I compliment Sinn Féin on putting down this very timely motion. It is interesting that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, flees like snow off a ditch when the Rural Independent Group stands up for the first time. It is his responsibility to answer to this House and to listen to all sides. His leaving is a mark of what he thinks of other Deputies in this House. This freeze is closing the door when the horse has bolted. The horse is long bolted. He has gone to Donegal or somewhere. There is spending chaos. Today, Cabinet…

What is going on with An Bord Pleanála? There is a race track at Limerick Junction, called Tipperary Racecourse, which is on the border with County Limerick where Deputy O'Donoghue is based. A €40 million investment plan has been put together by the board but an objection has been lodged. They have the funding and a design, and planning permission from the council. An objection was submitted to An Bord Pleanála almost two years ago and still there is no reply. This has been kicked down the road but Tipperary needs …

People are getting lost between the cracks.

Ambulance and paramedic staffing levels in south Tipperary are posing difficulties. There are eight vacancies in south Tipperary’s paramedic service. Two of those are temporary posts, but the remaining are long-term positions. This is causing the remaining staff considerable trauma and stress. I salute the ambulance service in south Tipperary and elsewhere in the country. I also salute the first responders in my village of An Caisleán Nua for the way they assist the National Ambulance Service. This situation is com…

I want to address this legislation, which I think is draconian in its overreach. We had a statement from the Garda Commissioner, as Deputy Tóibín alluded to, who said there was no need for this legislation and that we already had it. This Bill introduces new offences concerning the aforementioned prohibited conduct and implements a system of escalating penalties. It grants enforcement powers to An Garda Síochána, including the ability to issue warnings with a criminal conviction resulting in a fine of up to €2,500 …

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I seek time for a debate on the situation regarding the International Protection Accommodation Service's monthly statistics for new arrivals to this country in October. I looked for this at the Business Committee last week. The figures are quite startling. Some 69% or 500 are males. Of the 1,500 people who arrived in October, only 13% are females and a staggering only 5% are couples. We need to have a real debate here unless we have become a complete echo chamber. We had it…

They must have this debate here. I am not saying we must change it; we must look at it now, before it is too late. We need to reflect, have a calm debate and understanding here and bring the people with us. The people are not with us on this.

Not agreed.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an gcoimisiún. Is é an Ceann Comhairle an t-aon Teachta nach bhfuil aon trioblóid aige. I think the Ceann Comhairle is the only person who is above all these changes. Beidh sé ar ais anseo ar aon chor.

You could of course. Anyway, I wish you well. I just said that in jest. The terms of reference for the commission set out in the 2022 Act stated each constituency should have three, four or five members. This has been the range of constituency sizes permitted by law in Ireland since 1947. Thankfully, I am old enough to remember the gerrymandering of the late Mr. Tully. We called it Tullymandering back in the heady days of that awful coalition Government from 1973 to 1977, the heavy gang of Fine Gael and the Labour …

The motion states the Government should exercise its right, under Article 14 of the Rome Statute, to refer the situation in the state of Palestine to the International Criminal Court, ICC, prosecutor. This call for a referral, however, appears redundant on two fronts. The first is that the ICC is currently investigating the matter in Palestine, with the prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, having clarified on several occasions over the past week that his investigation is covering the ongoing conflict, including all the ev…

It would raise serious concerns-----

Can I continue?

In fact, Hamas was reported last week to have used communication channels to warn civilians not to leave the hospitals. If that is true, it would be abominable, and we have to have that investigated properly before we start posturing here. Unfortunately, hospitals-----

Sinn Féin might send out some of its SWAT teams and they might investigate it.

Sinn Féin is good at that itself.

It has been good at the heavy-handed stuff.

I did not interrupt these people.

Not with Sinn Féin around. God help us if they get into government.

Unfortunately, hospitals and other medical facilities have been caught up in intense fighting as Israel presses its offensive against Hamas. We all condemn, although some people are slow enough to do so, the attack Hamas carried out on 7 October. It was horrific and highly provocative, but we equally condemn the overkill demonstrated by the Israelis. Nevertheless, when we know Israel does not recognise this court, along with the United States, India and Russia, it is disappointing to see political posturing of this…