We have all watched with increasing alarm and disgust the events in east Jerusalem and Gaza. We are again witnessing the wholesale flouting of international law by the Israeli state. We are seeing the bombardment of Palestinian communities and tensions ratcheted high in a situation that is increasingly becoming a humanitarian and political crisis. The annexation of Palestinian lands is wrong and is against international law. The collective punishment and humiliation of the Palestinian people are wrong and the occup…

I raise the issue of the Ballymurphy inquest announcement. The verdicts have come in and after 50 years, the families and those who have campaigned have been vindicated. All of those who were killed on those fateful days in August 1971 were innocent, innocent and innocent. The inquest also established that there was no effective investigation into any of those deaths. Today is a day of great relief and one to acknowledge the families and campaigners for their persistence and stamina. I am sure the verdicts will be …

I can barely hear myself think with the racket down the back. I know my time is up and I am going to sit down but the racket in the back is absolutely wicked, whatever is going on there.

Thank you.

The Taoiseach referred earlier to the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement in their totality and the extent to which they have to function and deliver. He referred to strand two, the North-South Ministerial Council and, indeed, the cross-border bodies. These are integral to the arrangements we have across the island. As the Taoiseach knows, DUP Ministers have sought to disrupt this, in protest, they say, at the Brexit protocol. What action have the Taoiseach and the Government taken to ensure all the instituti…

Earlier this year, the Taoiseach committed to doing all he could to bring closure to the families of those who died in the Stardust fire. That commitment has not been fulfilled and I urge him to act swiftly to rectify that. In order to access legal advice, the families must apply for legal aid for the inquest into the deaths of their loved ones. The process is intrusive for all families due to the volume and breadth of documentation and personal information they are required to submit. A number of families have bee…

We mark the 71st anniversary of the Schuman Declaration at a time of profound change and challenge for Ireland and Europe. The global pandemic has given us pause to think about the world in which we live. In these days of loss and uncertainty, people have demonstrated a remarkable resilience to weather the present and to look to the future with ambition. As we continue the fight against Covid-19, the prospect of getting our lives back fills our hearts with immense hope. This is not a hope born of a desire to return…

At the weekend, we learned that an investment fund is buying up the majority of homes in a development at Mullen Park in Maynooth. The fund, which has a "war chest" of €1 billion, has robbed first-time buyers of the opportunity to buy their own homes. The fund will acquire these homes and then put them up for rent at extortionate rates. Of course, investment funds buying housing in bulk is not a new phenomenon. It has been happening for a number of years. The truth is that it is Government policy to incentivise and…

The Government is not driving construction. It has left renters in the lurch, it will not cut rents and it will not ensure that there will be no rent increases for the next three years. It has no clue about affordability. In the cloud cuckoo land that the Government inhabits, €450,000 for a house in Dublin is affordable apparently. That is not the case. Above all else, the Government's policy has consistently favoured and facilitated big developers, landlords and private investment funds. What happened in Maynooth …

I am not looking for a long-winded examination of this.

The evidence of the Government's policies can be seen on the ground. I want the Taoiseach to tell us today-----

------that the Government will end these sweetheart arrangements for these funds and get them to pay their corporation tax-----

-----capital gains tax-----

-----and stamp duty on those properties.

Yes, it is.

The Taoiseach is a disgrace.

Get up the yard.

Go away out of that.

The past year has been extremely stressful for expectant parents. As the Taoiseach knows, public health restrictions have meant women have had to attend the majority of their maternity appointments without their partner. In some cases this has led to situations where women were getting very difficult and indeed traumatic news on their own. Ahead of the Taoiseach's announcement on the easing of public health restrictions, pregnant women and their partners were led to believe full access for partners would be granted…

What the Taoiseach announced last week around the 20-week scan and attendance where established labour was under way existed already in hospitals so we are asking the Government to take the next step. It is the right thing to do.