-----Gardiner Street flats, and Dunne Street flats, all of which suffer from damp and mildew but there is no plan and no Government ambition to change these living conditions. What does the Taoiseach propose to do about this?

I move amendment No. 4: A. To insert the following after "condemns the ongoing bombardment of Gaza": “by Israel and reiterates the call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”; B. To insert the following after "and the hearings last week involving the parties to this case”: “; and commends South Africa for its action in this regard: determining that it is valid to ask the ICJ to investigate whether there is a risk of genocide; and notes that other states have indicated their intention to participate in the case;”…

For more than 100 days, the people of Gaza have endured a humanitarian horror of unimaginable scale, a genocide broadcast to the world in real time and inflicted upon an impoverished refugee population by the apartheid Israeli regime that is hell-bent on erasing the Palestinian nation from the face of the earth. This is not conjecture. The Israeli Government has not attempted to hide its objective. It has repeatedly, brazenly and to devastating effect told the world of and demonstrated its aim to slaughter the Pale…

An immediate and full ceasefire is what is needed. That is the call the Government should make, and that call should be contained in the motion.

Israel must stop its massacre in Gaza. There can be absolutely no equivocation on this matter. What is described in the motion is mass slaughter, the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, the displacement of millions of people, starvation and the destruction of hospitals and schools. It describes the very markers of genocidal actions – a blatant attempt to wipe out Palestinians, seize Gaza and enforce a second Nakba. The question relating to the need for sanctions against the State of Israel has been a…

We know the steps that must be followed to initiate a case in The Hague to establish jurisdiction and the grounds for dispute. The Tánaiste has seen the endless footage of Israel's atrocities in Gaza. He has heard reams of heart-wrenching testimony from doctors and international aid workers on the ground. In the midst of undeniable genocidal actions, these steps should be urgently engaged by the Government. If the case for making a referral to the ICJ against Russia was strong, then the case for making one in respe…

I will refrain from comment on that, a Cheann Comhairle. I welcome everybody back and wish them a happy new year. That is good news to start the year off. In April 2021, a vulture fund was on course to buy up the majority of homes in Mullen Park, Maynooth. Does the Minister remember that? She should, as it provoked widespread public anger. At the time, the Government said it was unacceptable for investment funds to buy up homes from under the noses of ordinary buyers. It said it would sort it out, but here we are i…

We know, and the Minister has reiterated the fact, that Fine Gael and the Government benches do not want housing to be affordable. There is no great surprise in that. Certainly, our farming friend in Monaghan and people beyond that know full well that if they ever had an expectation of homes being affordable on the Government's watch, that expectation is truly dashed at this stage. There is no breaking news on that. I raised a very specific issue, namely, that despite promises to the contrary, vulture funds continu…

In a bid to be helpful to the Government, Sinn Féin will this evening bring forward a motion with a solution to that problem, one that will stop the vultures. Is the Government prepared to back that solution to stop vulture funds snapping up these homes and-----

-----to allow hard-pressed people, families and especially young people, a chance to actually buy their own homes?

What about the vulture funds?

I rise for the last time this year. I wish everybody a happy Christmas. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for all his work. I thank the staff here in the Oireachtas, who I am sure will be relieved to see the back of us for just a short while. Life in Ireland is hard for renters. Research published this morning by the Residential Tenancies Board cites affordability and insecurity of tenure among their top concerns, while a new survey conducted by EPAM reveals that 60% of young adults cannot meet their living expenses. The…

Rents are too high. I hope the Taoiseach is not disputing that. I hope he is also not disputing the fact that in the third quarter of this year, 4,518 people received notices to quit - eviction notices. More than 80% of those were no-fault evictions. In other words, the people concerned had done nothing wrong. They had paid the rent, looked after the property and so on. The Taoiseach is not disputing either that there are 13,000 people who are homeless and who are in emergency accommodation. Some 4,000 of them are …

For families facing eviction now and particularly at this time of the year, at Christmastime, it is a solution for them for the Government to intervene and protect them and ensure that they will not present as homeless, as hundreds do every single month. In October, it was 352.

We can avoid that happening at Christmastime. We can give these families the care, support and breathing space that we need. We can do that through the reintroduction of the temporary ban on evictions for people who have done nothing wrong.

I am asking the Government to act compassionately in this regard.

Yes, but they are not being evicted.

Did you hear the stories I shared with you?

Jesus. Happy Christmas, Taoiseach.

If the Minister could come out and debate, it would solve that for you.