I want to draw the Taoiseach's attention to the report from the Irish Youth Foundation issued today, which I am sure he has seen. This report finds that young people in disadvantaged communities are those most disproportionately affected by the pandemic. This will not come as a surprise to many of us. The report talks about poor mental health as a consequence of the pandemic. We need a youth trauma task force to deal with the wave of mental health issues and problems which have been exacerbated by this pandemic, pa…

I never thought I would have to stand in our Parliament and describe a scene where Ryanair, an Irish airline, was effectively forced to perform a rendition flight between two European Union member countries, Greece and Lithuania. A rendition flight was performed on the order of the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko. It is an unprecedented outrage. I cannot begin to imagine the terror on that flight, the terror of EU citizens being told that a bomb had been placed onboard. As confusion reigned, a journalist…

This week, Ireland became the first EU nation to declare the expansion of Israeli settlements into the Palestinian territories as a form of annexation. This is a hugely important and courageous step on the part of this Parliament. It follows on from Human Rights Watch referring to what is happening in those territories as a form of apartheid against and persecution of the Palestinian people. Given the decision taken by this Parliament this week, does the Tánaiste feel that now is the time to enact the Control of Ec…

We do not trade with them either.

The Social Democrats is supporting this motion. We are proud to co-sign it, as presented by Sinn Féin and a number of different charities and NGOs working in the field. I imagine there is no silence as deafening as that invoked by a ceasefire. What sound does a person hear when bombs stop being dropped, when screams are not heard for the first time in weeks and when fighter jets are not screeching overhead, threatening the lives of people and children in one of the most densely-populated areas on earth? It was inte…

In an ideal world there would always be time for diplomacy, a time to temper our language and talk of peace. However, when children are being bombed in their homes and in their beds, there should be a time to tell the truth. The truth is that what is happening in Gaza at the minute is a massacre. Diplomacy is failing when children are bombed in their homes. Now is the time for plain speaking, to not equivocate in our condemnation, to not equivocate in our language and to not create a false impression of "both sides…

How can anyone who lives in urban centres, such as my constituency of Dublin Central, see the Taoiseach’s announcement yesterday to exempt apartments from stamp duty and planning as anything other than an abandonment of our city centres as a place in which to live or to aspire to own an apartment and raise a family? I cannot for the life of me understand why we can have one particular set of rules for suburbia and another for city centres. This was an abandonment and a white flag was raised by the Minister, Deputy …

Lower rents.

What about apartments?

When?

Lower rents.

The Taoiseach should look up when he walks outside. It is more than €2,000 for each of those apartments.

It was a white flag.

It was a white flag.

Your ideology has led to the housing crisis.

Your ideology has led to the housing crisis. The hands-off, developer-led approach has led to the housing crisis.

Today, I join colleagues across the Chamber in talking of truth and the manner in which it should manifest in justice. We often hear the phrase "justice delayed is justice denied". For the families whose loved ones have been killed by the forces of a state, the importance of justice cannot be overstated. It is necessary for families and communities to come to terms with events that turned their world upside down. Justice is meant to shine a light. It is supposed to get to the truth and it is supposed to work to ens…

I have five minutes. I intend to ask questions and I will defend my time. The phrase used by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, when asked about the responsibility of the National Cyber Security Centre, was that the key capabilities are in the Departments. I take umbrage at that. When everybody is in charge, nobody is in charge, and at this moment in time, there seems to be confusion as to who is actually in charge of this issue. Following the attack on the HSE, it has been the Department of the Environment, Climate and Co…

Given the all-of-government response the Minister of State spoke of, when was the first time we had a cross-departmental meeting in terms of coming up with a response? Was yesterday the first time we had an interdepartmental meeting on this?

There are reported to be 2,000 patient management systems and 80,000 devices to get up and running safely. How many of these are expected to be up and running again by Friday of this week? Will the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, commit to providing a daily public update on the progress?