We have already taken action in respect of MLAs. They now have the same access as the Members of this House.

It is done.

Elected representatives on the island are provided for. I have also brought MEPs into the fold in respect of access to the same services available to Members of these Houses.

Yes, that is my understanding but I will come back to the Deputy on that. There is a question later. On the specific case, the Deputy acknowledged the photograph was a problem. We are always looking at ways to try to make it more efficient and effective through new technologies and to reduce the room for human error and the number of original documents required. We all get phone calls about passport cases, as Deputy Carthy mentioned earlier, from people saying their passport is due to expire next week and asking is…

I was hoping to go to Israel and the Middle East more generally last week but particular people in certain areas were not available so we have postponed that visit to a later date in the next number of months. I want to visit the Middle East more generally to meet my Israeli counterpart and others in the region to discuss these issues. The ongoing demolition and seizure of Palestinian property is a matter I follow closely, along with my European Union counterparts. I am deeply concerned the UN has reported, as I sa…

I do not accept the Deputy's general criticism of the Irish Government's position. Globally, the Irish Government would be seen as one of the stronger contributors to this debate. It would be considered to consistently take a very principled approach on this matter. When we say "action", we have to specify first of all the effectiveness of further actions. We want to work with other European member states to get a significant critical mass of EU member states to take particular positions in respect of this. We work…

As I said, we were due to go to the area last week but that was not possible. Meeting people face to face is far more effective. On the broader question, we do not sit idly by. There are very real limitations in terms of impact and effectiveness to what a country like Ireland can do on its own. We were not idle on this in respect of our position on the Security Council. That was reflected by the UN Secretary General. At a European Union level, Josep Borrell and others would not view Ireland as a country that stands…

As I said earlier, passport online has allowed for the centralisation of passport processing resulting in greater efficiencies for the service and for customers. A total of 90% of applicants last year applied through passport online and that figure will continue to grow as the passport service's digital first strategy continues to roll out. Demand for passports from Northern Ireland remains steady and represents about 10% of total applications received by the passport service. So far this year, the Passport Office …

Of the 78,000 applications received from Northern Ireland to date in 2023, almost 70,000 of these were made using passport online. The direction of travel is online. The business case just is not there for a physical office. Increasingly, we will be going online. With regard to a physical office, if 70,000 out of 78,000 are applying online, that number is going to increase next year and the year after. Others were looking for an office in the west as well as in the North, but I believe that the business case for ph…

Deputy Carthy should consult Deputy Ó Laoghaire on that point.

Or Deputy Gould.

The Department has made clear that a business case does not exist right now. We have had queries all morning from people wanting us to improve the service to make it faster and more efficient. There are choices in how we deploy staff. There has been a very significant push on innovation and in making the service more streamlined in respect of the birth certificate, for example. A total of 16,000 birth certificates have been delivered online as opposed to people having to get physical birth certificates in the past.…

The programme for Government states the Government will "[h]onour our commitment to recognise the State of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or in advance of that, when we believe doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory". I have emphasised on several occasions that the timing and context of any such decision would need to take account of a number of considerations. In particular, it is necessary to assess whether the res…

We have worked with other like-minded states. There are like-minded states in the EU that share our position on Palestine and the Palestinian question. We have met several of them, collectively. At this time, I would argue with the Deputy, from a judgment of this situation, that it is more effective to see if we can build a greater critical mass of member states prepared to jointly work on this issue and take a position than just going it alone right now. That would be far more powerful and impactful than individua…

Last year, I met Mahmoud Abbas, who came to Ireland, and I also met the Palestinian Prime Minister on several occasions. Their ask on that occasion was to strongly support the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in respect of the advisory opinion, which Ireland did and it was successful. I have asked my Department, in response to Deputy Carthy's comment, to begin preparing a written statement to the International Court of Justice in relation to its advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising fr…

We are concerned by the deteriorating situation in Tunisia. In recent months, there has been a worrying increase in reports of repression against protesters, opposition leaders and civil society groups by the Tunisian authorities. I am aware of the arrest of the Tunisian opposition leader and of other prominent members of Tunisian civil society. Freedoms of expression and association are fundamental human rights guaranteed to all and are an essential foundation of an open, democratic and inclusive society. I call o…

I share the Deputy's concern. The Belgian and Portuguese foreign ministers visited Tunisia recently and met with its Government on behalf of the EU foreign ministers to articulate these concerns and to undertake a fact-finding analysis and meet people on the ground. They provided useful insights in their subsequent presentation to the European Foreign Affairs Council meeting. We have been consistently using international forums to address this question. Ireland called on Tunisia to take all necessary steps to prote…

We have. I spoke about this issue earlier in terms of the arrest of Mr. Rached Ghannouchi. I made this point in response to the original question from Deputy Kenny. This is not about tea and sympathy. That is not what we are doing. We must have a realistic assessment of these issues and how we can best have an impact and create pressure. It will either be through engagement or just complete isolation. We must work on the engagement front. Respect for human rights and a frank discussion on all these issues form part…

We are active, therefore, in many international forums to try to deal with unacceptable regimes such as this and behaviour on their part.

I am sorry.