-----on top of the ones we already have.

I thank the Deputy for her question. I reiterate Ireland's total condemnation of the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life it has caused. Civilians were targeted. Young people, older people, children, peace activists were killed or taken hostage. In these circumstances, Israel has the right to defend itself. It is surrounded by enemies, many of whom want to see Israel wiped off the map, or as they say, from the mountains to the sea. It is critical the right to defend i…

The baseline position of the Irish Government is that we can only bring peace to the region through a two-state solution. That becomes increasingly difficult with every day that passes and every settlement that is built, but we still believe the best and only solution that will bring peace to the region is a two-state solution, and that is the outcome we strongly support. There has to be a willingness on both sides for that to be the case. Deputy McDonald has called out the Prime Minister of Israel and what would a…

I agree with Deputy Bacik's broad comments, that those two statements should not be contradictory. It is very sad that in so many parts of the world, including in the US and in large parts of Europe, it is not possible to say what Deputy Bacik just said. Thankfully, in Ireland it is possible to say it. The Palestinian people do have the right to self-determination and to seek the establishment of their own state, their own homeland. However, that does not extend to attacking music festivals, taking hostages, or att…

We often talk about the term "culture wars" and I am not even sure what the term means sometimes, but some of the discourse I have seen online makes it feel like some sort of culture war, that you have to choose sides and you have to be either entirely on one side or on the other. However, we all know the world is more complicated than that. Wrongs have been committed on both sides. This conflict has historic origins. Wrongs were done to the Arab people of Palestine and wrongs were done to the Jews in Europe and th…

I believe Israel has the right to exist. Israel was established by the United Nations in accordance with international law. It has the right to exist. I hope the Deputy will agree and will say that in his follow-up response. As any sovereign state, it has the right to defend itself when it is under attack. I can understand why Israel needs to take action to root out terrorists and people who fire rockets at civilians into Israel. Israel is absolutely within its rights to defend itself and to go after Hamas. That do…

I am disappointed in the Deputy's remarks.

He mentioned UN resolutions. Israel was established by a UN resolution. He did not say that. Israel is a sovereign state. It is the closest thing to a democracy in that region. It has a right to exist and defend itself.

The Deputy may describe it as-----

The Deputy may well describe it as an apartheid state-----

-----but let me ask him this. The Deputy and I could live our lives freely in Israel, me as a gay man and the Deputy as a revolutionary socialist. Neither of us would be able to live our lives freely in Gaza. We would not, because of the oppression that would be imposed on people like the Deputy and me.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of wastewater treatment plants in east Galway. Deputy Cannon raised this with me last week, particularly in relation to Craughwell and Clarinbridge. A new funding stream was launched by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in April under the multi-annual rural water programme for the wastewater collection and treatment needs of villages and small settlements without access to public wastewater services. All rural local authorities …

There are two aspects to this. The first is bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into use. I am glad to hear there are not many in Corofin but the Deputy will know as well as I do that there are many towns and villages in Ireland where there is a lot of dereliction. Our first priority has to be town centres and village centres first and bringing those vacant buildings back to life. We are offering people grants to do that. We have also given local authorities a CPO fund - rather, a purchase fund - of €150 mi…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on budget 2024. One hundred years ago, in April 1923, W.T. Cosgrave presented the first ever Budget Statement to Dáil Éireann. The budget was introduced just as the Civil War was ending, and the Government had a job on its hands to convince people both of its financial competence and the benefits of Irish statehood. Finishing his speech in this Chamber, President Cosgrave said, "When ordered conditions are restored, and normal life prevalent, we can safely an…

I thank the Deputy for her question. I am very much aware of the student protest that is taking place today. In Ireland in 2023, there are more people attending third-level and higher education than ever was the case in the past. People attending higher education and further education come from more diverse and more non-traditional backgrounds than ever was the case in the past. Students graduating today are more likely to get employment immediately after graduation than ever was the case in the past. They are good…

I acknowledged there is a problem. In fact, I said so in my earlier contribution. I said that student accommodation can be hard to find and can be expensive, and I set out exactly the actions that we have taken already to deal with that. Of course, we will take more in the budget and beyond. Why did Deputy McDonald seek to misrepresent what I said? Why did she seek to put words in my mouth? It is because Deputy McDonald is the great misleader. I heard her do it earlier as well, again, pushing this narrative-----

-----that there is a mass one-way exodus of Irish citizens, Irish nationals and young people from our country. The truth is different. For centuries, Irish people had to leave in huge numbers and did not come home. It is different now. Yes, 80,000 Irish citizens and Irish nationals, many of them young people, left in the past three years, but 90,000 came back. Why will Deputy McDonald never say that? It is because she does not want people to know the truth. She is the misleader, and she wants to get her way into of…

The Deputy is absolutely correct about one thing, which is that employers are struggling to recruit and retain staff. It is the case in the public sector and in the private sector, in big companies and small companies and in well-paid jobs and poorly paid jobs. The main reason for this is full employment. The unemployment rate in Ireland stands at or around 4%, and most of the people unemployed are in between jobs. In fact, many economists say we are now beyond full employment, and this is the context in which empl…

The Deputy will have an opportunity to ask a question and I promise not to interrupt him when he is asking it. Turning to the HSE specifically, my Department chairs the State lands and property subgroup, which monitors the progress being made on this issue and the actions being taken by the HSE and other agencies and Departments to transfer State lands to the Land Development Authority, LDA. There are 26 sites that are of ongoing interest to local authorities and are ready to progress to the next stages of investig…

The approach we are taking to vacancy is one of carrot and stick. On one hand, we have, for example, grants that people can avail of to bring old buildings back into use. There are 4,000 applications in for that scheme already. We also set up a fund of €150 million in order that local authorities can purchase vacant properties and bring those back into use. This is now happening all over the country. We are also transferring State-owned properties to the LDA in order that they can be developed for use for housing a…