I also thank Deputies Pringle, Connolly and Joan Collins. The motion is a piece of work that is necessary and needs to be put in front of us. We all know what is necessary in making sure we steer in the correct direction. At times that is legislation, at times it is regulation, and sometimes it is even sanction. We are, unfortunately, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire said, almost happy with what has come out of COP28. That is because we have very low expectations. We have a slight improved trajectory as regards what COP is as…

It goes without saying that we introduce our own sanctions alongside others in relation to the disgrace that is Israel.

We know the reason for the EU Digital Services Act. We know the issues there have been, in particular with big tech, with regard to disinformation, bullying and content on which there was no checking in any way, shape or form. Beyond that, from the likes of Frances Haugen and others, we got into the ins and outs of the algorithms of companies like Facebook. You had an online tool that was fabulous from a communications point of view, but the difficulty was that it could be weaponised by state and non-state actors i…

I raised previously the issue of the 93-year-old woman in Dundalk who suffered an injury at home on 10 November. Her son called an ambulance but she had to wait from 5.20 p.m. until an ambulance crew saw her at 9.05 p.m. In fairness, having brought this up, an apology has been given to the woman but the answer I got back on this matter is insufficient. I will be writing to the Taoiseach and have already written to the HSE about this because I got no answers on how many crews and vehicles were operating that day and…

My thoughts are with the missing fisherman and his family, and with the fisherman who was rescued. They were fishing from Clogherhead off the coast of County Louth. The RNLI, the Coast Guard, a number of fishermen and a number of other people are involved in the rescue. Our thoughts are with them. We all agree that the Executive needs to be up and running in a sustainable way. What engagement has there been, from the Taoiseach's point of view, with the British Government? It is somewhat responsible for where the DU…

We all hope for an ambitious outcome to COP 28. We cannot be sure of it. We have seen the conflict of interests, particularly with regard to making those necessary moves away from fossil fuels and into renewables. Was there any discussion with regard to the huge carbon footprint caused by the weapons industry and those who profit from slaughter. I refer to the type of slaughter we are seeing in Gaza at present, with 18,000 dead, including 8,000 children, 1 million in danger of starvation and 1.9 million displaced. …

On some level, we are dealing with a technical issue in respect of capital carryover. Deputy Conway-Walsh has spoken about the issues in regard to capital expenditure and the wider budgetary issues that are impacting detrimentally at this time on the running of our health services. In the limited time available to me, I will refer to a number of capital projects. It goes without saying that we need to ensure there is funding for the Narrow Water Bridge A5 project, which is needed not only for infrastructural connec…

Will the Minister report on progress made on benchmarking the State pension at 34% of gross average earnings, considering the budget 2024 increase in State pensions has not matched the spending power of the State pensions when the determination was made for 2020 or 2021?

My understanding is that the smoothed earnings benchmark was provided as an input, but other determinant factors were taken into account. We all accept those extra payments are obviously welcome. However, the Pensions Commission and the technical subcommittee sat and made a determination on the 34% of average gross earnings. There was a reason for that. We have had conversations here about how farcical it gets, not only on pensions but all social protection payments, in particular at budget time. We almost get into…

I understand the argument but I will put it back on the record that if we are talking about benchmarking then we need to get serious about it. We cannot always consider one-off payments. I understand why at times there is a need for an element of flexibility in setting budgets. However, we need to look at the idea of something that provides adequacy of payments. If we come up with figures on benchmarking based on what was best practice, with a considerable amount of due diligence done by a large number of officials…

We are well aware, in relation to housing, that delivery is what we need to see and we need to make sure that we ramp up the modern methods of construction. I also want to deal with schemes such as Housing First, which is an attempt to deal with those who are vulnerable and may be in a chaotic scenario. The problem with Housing First is at times greater supports are required and it suits individuals. We need to look at that being reviewed and upgraded. We also need to have something that is more applicable to famil…

To follow up on what all the speakers have said, we have all seen the mass slaughter of the Palestinians by a particular Israeli regime that has never been held to account in any way, shape or form. I accept the difficulties there are at European level. The Taoiseach has spoken about that before. We are down to what sanctions and what we can do to hold Israel to account, even if it is in a small way, while accepting that this is not going to stop that particular regime. We have to take a first step because nobody e…

If we are talking about the delivery of both sustainable housing and communities, I refer to my question from earlier. This relates to the fact that in some cases, we have the Housing First supports for chaotic individuals who may be vulnerable, but we need something more family focused. Obviously, very early intervention is key. We need to look at something that is absolutely holistic because we have issues with estate management. Sometimes families and individuals who can be chaotic need to have some element of s…

We need to be absolutely clear about what is happening in Palestine, which is nothing less than ethnic cleansing and genocidal slaughter. None of us could disagree with what Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council said when he stated, "The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age." That is fairly straightforward. We have to realise what this is, namely, an outlier event caused by a right-wing regime in Israel that does not care about men, women or …

We now have a Government slot but as no Government Member is here, we will move to Sinn Féin.

I did not stop the clock for that.

People Before Profit has a five-minute slot. Will Deputy Boyd Barrett take it all?

There will be considerable agreement, in the sense that we all know the issues that exist with the planning system and we all want a fit-for-purpose - an overused term, particularly by myself - system that can deliver for people. We know we want a planning system that can deliver social, economic and environmental needs. We are speaking about good quality planning decisions that can be made in a timely manner. We have not always been able to deliver this. There has to be acceptance of this. There may be some moves …

Could I get an update on the timeline for the inquiry into how the State dealt with the Covid crisis? Have we looked at what particular modules this will deal with? My specific question is about how we deal with those families who lost loved ones in nursing homes. This is not the first time I have brought up with the Taoiseach the issue of Dealgan House and the families of the 23 who lost their lives at the beginning of the Covid crisis and who still await answers. The State and the Minister for Health have promise…

We have all seen the failure to extend the ceasefire and to introduce a permanent ceasefire. In the long-term, peace is needed to deliver a negotiated settlement that provides real self-determination for the Palestinian people. Unfortunately, Benjamin Netanyahu's regime has done what it threatened to do and has gone back to its abject slaughter of Palestinians. We can only take the lessons from the information the Israelis are providing, namely, that they do not particularly care how many civilians are killed and t…