I thank the Chair. With his indulgence, I might have a little bit more than three and a half minutes. Like the previous speaker, this will be my last opportunity to speak after 22 and a half years as Member of one of the Houses of the Oireachtas. I have no issue with the legislation in question. It is largely to do with ensuring the Oireachtas commission can function in the next three years in particular. I also pay tribute to the people who work in the Oireachtas, who have, as Deputy Sherlock said, fed, watered an…

This debate is going to end early, Chair.

I appreciate that. Let no more politicians - I do not doubt the sincerity of the Ceann Comhairle - say lessons have been learned. As soon as a politician or Minister says a lesson has been learned, the public thinks that is it, it is business as usual. Nothing will be learned and everything will continue as it was. That does harm to the public's belief in the public services we have and so many good people who work in the public sector right across the country when there are no consequences for disgusting overspend…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach.

You know you are talking shite.

On behalf of myself, my family and Fine Gael members in Carlow-Kilkenny, I extend my sympathy to Finola, a formidable woman in her own right, and John's children, his sister, our dear friend, Richard, and the wider Bruton family on their loss. The age of 76 is young nowadays. We would have hoped to have had John for much longer. They say you should not meet your heroes. Just as that might be true, equally when you do meet your heroes and they turn out to be really nice people, it certainly gives a lift to the spiri…

It is remarkable that no one in the main Opposition party, which has had four or five Members speak already, and Solidarity–People Before Profit, whose Members have just spoken, has mentioned that two Irish citizens were murdered by Hamas. None of them mentioned their names. Kim Damti was aged 22 and Emily Hand was eight. If we are to have a debate on what has happened over the past ten days, the Members opposite, with whom I agree on some aspects, could at least be respectful of the memory of the two individuals. …

If it gives warning and if you say Israel has the right to defend itself-----

Deputy Murphy did not say it. Others have said it. Israel has that right. It is the primary function of any nation to defend its citizens from attack. On this question, as on many others in debates on Israel and Palestine, we have no debate. We have no media scrutiny in Ireland. Everyone screams on one side as if it is a one-sided, simple, populist issue to which an answer can be found.

That is what she said.

It is always the start of an election campaign when Deputy Ring speaks. I want to continue on from what he said. He is a hard act to follow. I thank the Deputy and his successor, the Minister for Rural and Community Development. The Department was closed down in the teeth of a recession, when it was probably more needed than ever, and reopened, thankfully, by the previous Government. It reaches into every corner of the country. It is not just about rural communities. Urban communities have benefited from the Depart…

I want to ask the Government, particularly the Minister for Foreign Affairs even though he is not present, about the proposal that is still on the cards to reopen the embassy in Iran in 2023. Almost 560 people have lost their lives since the outbreak of the most recent protests last September and over 20,000 people have been arrested. Four or five Iranians have been executed for having the temerity to protest against their government. The previous Minister for Foreign Affairs was adamant that the reopening should g…

I join others in welcoming Bobby's family: Helena, Bob, Triona, Mark, Fr. Eamon, his siblings and his grandchildren. I think nearly half of Fine Gael Deputies have made contributions. I welcome Bobby's family to the House today and the opportunity to say a few words about Bobby. He was the worst type of political opponent you could have because, as Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said, everybody genuinely liked him, so much so that when it came to my own campaign, all the members of my team loved him. The campaign was made …

I raise with the Government, specifically the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the 70 days of protests we have seen - at this stage it is a revolution - on the streets of Iran. On 16 September, the morality police of the Islamic Republic killed 22-year-old Ms Mahsa Amini for deeming her not to be wearing an appropriate hijab while she visited Tehran from her native city in the Kurdistan region of Iran. So far, nearly 500 people have been killed, including more than 40 members of the media, and almost 17,000 people hav…

I thank my colleagues for sharing their time. I welcome that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is in the position he is in because this is an issue he knows well. It is one of those very rare issues upon which I find myself in agreement with most of the Green Party policy. In my part of the world, which the Minister of State knows well, there is the issue of intensive agriculture and its role in upgrading water quality, particularly that in our watercourses, streams and rivers. An issue I have tried to raise wi…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I thank Deputy Colm Burke for sharing his time. I wish to make a few points on this important legislation. I welcome it and welcome the fact that some progress has been made over the past few years through various reforms in the insurance sector, and I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, back from his brief hiatus into office. Some progress has been made in different aspects relating to the insurance sector. Deputy Calleary's colleague, the Minister of State, Dep…

The Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, is taking the matter in the absence of someone from the Department of Social Protection. His background of being self-employed is appropriate to answer this query. This matter stems from a constituent who is almost a neighbour of mine. He retired at the beginning of 2022. This query is also in the context of trying to encourage more people to make provision for private pensions and the auto-enrolment system being introduced by the Department. The matter centres on a specific po…

I know, as most people do, that Revenue has no wriggle room in terms of refunds beyond four years but, on the other hand, there is always wriggle room to chase up unpaid taxes. This is understandable but it should work both ways. I realise that in the context of this Topical Issue debate, we will not be able to change the four-year rule. I will endeavour to speak with the Minister and the Minister of State afterwards and ask them to ensure that this anomaly is flagged when people are considering contributing to the…

In light of comments made by the Taoiseach in Woodfield last November at the handing over to the State of the diaries of Michael Collins by representatives of the Collins family, what action has been taken with regard to the erection of a permanent memorial to General Collins in Dublin, on which he commented on the day in question? Furthermore, as we mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War today, does the Taoiseach agree it is beyond time that a national memorial for all those who lost their lives in that confl…

With regard to the cost-of-living crisis, does the Tánaiste agree that the most effective way to help families and individuals who are in employment, in their current difficulties, would be to increase the threshold at which people enter the top rate of income tax? Currently it is just over €38,000 of earned income for an individual and double this for a couple, at which they enter the top rate of tax. I also wish to raise the issue of overtime. I have heard the Tánaiste speak about this before. Those people who ar…