The problem is the pressure that is being applied is not only ineffectual, but is actually lessening the amount of food going in. The Tánaiste said himself that aid has halved since the International Court of Justice made a ruling. There is no obvious sign of any relenting on the part of the Israeli authorities in terms of the pressure they are keeping. As the Tánaiste also rightly said, they have destroyed any protection that was there to have law and order within Gaza. It is an extraordinarily difficult situation…

Israel is still trying to destroy Gaza.

I certainly join others in commending the bravery of Alexei Navalny and all others who stand against Putin's autocracy. The Tánaiste set out rightly the litany of human rights violations now afoot in Russia. On our actions, I produced and brought before the House, as the Chair of the justice committee here present will recall, the Magnitsky legislation to ensure we and our financial services sector here are not used as a conduit for the ill-gotten gains of the autocrats who now rule Russia. Will the Tánaiste undert…

On Magnitsky?

Same old tune.

I was here myself.

The Deputy does not own a house, I suppose.

What?

I thank the Minister of State for his comments on the Labour Party, but I should say that attacks on the Labour Party are not personal. They are attacks in defence of self-interest and they only reinforce us in our determination to advance our policy platform. Since recovery from the financial crash which brought about the collapse of Ireland’s construction industry, the issue of housing has been this country’s main social focus. When other crises faced us, we were able to bring a singular focus to bear to address …

I too welcome to the Chamber the wonderful ambassador of Ukraine to hear this debate. Two years ago, the bloodiest conflict our continent has seen since the Second World War began. There is no end visible to the carnage and wanton destruction. The imperial ambitions of Vladimir Putin which caused him to invade his neighbour, Ukraine, and set out to remove that nation from existence, remains unabated. Well before his unlawful and brutal attack on Ukraine, Putin set out in an hour-long speech his dream of a new Russi…

Deirtear gurb é an rud is annamh is iontach. After numerous false dawns and Groundhog Days, finally, the institutions envisaged in the power-sharing arrangements of the Good Friday Agreement have been restored in Northern Ireland. Two years after the people of Northern Ireland elected the members of the assembly, there is at last a working assembly and a functioning Executive. The historic fact of the election of a Northern Ireland First Minister from the nationalist, republican tradition is noteworthy and signific…

That's right.

Getting all three re-elected is the thing.

I am deeply privileged to have the opportunity to say a few words in memory of a very distinguished Member of this House and a fine statesman, John Bruton. I was privileged to serve in the rainbow Government from 1994 to 1997 as Minister for the Environment under the leadership of John Bruton. That Government, as others will recall, had an unusual, if not unique, genesis. It was the only Irish Government that was formed mid-Dáil term, had a short lifetime of three years and changed its composition. The three partie…

Those are important.

My question concerns support for Ukraine. The ongoing onslaught on Ukraine by Russia is a daily occurrence. There are so many terrible events happening in the world that sometimes our focus on Ukraine is diminished. However, it will need the support of the EU just to maintain normal functioning as a state. I am interested to hear the Tánaiste's view on whether that will come about.

It is crystal clear that we cannot simply have a situation where one country, Hungary with Viktor Orbán, is simply blackmailing the rest of the European Union first for his own ends in terms of his unhidden support for Putin, but also to leverage other matters within the European Union so that there would be no sanctions against Hungary on the rule of law issues. What specifically will happen if the Orbán blackmail continues? Particularly given the situation in Congress in United States it is not sustainable for Uk…

I think most of us would agree that the objections of Hungary are contrived. The specifics regarding Ukraine are not real. It is a twofold attempt, first, to publicly manifest support for Russia and, second, to blackmail the rest of the EU Council into easing sanctions against Hungary over rule-of-law issues. I would be interested to hear the Tánaiste's view on that. I am also interested in hearing about the utterances of Prime Minister Orbán and his talks with the Slovak Prime Minister Fico over an alternative str…

What about the Fico discussions?

I begin by condemning utterly the threats that were made against Jeffrey Donaldson and that he spoke about in the House of Commons yesterday. There is no room on any part of this island or anywhere else for threats of physical violence against any political person. Does the Tánaiste agree with me that the Northern Ireland governance framework which was so hard-won over so many years has been totally undermined by the suspension for two years of a working assembly and Executive. I underscore the point as to what is …