What can we deliver at a European level? We need to hold Israel to account.

We need to work with those states that will possibly work with us at European level, not those that are not willing to call for a ceasefire. Then, really and truly, we may have to go it alone.

The Minister of State is in an invidious position in having to defend the indefensible when the Minister is not about when this dirty deed needs to be done. Let us be absolutely clear. We all agree that we need to deliver on affordable, cost-rental and council housing. However, the fact is that at this point in time we are dealing with a disgrace of a rental market that is in an abysmal condition. Unless we accept that, we are going nowhere. I accept the Minister of State is trying to deal with some of the individu…

I have previously raised the issue of what happened on 10 November when a 93-year-old woman fell in her home in Dundalk and was in abject pain. Her son rang for an ambulance and they had to wait from 5.20 p.m. until 9.05 p.m. An ambulance came and the service provided was absolutely wonderful. The woman and her son made sure to say this. I have tabled questions to the Minister for Health, on which I hope the Tánaiste will follow up, regarding how many people were on duty and how many vehicles were in operation on t…

I have the questions in. I am just-----

There is a considerable amount of agreement. We are all very glad there is a temporary ceasefire. The problem is that it is temporary. It is a reprieve from what has been a brutal slaughter of Palestinians by the Israelis. We need to make sure everything that can be done regarding extending this is done. Hopefully, it will be extended beyond a permanent ceasefire and will involve a negotiated settlement with all the difficulties that exist. The interaction with the Americans is vital. The US has provided not only w…

The killing of children in the West Bank and the fact that there have been budgetary moves by the Israelis to provide new moneys for new settlements tell us where this particular regime sands. The Tánaiste said it - there is international pressure on and particularly from America, but also from the European Union. I attended a COSAC conference in Madrid recently. I would not be too impressed with statements from parties across Europe, some of which would be progressive on many issues. People make comments about ant…

Is the Tánaiste aware of the memorandum of understanding between the European Commission and Egypt at the East Mediterranean Gas Forum and is he further aware that this does not include a clause to exclude occupied Palestinian lands, which contravenes both Irish and EU policy that all agreements with Israel should be explicitly inapplicable to territories occupied by Israel, and could he please make a statement on the matter?

Is the Tánaiste saying that the clause is included?

It is included in the annex. Obviously that is very welcome. There has been much discussion, and, whatever about this particular agreement, other Members have brought up the Israel-EU Association Agreement, which is the basis of the European Union's relationship with Israel. It includes particular conditions. I would like to see what moves we have made with regard to those conditions from a point of view of getting them reviewed. As the Tánaiste said, that does not involve some of the issues that there may be where…

There is an obvious reason for German guilt and guilt across eastern Europe about what happened. I do not think that is enough to countenance what Israel is doing to Palestinian people at this point. I am also saying that there may be other considerations. We know there are business and security interests. I have also accepted the difficulty in trying to get some sort of agreement at European level. I think it might need a subgroup of states and we may possibly have to go it alone about certain things. I thank the …

What sanctions is the State going to look at imposing in order to increase international political pressure on Israel? This is a continuation of the questions that I have asked about what we can achieve at a European level. If we cannot do it at a complete EU level, can we at least do it among those other states, like Belgium, that look at the issue in Gaza more from our perspective, rather than encounter the difficulties the Tánaiste referred to in the context of Germany? He spoke about a structured relationship t…

I thank the Regional Group and Deputy Shanahan. This is worthwhile legislation. We all get the idea behind it. We know we do not have the due diligence on budgetary oversight that we would like to see and we know we need to make sure that we introduce that. The idea is there would be reporting from each Department, an element of accountability on where capital spends were meant to be to ensure we actually had a fair allocation of resources and that we deliver what we need and want, while anticipating that at times …

Will the Minister indicate if an IDA Ireland business development consultant has been recruited and if the Government is rethinking this role in view of the breaches of international humanitarian law and ongoing war crimes committed by Israel? I am referring to recruitment of an IDA Ireland business development consultant to operate in Israel. I do not have to go through what is happening to the Palestinian people at this time. The Taoiseach has said we cannot continue with trade as normal, so we have to look at th…

I welcome that nobody is in place and we are not looking to put somebody in place in Israel. That would be anathema to the Irish people, considering the slaughter and genocide the Israelis are carrying out. I have no difficulty with the fact that IDA Ireland has a specific work to do to engender business and business connections. However, we need to look at some of the places in the world in which we are going to operate. We know the history of Israel. Gaza is an open prison and, beyond that, there is apartheid and…

I agree with much of what the Minister said in the sense that there is huge human suffering. We need to call out breaches of international and humanitarian law by everyone who engages in them. At this point, however, we can say that the power differential between Israel and Palestine has always remained static. Israel, a nuclear power that is able to pulverise a largely civilian population, has been provided cover by a large number of people across the European Union, the United States and the western world who we …

Sometimes we need to take the first step.

I think we are all in trepidation over the children injured in the incident in Parnell Square. We hope that there is good news from it in the near future. Deputy Ó Laoghaire put it well when he said the whole idea of social welfare payments is to protect people from poverty. That must be the prism through which we look at everything. We need to move away from the idea of a fiver here, €12 there or a proposal by somebody else for €20 on different payments. That impacts greatly on people's lives. We need to move on o…

Gaza is under genocidal attack by Israel. We all welcome what we may have in 24 hours, but that is only a temporary reprieve. We welcome the negotiation that involves Qatar and the United States of America, far better than the billions in weapons they have been providing, alongside political cover and even experts on the ground. All civilians should be released. We hope among the 50 hostages that Emily Hand is released. We know there are more than 150 Palestinian hostages. At this point in time they are in their th…

I agree with Deputy O'Callaghan. It is a promise there in the programme for Government. Many of us see it as an absolute necessity that the right to housing be written into the Constitution. We all realise the issues around the housing crisis and that we need to introduce mitigations now, whether we are talking about a ban on increases on rentals or ensuring that we absolutely deliver a greater amount of affordable, council and cost-rental housing. It is an absolute necessity. At this stage we need to get a definit…