In relation to a peace intervention specifically, the truth is that there is no appetite for that at the moment-----

-----from the protagonists, but I think that has to come at some point.

I attended a meeting of the European Council on 26 and 27 October in Brussels. The agenda covered the Middle East, Ukraine and other external matters, as well as economic issues and migration. A Euro summit also took place. In his contribution later, the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will provide further detail on migration, as well as some of the external relations issues discussed. These included the Sahel, Serbia and Kosovo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, preparations for COP28, and damage to critical infrastructure…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. First of all, the Government and the Minister for Education are very aware of shortages of teachers affecting many schools around the country. We know that from time to time - too frequently - it means a special education teacher being assigned to a regular class and that impacts negatively on the child with special education needs. We understand there is a very real issue here. It is important to see it against a backdrop in which the number of teaching posts ha…

Yes, you do, Deputy.

To answer the Deputy's question, we will do three things. There will be a new pay deal which we will negotiate with teachers and public servants in the next few weeks. We are building more than 30,000 new homes this year and not objecting to them in the way the Deputy's party and her representatives do.

We will also increase the rent credit to €750 a year per renter, which is €1,500 for a couple and more than that if there are more than two people sharing. I wish to put on the record of the House that the Deputy, the leader of Sinn Féin, misled the House.

She said that she did not want to take away-----

-----the help-to-buy and first home schemes.

It is Sinn Féin's policy to remove the help-----

-----that this Government is giving first-time buyers.

She wants-----

-----to make it harder for first-time buyers to buy their first home.

Everybody needs to know that.

Ireland condemns the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life that it has caused. Attacks on civilians and the taking of hostages is always wrong. Israel's right to defend itself, indeed its obligation to defend itself, must be exercised within the parameters of international humanitarian law. All parties in all conflicts must abide by international humanitarian law. Its aim is to protect civilians everywhere. It applies in all conflicts, in all circumstances and to state…

I thank the Deputy. We will do all we can as a country to try to bring an end to this conflict and to try to ensure there is peace with justice, so that both Israelis and Palestinians can live in secure and viable states. However, we are so far away from that at the moment. The priority now has to be a humanitarian ceasefire so that hostages can be released, so that foreign citizens can leave, so that we can get humanitarian aid in and, most of all, so that the killing can stop. We are using our influence at EU lev…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and join with him in offering condolences to Deputy Verona Murphy. I had not heard about her father passing on. All our thoughts are with her today. I thank Deputy Grealish for raising this issue. It is a matter of enormous annoyance to people that those who have multiple convictions, who have a history of recidivism, get legal aid paid for by the State which is, of course, paid for by the taxpayer. Many people who I meet regularly raise this issue; the frustrati…

Work to modernise and improve the operation of the criminal legal aid scheme is under way as part of the criminal justice (legal aid) Bill, which is being drafted at present. It is intended that as part of this modernisation, the Bill will update the court application and eligibility process and in appropriate cases, the applicant may be subject to an assessment of means. Following this assessment, the Legal Aid Board will be able to recommend to the court that the applicant can make a contribution to the cost of p…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again. I recognise her long-standing interest in the political situation in the Middle East. In seeing what we see on TV news and social media every day, all of us cannot help but be struck by the number of children being killed, children who are often pretty thin and malnourished for other reasons, and by the number of journalists and UN aid workers who have been killed. Those aid workers who stayed behind in Gaza are real heroes having not only risked their lives, but los…

I hear what the Deputy is saying but I do not think that is a fair assessment of Ireland's position down through the years. I mention the engagement I have had with the Palestinian Authority, and with President Abbas, for example, whom I met some years ago. There was a strong acknowledgement from the Palestinian Authority and from Palestinians in general that Irish Governments have consistently, for decades now, been supportive of their cause and their desire to have a state of their own within secure and viable bo…