Alternative facts.

I thank the Deputy. I share her horror about what is continuing to unfold in Gaza. I do not think anyone could find the current situation to be anything more than unbearable, quite frankly, to see thousands of people being killed and thousands of children losing their lives. While Israel has the right to defend itself, the actions it has taken, in my view and that of the Government, are disproportionate and will ultimately be counterproductive. We know from history that when people are treated in that way, it stren…

We are doing a lot as a country on an international stage, and both the Tánaiste and I have been very active on this issue. When I met people from all over the world in Dubai in recent days, from the Arab world and from the global south in particular, they were very appreciative of and thankful for the Irish position, a position we have been taking, which is not one of double standards. That is something we will continue. We have done a lot of work to help our citizens to get out of Gaza, we have done a lot of work…

If that is not what Deputy Cairns was trying to imply-----

-----then I thank Deputy Shortall for that clarification.

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. At a time of misinformation and disinformation, and at a time that is so often amplified online, the importance of quality media and public service broadcasting has never been so valid. That includes RTÉ and national media but also includes local media, including local broadcasters and newspapers, many of which employ a lot of people and many of which are struggling financially at the moment. The Deputy mentioned the recommendation from the Future of Media C…

I know independent broadcasters and Local Ireland have been briefing TDs and Senators from all parties. Indeed, they met a delegation from my own parliamentary party to discuss the situation only in the last two weeks. We are very keen to press ahead with this new funding of €6 million, the local democracy reporting fund and the courts reporting fund. This will be of particular benefit to local radio and local newspapers, which are struggling in the current environment, particularly when advertising revenues have f…

I thank the Deputy. It is important to put on the record of the House that the nitrates directive and derogation are environmental law and is about water quality above all. No matter what they do in America, India or China, and no matter what the Eamon Ryan thinks or does not think, all of us in the House want to have high quality waterways and rivers in our country.

It is in the interests of urban and rural people, and farmers and non-farmers to have pristine and clean rivers and clean water in our country. Ultimately, that is what the nitrates directive and derogation is about. It is not about CO2 emissions or climate; it is about water quality. I am disappointed that we were not able to hold onto the 250 kg limit. We did our best to do so.

The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and I met the Commissioner and explored any possible flexibilities that we could get, including moving the date for implementation, but the rules are clear and are written in black and white in European law. We have some flexibilities. The average is not immediate from 1 January, but is over the period of the year so people can delay implementation. Obviously, that means doing more in the latter half of the year and the consequences that arise from that. It does not have to happen …

I do not like anyone being demonised when it comes to this debate. I do not like to see farmers being demonised, I do not like to see farmers being climate-shamed and I do not like to see my colleague, the Minister for the environment, Deputy Ryan, being demonised either. This is a European law-----

-----agreed by 27 member states, and it has been around for quite some time, long before Eamon Ryan was a member of this Government. I believe it is possible to produce high-quality food in this country and still have good water quality. That is actually what people in Ireland want, in rural and in urban communities. If we get a reputation for producing food in a way that is not sustainable, we will lose market share around the world. A total of 90% of the food we produce is for export, and we need to maintain that…

I appreciate the Deputies have raised some very important issues, which merit debate in the House. I point out, however, that there is dedicated Opposition time every week in the House and Opposition parties choose what they want to prioritise for discussion every week. The Government will use Government time for legislation. We have a lot of legislation to get through before the Christmas recess. The Opposition is free to use its time as it sees fit. On the three important points that were raised, I will have to a…

I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly on that and to make sure that it is as good as it possibly can be. In relation to what we saw on "Prime Time Investigates" last night, let me be very clear: people seeking money to withdraw planning objections is not acceptable at all. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice are examining the matter. Section 17 of the Criminal Justice Act states: "It shall be an offence for any person who, with a view to gain…

I do not think it is common practice to put Supplementary Estimates into the base. It may have happened once or twice in the past, but it would not be standard budgetary practice to do that. It is, unfortunately, the case that for almost every year that I can remember, the Department of Health has required a supplementary budget. I think the place to resolve this is in the service plan.

I appreciate the Deputy's passion on this issue and I know she feels strongly about it. If she thinks there is something the Irish Government can do to force the Israeli Government and Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all those groups to agree a permanent ceasefire, that simply is not the case. We do what we can. That means assisting our citizens in Gaza to get out, and most of them are out now. It means working to secure humanitarian aid to make sure that can get into Gaza to relieve the suffering of the Palestinian peopl…

It is something we gave careful consideration to. The first thing we are proposing is to delete the archaic sexist language in the Constitution with regard to women's duties in the home and to replace it with a new article which gives constitutional protection and recognition to care within the family. It does not necessarily have to be within the home but it does have to be family care. We took the view that family care is different. It is different to care provided in nursing homes or by commercial home care prov…

I had a very good meeting with the acting chairperson and the chief planner of An Bord Pleanála only last week or the week before. They have a full complement now of 15 board members. Their staff now is well above 300. They are starting to get on top of the backlog, which is encouraging. On the Deputy's question, we believe that requesting go-away money in order to withdraw a planning objection - I have a heard a less polite term for it, which I am sure the Deputy has heard too - but we will stick with that one for…

I have looked into that. The advice is as follows. Ireland is party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as are Israel and Palestine. All contracting parties to the convention undertake to prevent and punish genocide. If a party to the convention considers that another party is failing to meet its obligations, the injured party should initiate a dispute resolution process against that other party. We are not aware of any plans at this point by the Palestinian Authority to ini…

There is no legislation promised on this matter but I appreciate that it is an important issue and I will ask the Minister for Health to reply to the Deputy in writing.