-----and a series of actions, which would make things much worse-----

-----fewer houses, slower building and cancelled support for first-time buyers. That is the reality of Sinn Féin's brave new future.

Sinn Féin would destroy the prospects of first-time buyers.

This budget is particularly significant - through the Chair, if I could -

They do not want to hear the truth.

The bottom line is Sinn Féin would screw first-time buyers. It would destroy them. It would get rid of help-to-buy and the first home schemes, the grants and would take away any support and assistance that is currently there. What we are saying to first-time buyers is that the help-to-buy scheme will be there until 2029. They can plan with certainty, save with certainty and be in a position to afford houses, as opposed to Sinn Féin's proposal.

By investing a further €1.2 billion we are putting it up to Sinn Féin, which has said it will get rid of the Land Development Agency or transform it and change it. Waste more time is what Sinn Féin would do. We have built the foundations for housing delivery in this country, including the Land Development Agency, but Sinn Féin wants to go back to the drawing board in a new government, scrap it and start all over again. That means delay, disruption to the market, fewer houses and more expensive houses as a result. T…

-----in terms of getting houses built.

Of course, we do not need to look in the crystal ball when it comes to Sinn Féin's housing policy. All we have to do is look at its abject failing on housing in Northern Ireland where there is no action, no increase in home building and no expansion in social or affordable housing. Next year, we will see new records on home building in critical sectors in this country, and a further acceleration of the progress delivered by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and this Government. There is a long way to go, but pr…

There is a full allocation for that now. Come on. Give it a rest.

That is not true.

We never kneecapped children anyway. Has Sinn Féin ever apologised?

Has Sinn Féin ever apologised?

I do not deny the kneecapping that you guys did.

I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely important issue. The carnage and the slaughter of innocent children, women and men across the Middle East is to be condemned and I have condemned it consistently. The action of Hamas on 7 October 2023 was horrific and heinous, but the Israeli response to that murderous attack by Hamas has been absolutely disproportional, has resulted in the levelling of Gaza, near famine conditions in Gaza and the killing of more than 40,000 people. In my view, that is reprehensible. Li…

Again, Ireland along with Spain, were the first more recent European Union member states to recognise the State of Palestine. Slovenia has now followed on the recognition question and Norway also did that. We were central to turning around the narrative on UNRWA within the European Union and stopping the denial of vital aid into UNRWA, and likewise in terms of aid and support from the Commission to the Palestinian Authority, which should have been far more frequent and should not have been subjected to stop-start a…

I thank the Deputy for his remarks. I would argue that there is no poverty of ambition. This year we are spending up to €13 billion plus on capital infrastructure, which is significantly higher than previous years. The rate and level of capital expenditure during this Government's term has been significantly higher than previous Governments. The challenge with capital expenditure, of course, is the balance of making sure you do not overheat the economy in terms of the allocation of additional billions. What we have…

It was this Government that introduced the RZLT legislation.

Unless I have mistaken the Labour position, I think all parties in the House were of the view that productive farmers, people who were actively working their land, should not be captured by the RZLT. I do not know if that is Labour's position.

It certainly is the position of the three party leaders. The mechanisms devised to enable farmers not to be covered have not worked; that is the reality. Therefore, discussions are under way. They are being led by the Minister for Finance. The three party leaders have been apprised of that proposal, the objective of which is to exclude active farmers, people who did not seek rezoning or have no intention of rezoning and who want to continue with a bona fide economic activity. That is a legitimate point. There are o…