Does the Taoiseach remember Shatila and Sabra where they collaborated with the Christian Phalange to kill hundreds of people in Palestinian refugee camps in 1982, the decades-long ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, an illegal occupation now under international law, the illegal occupation of Gaza and the 17-year siege of Gaza, which is a war crime? These are the roots of the conflict. We can condemn all we like, but we need to say that is the problem and this is a rogue state guilty of these criminal actions. The Tao…

-----or its complicity in those crimes-----

-----in giving it impunity for genocide, illegal occupation and apartheid. I will finish by saying there is a national demonstration at 1 o'clock this Saturday-----

-----in solidarity with Palestine.

Believe me, they are very critical of this Government.

Not the United States which gives-----

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have lost all interest in the budget. I suspect the wider public have lost interest anyway because they realise through bitter experience it will not make much difference to the real issues that affect their lives. I will not go through an exhaustive list of what is not there or what we would have done instead. People can read our alternative budget submission and I am sure we will be debating many of individual items over the next while and during the election campaign. I want to focus o…

Yes, I am sharing time with Deputies Paul Murphy and Mick Barry. The Government has unprecedented resources at its disposal that could have delivered a transformative budget to resolve the housing catastrophe the country is facing, address the crisis in the health service and the cost-of-living crisis and eradicate poverty. Instead of doing that, it has given us a splurge of one-off measures to buy a general election and next year, we will be back where we started. That is the reality of this budget. The Government…

It is disgraceful.

The Minister has 25 seconds.

That is a fair bit of latitude.

To my mind, if we are going to put any kind of stamp duty to try to deter these profit-driven investment funds from bulk buying properties, it should be 100%. Otherwise we are wasting our time. That is what it should be because there is nothing good about these investment funds bulk buying homes. It is disgraceful that apartments are not included. Most of what is being built at the moment is apartments and these funds are buying them up en masse and then charging extortionate rents and passing on the cost. Whatever…

This morning Cara Darmody committed to protest every week from now on unless the Government fully and immediately takes action to vindicate the rights of children with additional needs. It needs to give her those commitments and undertake those actions. I promised the parents of a child named Frankie that I would mention him. He is four-and-a-half years old. He has autism. He has global developmental delay, sensory issues, low muscle tone and a genetic condition. He lives with his family in an overcrowded council h…

Maybe the Tánaiste will talk to Cara.

One of the oldest tricks in the book of a cynical government under pressure is the tactic of divide and conquer, and scapegoating innocent people for that government's own failing. That is what we heard from the Taoiseach, Simon Harris, over the weekend, when he essentially hung a target on the backs of asylum seekers, people exiting direct provision and immigrants generally by suggesting-----

-----that they were responsible for the housing crisis.

He has echoed the scapegoating.

No. The Taoiseach used language that was dangerous.

The Taoiseach used dangerous language.

The Taoiseach used dangerous and dishonest language, suggesting things that are simply not true about asylum seekers and people exiting direct provision, when it is the Government which has exacerbated the homelessness crisis by lifting the no-fault eviction ban and by failing to address the deficit in social and affordable housing. Why does the Minister not ask the Taoiseach to stop scapegoating asylum seekers and immigrants and have, as we have been seeking for months, the discussion that the Government promised …