There has to be recognition at some stage at that the way in which - to call it "consultation" is to be very generous - was carried out was in many instances completely inadequate. I made a contribution on statements on international protection recently about the need for respect - respect for the rules, of course; respect for the residents and asylum seekers because it is absolutely essential that they be treated with dignity and respect at every stage; and respect for communities. To be honest, however, in many i…

The Minister of State and I have spoken on a number of occasions in relation to the terrible situation in Sudan, which has seen tens if not hundreds of thousands of people killed, or certainly hundreds of thousands of people killed, in the past number of years. There has been the slaughter in El-Fasher. The conflict carries on unabated and there has been inadequate attention from the international community and inadequate pressure. There are steps Ireland as well as the international community can take. First, coul…

I welcome the Minister of State's intention to visit. I am glad the Department officials have visited those refugees. The humanitarian situation on the ground could potentially escalate even further. Even if the UN reaches its appeal for €2.9 billion, that will only reach 20 million of the 33 million people needing humanitarian assistance. That is the scale of the humanitarian crisis, of hunger and of need, that is there. This is all escalating alongside a very significant conflict and slaughter, in many instances …

That would certainly be one of the asks. There are two layers to it. Obviously, the arms embargo is not fully effective by any means as things stand. We must always have hope but it is difficult not to be pessimistic when both actors in the conflict feel they can win and, therefore, the prospects for peace in that context are constrained. Dialogue needs to be at the centre of what the Government and the international community are calling for. There will be opportunities. We had a very interesting and harrowing hea…

On that last question, I might just say that individual cases do not necessarily preclude the Irish Government from representing a category generally speaking and that should always be the case. I cannot make up my mind as to what the Government intends to do with the occupied territories Bill. Does it intend to drop it entirely? Does it intend to water it down? Does it intend to put it on the long finger and maybe think about doing something later? I am not totally sure. However, I know it is vital. It represents …

The key principle that underlines the occupied territories Bill is that the International Court of Justice case clearly states that trade with those occupied territories is illegal. The position of the Department of foreign affairs and the Government has always been that we should not trade with these territories. I see no reason that there should not be a criminal sanction for those who choose to do that. It is very much in that realm. This is not necessarily about catching every transaction; it is about ensuring …

That raises a few questions. On the implementation, I have never received a satisfactory answer to this. The practical effect of the implementation is very similar to the preparation that would have been required for the implementation of the similar ban on trade with the territories of Ukraine that are currently occupied by Russia. It is absolutely right that those sanctions were put in place, but the implementation would have been the same. Whether the vehicle is different is immaterial as to what preparations a …

It is very clear that the Spanish legislation goes into the area of services, the extent of which we can perhaps consider further. For example, due to the Spanish legislation, some rental companies been forced to remove the advertisement of the letting of properties in these occupied territories. Therefore, it is clearly having an effect. If EU law prevented member states from intervening in the area of services, that would be struck down. Obviously, any potential legislation can be challenged; anyone can choose to…

Eight years is plenty of time.

I welcome the comments by the Minister of State and the question. It is important that support is provided for organisations such as the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. The statistics from the survey are concerning. Unfortunately, they reflect similarly concerning findings, perhaps worse findings, in other jurisdictions. Clearly, it is important that the message goes out from all sides of these Houses that Holocaust denial or minimisation is appalling. We need to be very clear that the Holocaust happened at the scal…

I had another question on this, which probably will not be reached. I have to say a couple of things. First, the Irish Government has historically had a strong position in relation to this. I ask the Minister of State to maintain that and to maintain support for Sahrawi self-determination. On a minor note - it may not be minor in some respects - I do not agree with the framing of the SADR as "the opposition". That implies that it is the opposition within Morocco. It is recognised by some countries as the legitimate…

I would encourage the Deputy not to.

I probably just addressed it. I had not anticipated this question would come up. It is on the same matter so I have probably addressed the point. I am satisfied to pass on it.

Two things occur to me in relation to this Bill, which I strongly oppose. It is a very dangerous Bill that will cause huge hardship for an awful lot of people. Listening to some of the contributions over the course of this afternoon, I have felt like I am in a parallel universe. The first thing to say is that there must be prioritisation here. There must be a recognition of what is fundamental here. I believe in rules that are fair and I believe that adequate resources should be provided to ensure that decisions ar…

There have been plans in recent years to do with the national development plan, the national spatial strategy and so on. What a lot of them have in common is the prediction that Cork is likely to be fastest growing urban area in the State over the course of the next 15 to 20 years. For that to happen and for Cork to reach its fullest potential, we know that the infrastructure is needed. More than that, we know that it cannot simply be putting more cars on the road. Public transport is going to be crucially importan…

A little under two years ago, when the EU migration pact was being debated, it was an almost cavalier attitude by the Minister at the time. I understand that migration and the whole issue around international protection is complex. It was particularly challenging at the time when there was a significant increase. However, it seemed to be the attitude of the then Minister, in response to questions from me, not to consider at the time whether it might be wise for Ireland, in our very particular circumstances, not to …

Táimid ag caint go príomha faoin leasú. I speak primarily regarding our amendment to this motion, which sums up our view of this proposition. Almost four years ago Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation engaged in an act of aggression and imperialist expansion against Ukraine and its people. We have since seen appalling atrocities at Bucha, Zaporizhzhia and Mariupol, attacks on civilian infrastructure and the barbaric abduction of children. Sinn Féin and this House have been emphatic in our condemnation. The peo…

Beimid ag tacú leis an mBille cé go mbeimid ag iarraidh roinnt leasuithe a dhéanamh chuige. Anything that improves the functioning of our care system is to be welcomed, although it is very likely we will table amendments. I echo the call made by Deputy Kerrane on engaging with guardians ad litem and their representative organisation. They do a crucial job. A decade ago we had a referendum the purpose of which was to put the child's voice at the heart of things. The guardian ad litem is central to that. I echo the p…

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this issue. I am sure we are sitting here and an interesting or noteworthy speech - I am not sure which it is being called - is happening as we speak but I am unlikely to be the last person to reference Mark Carney's speech at Davos yesterday. It certainly caught the attention and perhaps a certain spirit of the time. Time will tell whether his perspective and strategy will be vindicated. There was much that sounded familiar to me. Much of the speech underlined points that S…

I have already spoken.