-----that at least pregnant women and women about to give birth-----

-----to new babies will be allowed out.

I return to the issue of Gaza. Today marks one month since the brutal massacre of civilians in Israel by Hamas. It is a devastating anniversary. Since then, we have seen the brutal bombardment by Israel of the people of Gaza, bringing about 10,000 deaths, including 4,000 children and unprecedented numbers of journalists and aid workers killed so brutally. Our thoughts go to all those bereaved and the family of eight-year-old Emily Hand, presumed abducted by Hamas, the family of Zac Hania and all the Irish citizens …

The housing crisis is the civil rights issue of our times here in Ireland. There is real agreement on that across the House. We all know that the social consequences of failed housing policy are massive for people from all walks of life. Young professionals and even workers on what would be considered good wages are stuck in their childhood bedrooms into their thirties and forties because they cannot afford to buy or even rent a place of their own. Parents who rent have to contend with the stress of securing a plac…

The rise in the death toll in Gaza has been truly horrific this week. Last night, we learned again about more bombardments and bombardments of areas in the south of the Gaza Strip where civilians had been told to move and told that it was for their safety. We have seen more children killed. We saw horrific images last night of individual tragedies such as the family of the Al Jazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, who were killed, including his son, Mahmoud, who had been filmed earlier in the week appealing to western…

On the subject of housing, it is easy to feel like a broken record in this Chamber from time to time. We in the Labour Party have been repeating the same mantra, that the Government needs to build more houses and it needs to raise its targets for housing because they are too low. Yesterday I pointed out the mystery of the missing billions with the absence of any indication as to where the Land Development Agency or the lame duck agency is to get the necessary funding to be able to deliver the housing that is so bad…

We engage today for these statements in the context of the brutal events that are continuing in the Middle East and at a critical juncture for the European Union. The meeting of European Heads of Government at the European Council meeting on Thursday, which the Taoiseach will be attending, is undoubtedly a critical test for our European Union, which bills itself as a voice for peace and security and, indeed, as a transnational entity that is bound to uphold the rule of law and international humanitarian law. We hav…

I wish to express my renewed sympathies to the families of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee as the killer of their loved ones was sentenced last night. Our thoughts are also with Anthony Burke who so bravely spoke out about the attack on him too. We are all watching the appalling situation and rising death toll in Gaza with increasing distress and horror but today I do want to raise a different issue with the Taoiseach, which is the issue of housing. It is not just in healthcare that we find gaping holes in the Taois…

It is just not good enough to give a litany or list of measures seeking to explain the housing crisis away. It is not good enough when we see nearly 13,000 people in emergency accommodation, almost 4,000 of whom are children, and when we see more than two thirds of people aged between 25 and 29 still living in their childhood bedrooms at home with their parents, tens of thousands who are whittling away their savings on rent when they want to be able to afford and buy a home of their own. Those are the figures that …

In the past few days, we have seen some unhelpful interventions from the Israeli Embassy. It is profoundly unhelpful for diplomatic entities to spread disinformation or criticise our President. At this time, it would be helpful to hear from the Government on Ireland’s approach to Gaza at international level. We in the Labour Party believe time should be set aside this week to hear from the Tánaiste following the meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg yesterday and from the Taoiseach ahead of the European Counci…

I will begin by expressing my solidarity with the people of Cork and west Waterford who have been impacted so severely by the flooding yesterday. I will return to this later. I want to raise the issue of healthcare spending. Last Tuesday the Government presented a "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away" sort of budget that was full of gaps with dodgy estimates. It has been exposed in many ways as a work of fiction. Nowhere is this clearer than in the health spend. The Government announced a health budget with a…

The Tánaiste's replies just do not pass muster. He spoke of a need for analysis and for examination but the reality is that the Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil are in government-----

-----and the party has the Minister of Health portfolio.

We need to hear from the Tánaiste what the plans and the figures are that are going to work in the budget. I say this because clearly, the Government's figures in last week's budget simply do not add up. This is acknowledged. Where are the plans to help those struggling people working in the health service who are so under-resourced and overstretched? Where are the plans to help patients? I refer to patients like the woman who contacted me and told me she had developed blood poisoning and was left in a chair overni…

-----and ensure that the appropriate Minister, namely, the Minister for Health, is in charge of the budget. What we are hearing makes it unclear to us whether it is the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, or the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, who is calling the shots.

Either way, there is not enough money for healthcare and it is the patients and staff who are going to suffer.

That was years ago. It was two governments ago.

The Government has cut services.

There are record-----

We need further money.