trump is threatening military action in Europe and using Shannon Airport for US planes. That is a huge question for us.

We absolutely need European solidarity. We need to stand together on this and the European Union must use every lever at its disposal. We must see a robust response to Trump to stand up to what is really a creeping fascism. We are seeing in his own country armed militias seizing people and shooting people and we are now also seeing the threat of annexation and the seizure of a leader in Venezuela against international law.

This is appalling to see. I want to make one specific, practical ask. Last year, on so-called "liberation day" the Taoiseach and Tánaiste very helpfully provided briefings to Opposition leaders on the Trump threat.

Sorry, Deputy, it is not part of the question. The Taoiseach to respond.

I ask the Taoiseach to do the same now.

Yes, we have no difficulty in organising briefings of leaders of the Opposition. We need to be careful and look at things in perspective. The greatest threat on the European continent is Russia. It is not just a threat; it is happening and has been happening for four years. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, soldiers on both sides, all because of the decision by President Putin to illegally invade Ukraine, to bomb its civilian infrastructure to bits and to try to destroy its energy infrastructure. Nothing comparable to that has happened yet. Let us not try to equate the two. Let us not lose sight of the fact that Russia represents the greatest threat to other European Union member states on the Baltic and in Poland. We all talk to them regularly and they articulate that real sense of an existential fear, so we should not lose sight of that. This is why Europe has been endeavouring to work with the United States to get the fairest and most balanced outcome for Ukraine that creates sustainability for Ukraine into the future. That is very important. I will arrange a briefing for the leaders of the Opposition.