I thank the Deputies for their questions. Regarding IPAS and Mount Street, officials visited the tents on 16 March. Contrary to some reports, Crooksling has toilets, hot showers, personal toiletries, food, a bus service to Dublin and 24-hour security on site. Safetynet is providing health screening, which commenced on 18 March. There is a building where meals are served and men can charge phones and have food provided. Crosscare is also conducting support visits. That is essentially what is being provided at Crooks…

That is not a matter for me now anyway. Leak investigations rarely lead anywhere unless they are willing to carry out searches of places and so on and I do not think the Deputy is calling for that. Perhaps he is. He knows where the search would start and I do not think he is calling for that and I do not think people who believe in a free press would call for it. To be very clear, I am not calling for that. On the apartment defects, we expected the legislation this year and I will follow up on the issue around the …

I propose to take Questions No. 13 to 18, inclusive, together. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and I wrote a joint letter to the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, on 14 February expressing our deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Israel and Gaza, and particularly its impact on women and children. With the risk of an even greater humanitarian catastrophe posed by Israeli military operations in Rafah, and all that occurred and continues to occur in Gaza since October 2023, we a…

As regards the humanitarian situation in Gaza and funding for UNRWA, we call on all states to restore their funding for UNRWA pending the outcome of the investigation about possible collaboration. The EU has done that and has restored funding and we want other countries to do the same. As regards my talks in Washington, yes, we talked about the US putting more pressure on Israel to allow more trucks through, and that is being done. The US also has proposals to build a temporary jetty or port to allow more aid to ge…

As regards former President Robinson, she did not contact me in advance of the meeting with President Biden, certainly not directly. There was no letter, call or missed message. She may have done so indirectly, but that would have been very late in the day. As regards recognition-----

We discussed the matter.

I believe I did, if that is what the Deputy is asking-----

-----but it is kind of a moot point when somebody says to you the opposite.

I will participate in the March meeting of the European Council in Brussels tomorrow and Friday. The agenda will cover Ukraine, security and defence, the Middle East, enlargement, migration, agriculture and the European semester. There will be a discussion on specific foreign policy issues, including the death of Alexei Navalny and the situation in Belarus. Leaders will take stock of preparations for the new strategic agenda 2024-2029. I will also participate in a Euro summit, scheduled for Friday, and leaders will…

First, I want to acknowledge that our hospitals all around the country are under a lot of pressure. That is correct. It is driven in part by rising population, increasing frailty, more older people and the availability of more treatments. I know that patients are experiencing conditions in some parts of the country that they should not have to experience. I know that many staff are working under enormous pressure at the moment. We offer them our thanks from this House. As is almost always the case every Tuesday and…

As is ever the case on a Tuesday and Wednesday, Deputy McDonald's questions contain examples of misinformation and then her follow-up contains misrepresentation. That needs to be called out and certainly needs to be-----

-----analysed and reported on a little bit more. The problems that are occurring in the emergency department in University Hospital Limerick are very real. Everyone who has visited there knows that. I have been in the old and new emergency departments and have visited the hospital many times, as has every TD and Senator from the region. The Deputy knows that too. It is about capacity, clinical leadership, management and taking a comprehensive approach-----

-----that says it is about more than the hospital itself, as it involves the other hospitals in the region and community services too. What have we done about it? Since this Government was formed, there are 1,000 more staff in UHL, there has been a 45% increase in budget and there are an additional 98 beds. We are currently constructing a new ward block of 96 beds which will be complete by quarter 1 of next year, and we are planning for a further 96 beds-----

-----with planning having been granted only at the end of last year. There are also developments in other hospitals, such as the minor injury unit in Ennis. There are developments in Nenagh as well. The building of a private hospital, the Bon Secours hospital, will be of some use as well.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as a ceist. Housing for All is working. We are building more homes than at any point since 2008 and we are building more social housing than at any point since the 1970s. Tá Tithíocht do Chách ag obair. Tá níos mó tithe á dtógáil againn ná ag aon phointe ó 2008. Tá níos mó tithe sóisialta á dtógáil againn ná ag aon phointe ó na 1960idí. Every week, 500 people are drawing down their first ever mortgages. That is the most since 2007. Tá 500 duine ag ceannach a gcéad teach gach seachta…

The context in which we are dealing with the housing crisis is one of a rapidly-rising population and changing demographics. Households are smaller and, as a result, we require more houses and apartments. We are running up an escalator that is coming down at us quite fast, but we are making progress. More than 30,000 new homes were built last year, the highest number since 2008. We will build even more this year. There are some 500 first-time buyers every week drawing down their first mortgages. We have not seen th…

I thank the Deputy. I take this opportunity to reiterate the Government's call for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. This will allow the hostages to be released, the killing to stop and much-needed food and medicine to get into the Gaza Strip, where civilians are in a very desperate and unimaginable situation. We believe that a humanitarian ceasefire for a number of weeks can lead to a permanent ceasefire and to the resumption of talks on a final status solution. I welcome the call…

The Deputy seems to be a little bit obsessed with the bowl of shamrock, which takes about 20 seconds. The real opportunity is in the sit-down meeting in the Oval Office with President Biden and his team. There is also the opportunity to speak publicly in the White House before guests of the President, as well as some from the Irish embassy. That is the opportunity I will take to reaffirm the importance of our relationship with the US on economic, political and cultural levels. I will also say there are issues on wh…

-----in Israeli prisons and evidence-----

-----of sexual violence against Israeli women on 7 October at the hands of Hamas, to condemn without equivocation the events of 7 October.