This year is the 75th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe when the Palestinian people lost their homelands and society and 700,000 people, the majority of Palestinians, were permanently displaced, and the world looked the other way. The Tánaiste spoke about the UNRWA and the UN refugee camps. He knows there are 3 million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. I saw many of them myself when I visited the camps in Lebanon where refugees were staying with other refugees as a result o…

Hear, hear.

Many years ago, when I was the Sinn Féin justice spokesperson, I met Lucia and Jim O'Farrell for the first time. Lucia took a framed photograph of her beloved son with her, which was set up on the table during the meeting. I have been a public representative for about 21 years. In all those years, I have rarely seen somebody so impacted by an injustice. The darkness that was brought into this beautiful family was absolutely profound. They are a hard-working Irish family who have never done a thing wrong in their li…

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, met with some of the parents who presented yesterday in Donegal. The CDNTs have collapsed. The vacancy rate is approximately 57% in the two areas in north Donegal. It is an absolute disaster and it has real implications. The presentations yesterday from parents of children with disabilities were absolutely harrowing. We had senior HSE officials, Deputies and county councillors but most important of all, the parents. I want to put a couple of issues to the Minister and the Min…

I apologise. Whenever the Minister for Health is not available when a Topical Issue comes up, the protocol is that we are to be made aware that the Minister is not available. That has not happened in this case. We cannot proceed. The Minister for Health has not notified us.

That is the protocol. It is clearly established. I am the Sinn Féin Whip. The protocol is that we are to be made aware of it.

The Minister for Health has to be-----

Of course.

We ask that it be deferred to tomorrow when the Minister is available. That is the established protocol.

In fairness to the Ceann Comhairle, he has made a stand on-----

That is against the protocol that has been established-----

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Last year, the Minister announced a "record budget", as he described it, for the fisheries and seafood sector. The total of that budget was €337.45 million, which he stated was a 62% increase on the previous budget. Those of us who were listening to fishing communities and fish producers around the coast believed that the figures were doctored, the money was coming from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve fund, and the Minister was announcing investment in piers and harbours as though it were Government expenditure. This…

Under Standing Order 83(3)(b), I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means.

I wish to reaffirm the points made by Deputies Doherty and Kenny. As the Minister of State is aware, I am from the same region as them. He will know the significant public transport deficits in that region. The reality is that, sadly, public transport is not an option for most people who are working, studying or trying to run a business in our county. They need to have a car. The electric vehicle infrastructure is not there, so that is not a possibility. The carbon tax, which is another issue, is supposed to punish…

It is laughable.

What level of engagement has the Minister had with his counterparts about the shared marine space and how do we maximise the potential of our marine space for our fishing communities and renewable energy while also protecting the marine ecosystem?

I was motivated to put this question after meeting inshore fishermen from the east coast, where they have had a bad experience of offshore renewable energy development. They were effectively told about it after the fact. This has had a serious impact. Fishers from Dublin and Wicklow have built up a good whelk fishery, but it is under serious threat as a result of what has happened. Will the Minister agree to meet the National Inshore Fishermen’s Association, in particular the fishers from the east coast who are on …

The inshore fishers on the east coast have had an horrific experience. It can never be repeated anywhere in Ireland. They have correspondence, which I have seen, from the Director General of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, DG MARE, Ms Charlina Vitcheva. She laid out very clearly the balance that needed to be struck between developing offshore renewable energy and protecting the marine ecosystems, fishing communities and traditional fishing grounds. To be frank, Minister, we have had thes…

All too often, systems that are in place fail our people. The planning system in the North of Ireland has profoundly failed the people of the north west - Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Sligo, Cavan and Monaghan. There is an overwhelming desire to have equality of access and infrastructure for our people with the rest of the island. When we look at the map we can see, rightly so, motorways and train links connecting communities across the island. As the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, knows, there is a huge…