Will that make the 400 target?

The Minister previously gave commitments that Irish airspace was not being used to transport weapons bound for Israel. He now knows that not to be the case. He mentioned some ambiguity earlier. I put it to him that there should be no ambiguity at this stage. What is the total number of flights through Irish sovereign airspace that the Minister is aware of that have been used to illegally traffic weapons of war destined for use by the IDF and other Israeli military forces?

To me, that response says "long finger" and "procrastinate". The Minister has been in government for five years and throughout that time there have been serious concerns. One is in respect of the use of Irish airports, particularly Shannon Airport, and that there could be a facilitation of the transportation of munitions bound for war. Not a single inspection had taken place in this Government's term. Now we find out - not through any efforts on the part of the Minister's Department but from a media organisation - …

For all of those actions on the part of the Irish Government, if we want to be generous and describe them as such, here is what we know for sure. Israel could not be conducting a genocide in Gaza, carrying out its relentless attacks on the West Bank or be engaged in its invasion of Lebanon, including putting Irish peacekeeping members of the UNIFIL mission at risk, were it if not for the arms and munitions with which it has been supplied. We have had a number of very positive, strong statements from members of Gove…

Families of children with disabilities in County Monaghan are extremely frustrated by the way they have been treated by this Government. They describe their lives as a battle every day just to get the services they need. Monaghan needs a special school but Ministers continually point to a process without explaining what that process is or what criteria have led to the situation whereby Monaghan has no special school but similar counties have a number. Last June, the Taoiseach told me he would meet the campaigning f…

Just to meet them. That is the request. Will the Taoiseach meet them?

When?

What is the process?

What is the process, Minister?

The Minister has been in Cabinet for eight years. Where is the special school for Monaghan?

They have no special school. The Taoiseach promised to meet the families who are looking for it and has not done so.

When?

The Taoiseach committed to meet them in June. He clearly needs somebody's assistance.

The Taoiseach has promised the Dáil that he would meet the families.

Surely it is in order to ask him why that has not taken place and when it will take place.

Will the Tánaiste report on his engagements regarding the use of either Irish airspace or airports for the illegal transport of weapons of war, particularly those bound for use by the Israeli military?

I think everybody in the House will accept that applications have not been made and have not been given by Government, but for almost two months we have seen a drip feed of stories, particularly from The Ditch website, including one this week saying that our sovereign airspace is being used to transport weapons ultimately bound for use by the IDF in the ongoing slaughter taking place in Gaza, the West Bank and, more recently, in Lebanon. I take this opportunity to wish well and commend the members of the Irish Defe…

Part of the problem is that since the Minister for Transport declared once and loudly that there were no circumstances where Irish sovereign airspace was being used for this purpose, he has gone silent on the matter. To my knowledge, he has not commented publicly in any definitive way. The journalists writing about this have been forthcoming in providing their documentary evidence. I know because I sought it from them, and they gave it to me. I do not even think the Government asked them for it, but I am told it wa…

Licences for the exportation of what are called dual-use items, which are items that have a potential military use, are sanctioned by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, but only after consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, according to the regulations. I ask the Tánaiste to report on the advice his Department has given to the Department of enterprise where applications for export licences in respect of these types of items for Israel are concerned.

Over the past year, as the genocide in Gaza in particular has intensified and as a global boycott campaign has grown, the Israeli economy contracted quite an amount. Its credit rating has been downgraded multiple times and its economy has suffered across virtually every sector. Yet, one area that is apparently booming is its trade in dual-use items with a military purpose with Ireland in particular which bizarrely saw a significant increase over the past year. I found out through a parliamentary question that 71 ex…