We have a programme for Government commitment to recognise a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution. We are committed to that and always have been. We demonstrate that through our work at the UN and the EU. I join Deputy Murphy in condemning the violence happening in Jenin. However, let us not forget the violence that has happened in Tel Aviv where nine innocent civilians were injured as part of a terrorist attack.

It is important that we recognise that the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians matter.

I will come back to the Deputy about this when I have some more information. I visited Castleknock National School last week to mark its 300th anniversary. I was informed that while the plan for free school books will go ahead in September and will work well, the school was surprised that the ICT grant was not being renewed. I am not sure whether it is a recurring grant or was a one-off grant, but I undertook to look into it. I am working on it with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and will come back to th…

An increase in the weekly rate of the State pension will be announced in the budget. The amount is yet to be agreed. As the Deputy will be aware, it was increased by €12 per week last year. It will not be agreed until October. However, I hope it will bring us closer to reaching-----

-----the benchmark the Deputy mentioned. Three things must be said about it. First, it will take time to achieve it. Second, we will have a flexible pension age, meaning that if people retire later - for example at 67, 68, 69 or 70 - they can have a higher pension. That also needs to be taken into account. Third, when we calculate benchmarking of State pensions, it would be wrong to say that things like the living alone payment, the household benefits package, free travel or the fuel allowance count for nothing. Wh…

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this important issue. Public sector pensions have increased in recent years. Depending on the scheme, the pension either goes up with inflation or with the earnings of the people in the job the pensioner previously held. I understand that in some cases, those increases have not been paid. I give the assurance that anyone entitled to an increase will get it, and will get it retrospectively, including the back pay to which they are entitled. I am not sure what the delay is. I am go…

I thank Deputy Stanley for raising this important issue, which I will take up with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. We now have a school building programme every year and beautiful new schools are being built and new extensions are being added around the country. Where a new school is needed, it is provided. Sometimes the new school is not provided quickly enough but it is provided. I will ensure the Minister, Deputy Foley, is aware that the issue was raised and I will ask her to come back to the Deputy di…

I thank the Deputy. I know the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, has taken an interest in this issue. He is doing some work in that regard at the moment. Many people who take out a loan or mortgage with a particular bank never contemplate the possibility that it could be sold on to a financial entity they may never even have heard of. While the contractual terms and conditions do not change, that is not the full picture. Some people are left facing much higher interest rates than they would have faced h…

I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this matter. As he points out, a tick bite can cause Lyme disease, which can be a very severe illness. People are probably not as aware as they might be about the risks. I will check with the HSE but I believe some work is under way involving the HSE and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to make people aware of the risks.

I thank the Deputy. I will double-check on this and come back to the Deputy but my understanding is that we accepted that Bill with a timed amendment. I could be wrong but I thought we accepted the Bill with a timed amendment to give us a few months to work out some of the issues the Deputy raised around having an accurate register and so on.

I will double-check with the Minister for Finance.

I thank the Deputy. My understanding is that the various NGOs and interest groups that represent protected categories, such as women's groups, LGBT groups, Traveller groups and so on, broadly support the legislation. If that has changed, it is new information to me. The intention of the Minister is to conclude the Bill in the Seanad as soon as we can but obviously commencing it will take a bit more time.

I could be wrong on this. My understanding is that report was published in the past two days or at least was due to be published by the Minister for Justice. What we have is a thorough and comprehensive report which contains a number of important recommendations. Judge Haughton ultimately concluded that there are no circumstances surrounding the death of Shane O'Farrell that warrant further investigation or inquiry beyond all the investigations already carried out. The judge's view is that the facts about the circu…

I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to come back to the Deputy with a further update. Roughly €500 million is allocated each year for national roads - half for maintenance and restoration and half for new projects. It is not the case that every project gets funded every year. We have not decided yet on the allocations for 2024. Certainly, where there are a number of route options, we are keen to spend the money to narrow the number of route options down to one precisely for the reason the Deputy art…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. In the past ten years, apologies have been issued in the Dáil, by the Taoiseach on behalf of the State. In February 2013, the then Taoiseach, Mr. Enda Kenny, issued an apology on behalf of the Government in Dáil Éireann to women who were resident in Magdalen laundries for hurt done to them and any stigma suffered by reason of their residence in those institutions. The Magdalen ex gratia scheme, as recommended by Mr. Justice John Quirke, was established f…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. On the mother and baby homes institutions and the payment scheme in that regard, the establishment of the mother and baby institutional payments scheme is an important commitment in the Government's response to the final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters. The scheme we have proposed goes beyond what was recommended both by the commission and the expert group. The payment schemes Bill was published on 17 October …

-----I just do not know at this stage.

I just cannot say that at this stage. It certainly will not be ignored. On the issue of abortion, we live in a democracy. Laws on abortion in Ireland are made by the people, either by the Dáil or by the public through a referendum. A very clear decision was made in 1983, a subsequent decision was made by the public in the 1990s, and a very clear decision was made in 2018 to liberalise our laws, although with certain safeguards that were explained to the public at the time.

No matter what our laws are going to be in Ireland, there will always be people who think they are too liberal or who think they are too restrictive. People may decide to travel overseas-----

-----to jurisdictions where the laws are more liberal. I accept the review is in the law. I wrote the legislation with the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and his colleagues. I absolutely understand that the review is part of the law. There is no requirement in the law for the Government to implement everything that is in the review, or for Parliament, which will ultimately decide, to do so.