I do not know what the local authority's view is with regard to this matter. In the first instance, the local authority has to respond if it feels it is the right approach and, indeed, the Minister as well. There are various frameworks to try to get issues like this resolved. I do not know what the situation is in respect of the owner. I do not know the background at all, but I will raise the matter with the Minister. Deputy Paul Murphy referred to Liffey Valley employees and the car park. This matter has been rais…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 23, inclusive, together. The international section of the Department supports my work at an international level, beyond Europe, to promote Ireland's foreign and economic policy objectives and develop and maintain strong bilateral and multilateral relations. Working closely with other Departments, especially the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence, the section provides me with advice and briefings on bilateral relations and international issues generally, including inter…

A number of Deputies including Deputies Haughey, Brady and Bacik have raised the Iranian situation. The death of a number of women and girls and the underlying human rights situation for women and girls in Iran stand to be condemned. It is of deep concern. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has twice raised the specific case of Mahsa Amini and the unjustified response to peaceful protestors directly with the Iranian foreign minister and has called in the Iranian ambassador. He has also raised with the Iranian ambassador…

We are not doing that at all. I reject the claim in its entirety. The Deputy will hate me for saying this, but over the 45 minutes we have been here this afternoon, he has done what he does, which is to attack everyone else and to attack Ireland. He is attacking us now in the context of the Government and the Ukraine war. He is not attacking Russia.

Deputy Murphy says it and then he speeds on quickly.

The point is the Deputy spent the past three or four minutes saying the Government is trying to breach neutrality. That was of more concern to him than the fact Iranian drones are raining down on Ukrainian civilians. Why did the Ukrainian Government ask us for help in regard to training? I met the Prime Minister the week before last at a meeting of the European Political Community. What did he ask me? He asked for help with demining. Why did he ask for help with demining? He did so because there are mines all over …

I suggest we have a citizens' assembly in the fullness of time but not now in the middle of this war.

The point I am trying to make is that, where we can help and where we should help, is with what Prime Minister Shmyhal said is a real problem for Ukraine, which is that as Russian forces vacate areas, there are mines left behind.

We knew this when we were involved, with Norway and the Vatican, in leading on the Convention on Cluster Munitions more than ten years ago. We know armies like the Russian army leave stuff behind them, which will lead to children having their legs amputated when they step on mines and so on. Ukraine has asked us for help with demining. I think we should train Ukrainians if they seek help on that aspect of it.

Other European countries are free to do what they want within their laws. We can only do what can be done within the framework we have set ourselves in terms of the triple lock and so on. We are not participants in the war because of our neutrality policy.

That has been made crystal clear to Ukraine. Our military neutrality has been made crystal clear to all parties. That is accepted. Please do not try to throw fog in the way or throw confusion about the place by accusing us of actions we are not engaged in and alleging motivations that are completely untrue.

I want to give Mr. Sunak time to draw his breath. I have not called him yet.

On Deputy Barry's question, I do not know the specifics of the case but President Macron is a liberal politician who likes discussing and debating with people. I have no doubt he would welcome an opportunity at some stage in his life to debate with the Deputy the pros and cons of how society should best be organised.

We all share this view and objective. The Minister has met with the companies and suppliers, with MABS, with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and with other non-governmental organisations that are at the coalface in respect of challenges that certain families or people may experience, particularly during a winter like this. The Government has taken a number of measures. We are not standing by or waiting. By any fair measure, the budget announcements are significant to ensure people have the wherewithal to avoid d…

Again, the measures introduced by the Government are substantial on the income side in respect of providing funding to people to meet electricity bills, with substantial monthly payments from now until the end of the year. They should not be so lightly dismissed as the Government doing nothing. The scale and volume of those payments is unprecedented. In addition, there are other measures the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has taken in respect of pay-as-you-go customers as well measures through additio…

-----de dheasca na bpraghsanna ag dul chomh ard agus atá siad. Coimeádfaimid súil ar sin chun cabhair a thabhairt do dhaoine i rith an gheimhridh ar fad agus táim muiníneach go mbeidh an tAire, a bhuí leis an méid atá déanta ag an Rialtas go dtí seo, in ann daoine a chosaint.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I do not disagree with her that there are serious societal issues on O’Connell Street, as shown on “Prime Time” yesterday evening. One is struck by the extraordinary wanton violence perpetrated by people against others on our streets late in the evening. There is no question that the free exchange of drugs on the streets is obvious to many people, and people have been commenting for quite some time about the drug activity on the streets of the capital, particularly around …

I took the Deputy as raising this issue in good faith. The last part of her contribution suggests that she is reducing this to basic partisan politics, which is unworthy of the issue.

Dublin City Council is there to run this city. That is why we have councils. We have each way bets all the time in the House, saying that we have taken too much power from local authorities. Dublin City Council has to be at the heart of the rejuvenation of O'Connell Street. A community safety partnership has been established for some time. As I said at the end of my first reply I was open, but I think it needs more discussion. The idea of the Office of the Taoiseach being the panacea for everything in the country i…

I have made it very clear, and I will say it again, that housing is the single most important social issue facing our society and country. In the past two years we have dedicated unprecedented financial resources to deal with housing. The fundamental approach has to be to increase supply. We have had to deal with Covid-19 and two lockdowns, which hit construction hard. We then had an exponential increase in prices brought about by the war in Ukraine and an inflationary cycle, all of which has dented confidence in b…