To what is the Deputy referring?

Would the Deputy believe my pass would not work and I was locked in?

I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks. I appreciate them and I look forward to working with the Deputy and others on these issues. At the outset, I want to put on record again my strong condemnation of last Friday's shocking attack in Jerusalem, and to convey my thoughts and sympathies to the victims and their families. Turning to the Deputy's question, it is Ireland's long-standing position that policies and practices of successive Israeli Governments relating to illegal settlements and their expansion, as well …

We are concerned about the situation in Palestine and about the position of the new Israeli Government, especially in the context of its attitude towards expansion. There is real concern regarding the statements that have been made, the visit to the holy site and so on. Ireland has been active on this issue at the UN Security Council over the past year and a half to two years, so much so that UN Secretary General Guterres has been appreciative of the Irish effort. At European Union level, we and like-minded countri…

The Deputy is correct that the programme for Government states that the Government will honour its commitment to recognise the state of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or in advance of that, when we believe that doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory. We are working with like-minded states in the European Union on this issue. The objective is that any such decision would be taken at the optimal time to have the best i…

I thank the Deputy for his comments and for raising this issue. While Ireland is a militarily neutral country, meaning that we do not participate in military alliances or common or mutual defence arrangements, we are not politically or morally neutral in response to Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. Ireland strongly condemns the ongoing, despicable and indiscriminate missile and drone attacks against civilian targets across Ukraine. These are having a devastating impact on Ukraine's energy and other c…

I appreciate the Deputy’s comments, and their bona fide nature, in respect of Putin's conduct of the war. Russia must be held to account, which is why Ireland supports an international tribunal to bring Russia to account in terms of the crime of aggression. War crimes are being committed. It was disappointing in the European Parliament last week that two Irish MEPs refused to support a resolution to establish such a tribunal on the crime of aggression. European Parliament Members Mick Wallace and Clare Daly went ag…

To the best of my knowledge, the only country to question Ireland's neutrality last year was Russia. In my view, Russia has zero credibility in that regard. We are militarily neutral. We are not politically neutral. We are members of the European Union and the United Nations. The UN Charter is very strong on self-defence. Ukraine is entitled to defend itself against appalling aggression. Every major leader in Europe went to President Putin before the war and pleaded with him not to go to war, that there were better…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 67 together. Last year was an exceptionally busy year for the passport service, with over 1.085 million passports issued. This represents the first time in the history of the State that over 1 million passports were issued in a calendar year. The passport service surpassed its previous busiest year of 2019, when 935,000 passports were issued. The year 2023 is set to be similarly busy. In recent weeks, there has been a marked increase in applications received, signifying that …

I appreciate the Deputy's comments on the staff in the passport service. We now have 763 people working in the service, which is the largest number ever employed. We are committed to maintaining and improving that level, if we can. The Deputy is correct. There are issues relating to the role of An Garda Síochána, which is an essential part of the verification process. There are certain passport applications that require forms to be witnessed by a member of An Garda Síochána. We appreciate the work of An Garda Síoch…

Of the 1.1 million, 11% were from Northern Ireland, but 90% of those were online. The approach of the Department has been digital first and to encourage and incentivise more and more people to go online because it is the most convenient, quickest and least expensive channel for applicants. People have made representations in respect of new passport offices in Northern Ireland and the west, but the online approach is working very effectively and has allowed for the centralisation of passport processing, resulting in…

There is no backlog as such. We are meeting turnaround times. Passport applications are being processed in line with normal turnaround times. As I said, 2022 was an exceptionally busy year with more than 1,085,000 passports. This year, 2023, looks like being similar, with 61,000 passports issued to date. About 56,000 fully complete applications are in the passport service system, including 10,700 paper applications. They are not considered outstanding because they are being processed in line with normal turnaround …

That is more a question for the Department of Health, but I would make the point that-----

I was, once upon a time. Thousands of people are coming into the Irish health service every year. I recently attended an event relating to nursing for very sick young children and met two young nurses who had come back from Australia to work in the service in Ireland. It was a foreign NGO but it highlighted for me that the traffic is two-way. These were young Irish nurses who had been in Australia and had now decided to come back to Ireland

No, these particular nurses are here. I accept that others go out.

The health world has always been highly mobile. We must do more to attract and create better working conditions in our health service to retain staff there. That is important.

I have consistently heard in my engagements with business and people in Northern Ireland that resolving issues around the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a key priority for them. This is recognised by both the EU and the UK, which are devoting substantial time and effort to finding joint solutions that address these concerns. European Commission Vice President Šefčovič met the UK Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in London on 9 January to take stock of…

The Deputy made some fair points in the latter part of his question. From the outset, we have acknowledged that issues have arisen in the operation of the protocol, particularly with regard to consumer goods. In my meetings with all political parties in Northern Ireland, including unionist parties, we have acknowledged that. I think Vice-President Šefčovič and the European Union have acknowledged it too. It is now a matter of the European Commission and the UK Government seeing if they can resolve those issues. The…

I have been to Derry in the context of the shared island initiative over the last two and a half years. People there are pleased with the shared island initiative. The North West Strategic Growth Partnership is particularly pleased. It involves all of the councils in the north west working together in harmony by leaving politics and party politics outside the door to advance the cause of the region. The A5 is in a public inquiry process. The most submissions on the all-island rail strategy came from the north west …

I thank the Deputy for the question and his kind comments. Ireland’s position on Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear. The continued establishment and expansion of settlements is a violation of international law and is unacceptable. This position was reiterated at the UN Security Council on 19 December, which focused on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334. On that occasion, Ireland also led a joint press statement by a number of states demanding that Israel immedi…