Amendments Nos. 1 and 6 are related and may be discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 2 to 5, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

The Bill will be sent to the Seanad. Cuirfear an Bille chun an tSeanaid anois.

Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 are related and may be discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 3 to 11, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

I dtús báire guím gach rath ar Eamon Ryan cibé cén bealach a shiúlann sé anois. Freisin, tugaim aitheantas don méid oibre a rinne sé. Fillim anois ar cheist na Palaistíne agus an t-ár brúidiúil, marfach atá ar siúl fad is atá muid i mbun cainte anseo. Rinneamar an cinneadh ceart an mhí seo caite ar an 25 Bealtaine nuair a thugamar aitheantas don stát neamhspleách Stáit na Palaistíne. Is í an cheist anois ná cad iad na céimeanna eile atá le tógáil. Tá práinn le céimeanna eile. I am going to return to the question of…

When the Taoiseach spoke to President Biden yesterday, did he ask him to stop the export of arms that are responsible for the genocide in Palestine? Did he ask him to take action on that? The previous Taoiseach wrote to von der Leyen back in February about the EU-Israel agreement; nothing has happened since. He wrote directly to von der Leyen and there has been no response. Yet this Government will vote for von der Leyen. I understand that Fianna Fáil has a little more sense and might not support her election. Howe…

I am going back again on the Women’s Aid report. It has already been raised by two Deputies. We could not fail to raise it given the damning figures: an 18% increase in disclosures from last year, making it the highest on record. Women’s Aid is now 50 years on the ground. I would have hoped that it would be redundant by this point and we would not need it anymore and instead it has got worse. What I want to focus in on here is this. In 1996 and 1997, there was a task force. Following on from that, we had many strat…

The Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimates for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2024: Votes 16, 23 and 34.

I remind Members that this debate will adjourn at the end of the second speaking round and resume tomorrow.

I listened to the Minister carefully. This Government has led a divisive campaign about refugees and asylum seekers. This has led to a situation where we have two tiers. The Ukrainians came in with full rights compared to those ensconced in direct provision. This Government has stood over direct provision, a system that was not fit for purpose, for over 24 years. There were numerous reports, starting with the modest report of Mr. Justice Brian McMahon at the time and going on to the Catherine Day report. A decision…

I did not interrupt the Minister. What are we looking at here? The UN estimates that at the end of 2023, there were more than 117 million displaced people in the world. I understand the number has gone up to almost 120 million. What are we doing about that? What lens are we looking through to see what is happening in the world? What voice are we using? Are we using our voice as a neutral and independent sovereign state to ask what is happening and what we will contribute to that debate as a small country? Our voice…

Tá muid ag dul chuig Sinn Féin anois leis an Teachta Patricia Ryan.

The next slot is a Government slot. Does Deputy Coveney wish to speak?

Regarding that last comment, quite a number of our carers are non-Irish. It is important to acknowledge that. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. It builds on what Sinn Féin, Deputy Canney, others and I have done. We are doing this not to embarrass the Government. Well, perhaps we are doing it to embarrass the Government into acting. Rather than use my own words, I will cite the motion, which is looking for very basic measures, namely, a minimum respite guarantee and a relaxation of the carer’s allowance mea…

A mixture. It is difficult to understand from the answers whether the beds are for older people or people with disabilities. There is a mix. I will put my hands up and say I am adding to the confusion. These are basic requirements. Carers are saving us billions of euro. I heard a figure of €20 billion mentioned. I do not know what the exact figure is, but the one I was using was €12 billion. We could pick a figure out of the sky, but perhaps the mandarins in the Department of Finance might assist us.

For the attention of Members, I am moving on to other questions. We are finished with Priority Questions. I am starting but some Members are not here. I want to alert the House to that fact.

Bogaimid ar aghaidh anois go dtí an chéad ceist eile, Ceist Uimh. 5 in ainm an Teachta Gino Kenny.

If Deputy Duncan Smith is agreeable, we will move to Question No. 6 in his name.

Tá muid ag dul ar ais go dtí Ceist Uimh. 5 in ainm an Teachta Gino Kenny.