It is not good enough. The two boys there got 42% of the vote but that does not give them the right to run roughshod over 100 years of precedent - every single precedent of the Oireachtas. It is not good enough.

It is not good enough. We have a cabal here of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents making a joke of this whole process.

We have not agreed to that.

Time is up, Micheál.

I commend the Social Democrats on using the last Private Members' business of this Dáil term to introduce yet another motion on the rights of the Palestinian people and the requirement on Ireland to show international leadership in responding to what has been an ongoing, systematic and decades-long flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law and the UN Charter. The Tánaiste and other Government representatives always take great pains to outline the appreciation that is expressed to them …

The carer's allowance means test should be abolished and Sinn Féin is committed to abolishing it. We have heard lots of messages of support from across this House indicating that the means test should be abolished. Let us be very clear. There will be only one political party going to the electorate with a costed plan to abolish the means test. The reason we are doing that is very simple. It is because the means test is a mean test. It is unfair and it fails to recognise the huge service that carers do for our socie…

We still suffer the consequences of the decisions of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments to remove services from Monaghan hospital. I challenge anyone who doubts the consequences to have the misfortune of ending up in Drogheda or Cavan emergency rooms. Over the past five years, I, along with the local community, have been campaigning for the return of services to Monaghan hospital. We have had some success, particularly the increase in operating hours at the minor injuries unit. However, why are beds currently ly…

Hear, hear.

We will answer them.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss these proposed amendments. There has been a lot of play-acting, for want of a better term, and misrepresenting of various positions in respect of this legislation, which has undergone quite an amount of debate in this House and publicly. I wish to state very clearly that there is a distinction to be drawn here. I refer to those who rightly recognise that there is a requirement for legislation in the area of hate crime to be updated. It is possible to believe this and to also bel…

It is easy in these debates to get lost in the macro figures. I want to bring them down to what this Government's record on housing means for people in my county of Monaghan. There was a housing crisis when this Government was formed as a result of the actions taken previously by the two parties that primarily make it up. Four and a half years ago, when this Government came to office, house prices in County Monaghan averaged €168,000. This year, they average almost €250,000. When the Government came to office, rent…

I want to put on the record of this House the universal sentiment of the Irish people that we are incredibly and rightfully proud of the men and women of the Irish Defence Forces who are serving with distinction in Lebanon as part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission. They are part of a long tradition of proud participation in UN peacekeeping missions by the Defence Forces. Will the Tánaiste give an update on the current situation facing our troops?

I welcome the Tánaiste's assurances on the safety of our Defence Forces. Another very drastic red line was crossed by Israel last Sunday when two Israeli tanks forcibly breached a United Nations base. Two hours, or a little more, later peacekeepers observed the firing of several rounds to the north and despite the wearing of protective masks, 15 peacekeepers suffered skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions after smoke entered their camp. The day prior, UNIFIL peacekeepers were hit by gunfire with more troops…

Notwithstanding any appeals that have been made to the Israeli Government, it is fair to assume, although disappointing that it is the case, that Israel is unlikely to heed the calls of the international community because the evidence we have, not only over the past year but for much longer, is that Israel does not need any words, only significant sanctions. There is no indication that such sanctions will be deployed against that regime. With the prospect of further attacks or further situations whereby peacekeeper…

This question is fairly straightforward. At a time when we continue to see more members of the Defence Forces leave than join each year, could the Tánaiste outline how much money from his Department was actually surrendered back to the Exchequer in 2023, the reason these allocated funds were unspent and whether he expects his Department to surrender further funds in 2024?

People will be astounded to see the Department of Defence surrendering any money back to the Exchequer, considering the challenges that the Defence Forces are currently facing in the retention and recruitment crisis and the ambitions that have been set out, particularly in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. I have raised with the Tánaiste on a number of occasions the fact that now, into the third budget following the Commission on the Defence Forces, he has missed by quite a wide margin the additio…

I assure the Tánaiste that I would not suggest to the Government to throw money anywhere because it is quite good at doing that of its own volition, but here is the crux. For the past number of years on budget day or in the budget documents released by the Department, the Tánaiste has said that the budget includes provision for the employment of 400 additional members of the Defence Forces when everybody in this House and anybody who has been watching the Defence Forces knows that will not happen. The most likely s…

This question is to adjudicate the performance of the Government in respect of the Defence Forces. Sometimes the Tánaiste says there is unfair criticism. It would be important to set out for the Dáil, in each year of this Government from 2020, the target recruitment for the Defence Forces and, in each year, how many were actually inducted and how many left, in other words, the net recruitment figure for each of those years.

It is hard to ask a supplementary question when I do not have the substantive response to the question I asked. I take the Tánaiste's commitment to provide the precise figures. Here is what we do know from the Tánaiste's response. There are currently fewer than 7,500 members of our Defence Forces, 2,000 below the establishment figure and a whopping 4,000 below the two-figure level cited as necessary by the Commission on the Defence Forces. I welcome the increase in the mandatory retirement age but that is not the p…

To be clear, I am not dismissing the retention issue whatsoever. I am saying we have a big retention issue, on which the Tánaiste has failed to get a handle. I have also said I welcome the increase in the mandatory retirement age but have said that will not, in itself, deal with the retention issue we face. The truth is that as of today, more people have left the Defence Forces this year than have joined. That is a fact the Tánaiste has confirmed to this House, and it was also a fact last year and in the previous y…