I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on this matter. Background is always very helpful. When we talk about droves of people coming into the country, that is not accurate. We have a total of just under 26,000 people in direct provision. I hope I have a chance to come back to the inhuman, unacceptable direct provision we were supposed to finish a long time ago. Of those 26,000 people, a shocking number have been granted refugee status and have no place to go. More than 5,000 people with refugee status cannot …

There were 500 or 600 maximum and I understand applications are now closed.

I would love to talk to the Minister about this but I only have a few minutes remaining. I appreciate his work but, unfortunately, he has not ended direct provision. This Government has presided over mixed messages with regard to our approach to asylum seekers in every possible way, creating a two-tier system and pitting communities against each other. It is all inconsistent. Not too far from this august establishment, there is a hotel that has been empty for five, six or seven years. I stayed there when I was firs…

There are five pages of a speech here. Let me be positive first. I welcome that the Government will continue funding UNRWA. I am deeply concerned that other countries, including the US, have decided to suspend funding. Other than that, in this five-page speech, there is not a single reference to the findings of the ICJ. I find that truly incredible. It does not set out what the findings are and what we think of those findings - not a word. Instead it talks about how the ICJ is not a debating society, and how the Tá…

Go raibh maith agat, a Theachta. We are way over time.

We are way over time, Deputy.

We are over time.

We will try to avoid personal comments. It is time to move on.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Jennifer Whitmore - To discuss secondary school places for Greystones, County Wicklow. Deputy Joan Collins - To discuss the gap in income thresholds between social housing and cost-rental housing. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor - To discuss developing an injury clinic for Carlow. Deputy James O'Connor - To discuss the requirement for further educatio…

I know the Deputy has permission from the family but he is also quoting somebody who is not here.

He is finished now, but he can come back in. I am just asking him to be careful.

I know it is a little unfair on Members who have come in because they thought the list had collapsed. I can do my best for those who have come in. In this order, I am going to take Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett-----

I think it is at my discretion. The Deputy knows that we were on a committee that tried to stop this and, unfortunately, those proposals have not been put before me so far. I hope they are because it would stop all of this uncertainty. I know the Deputy agrees with that. For the moment, I am going to exercise my discretion. I will take Deputy Boyd Barrett, then Deputy Bruton and I will then move forward to Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. I then hope to take Deputy Stanton.

We are not going to have a debate on it. It is not the Deputy’s fault. We are all unhappy with this. There was a sub-committee and recommendations were made that this would stop and if somebody was not here, the question would not be taken. Unfortunately, that has not been finalised yet or come back before us. I call Deputy Boyd Barrett.

It is Questions Nos. 11 and 19.

I am not in charge of the groupings. It is the Department that does that.

The Deputy should feel free to come in with a supplementary question.

Can we have some consistency with the times, please?

We are going to do this through the Chair. It is a question and then a response to the question.

Before the Tánaiste answers Deputy Mc Hugh wants to come in.