I will put this on record so people listening and following this will get an understanding of what we are talking about. "Unplanned" means nobody knows this would happen until it actually does, as opposed to planned outages. I note that in Kildare town and out towards Monasterevin and Ballykelly, people have experienced four unplanned outages in recent months. The first one was caused by farm machinery damaging a stay and bringing the conductor to the ground. I believe the second incident was caused by a contractor…

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. It is clear that he has been following this matter very closely for a long period. He has a great deal of general information and also background information about the person directly involved, including where things have been, the visits, and the isolation. I cannot possibly appreciate how bad it is. I hear what the Senator is saying, and he knows it too, but to be in solitary confinement for a long number of years is beyond comprehension for most of us. As he said, Mr. …

I thank Senator Gavan again for raising this important issue of Mr. Öcalan. The international community needs to continue to pay attention and to address long-running cases such as this one. I reiterate that Ireland will continue to consistently emphasise the need for full implementation of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, including the case of Mr. Öcalan, in high-level engagement with the Turkish authorities and the Council of Europe stakeholders. In addition, alongside our European counterparts…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Ireland remains steadfast in our support for the people and Government of Ukraine. The conflict, since the illegal Russian invasion in February 2022, continues to drive the numbers of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. As Ukraine faces into another harsh winter, Ireland's humanitarian funding will continue to target the most vulnerable, including women and children, displaced persons and those closest to conflict lines. In 2024, Ireland is providing €23.5 mi…

I will give some further information on the breakdown of the fund I recently referred to, but now I will address the issue specifically mentioned by the Deputy. We believe that up to 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly removed to Russian detention camps or into forced adoptions in Russia. I am particularly interested in this area because on the second anniversary of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia last February, I attended the second anniversary on behalf of Ireland at United Nations and spoke st…

I can indeed. Some funding has been provided to Moldova. I may not have the exact figure here but I can confirm to the Deputy that funding has been provided in respect of Moldova and some areas very close to the Ukraine situation. A lot of the funding we are providing will go into reconstruction and building modular homes, as the Deputy mentioned. The figures I mentioned earlier are the humanitarian fund, but the redevelopment and reconstruction of Ukraine has to start as soon as possible. This is why a large amoun…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this important, historic budget. I acknowledge the excellent contribution we have just heard from the Minister, Deputy McEntee. The first issue I want to deal with is one that missed everybody in their alleged objective commentary on this budget where they gave the impression that we were just spending money all over the place. The first thing about this budget that people must remember is that this Government has established the Future Ireland Fund and th…

Other than those basic items, this was about prudent management of the economy to make sure there is money for the years to come and not to spend it all yesterday. What we announced yesterday touches every sector of society. We introduced a rent tax credit, and that will increase to €1,000. We are providing two €125 energy credits. Some people complain about that. We are cutting the USC, which will help workers in the country and people in employment. We have €12 weekly increases in social protection. We have now f…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 37 together. I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which has not received as much attention as it should in our national Parliament and in general discussions in Ireland. The Government shares the Deputy's serious concern at the situation in Sudan. Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, well over a year ago, official estimates put the death toll at some 14,000. The true toll is likely to be significantly higher, with widespread attacks on civilians, appa…

As I mentioned, we did take concrete actions at EU level in imposing sanctions just very recently. The big question is whether the warring parties are receiving support from outside the country. Unfortunately this is the case. A number of states from the Gulf to Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Russia are all alleged to be providing material and other supports for the warring parties. This clearly works against any push to return to the negotiation table. Together with our EU partners we have been very clear that this exter…

The Deputy is absolutely correct. This is having a significant regional impact as well. The arrival of waves of refugees in neighbouring countries, and economic and political implications of the conflict, are placing a strain on an already fragile region to the extent that people in neighbouring countries are at risk of being drawn into the war. This is a very serious situation. Two million people have already left Sudan. This is obviously causing strain in the adjoining countries where they have landed. Some of th…

I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of my colleague Deputy Naughton, the Minister of State at the Department of Education. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which has been raised at different levels in every constituency. The Deputy has highlighted two schools in his constituency in west Cork and he made the point very clearly. I want to respond as best I can without having the specifics of the particular schools mentioned by him in the few minutes to hand. There will be more special education teacher…

I will immediately convey what the Deputy has said about Bantry and the issue of the ancillary grant. Like the Deputy, many of the representatives here are hearing about that issue directly from schools in our own particular areas. I will make a few additional points. On the reviews, the model has set allocations for the forthcoming year such that 30% will have no change in their allocation, 37% will see an increase in their allocation and 23% of schools will see a reduction of five hours or less in their allocatio…

The Tánaiste will be here very shortly and will be giving the opening response on behalf of the Government. In the meantime, I will be here. I will be sitting through the full debate.

That is fine. I agree to rise to the position of Tánaiste for the next few minutes.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — Ireland's policy of military neutrality is characterised by non-membership of military alliances, or common or mutual defence arrangements, and this policy choice has been practised by successive Governments since the Second World War; — the Government reaffirms its commitment to this policy and reiterates that it has no plans to either join a military alliance or enter into a mutual defence arrangement; an…

We had not seen one before the last general election. It has happened since, with Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Whether we like it or not, that has changed the international security situation in Europe, of which we are a part. That has changed fundamentally since the last general election. For people to refer to what people said on previous occasions is not acceptable. Since the last world war, Ireland has been privileged to be a peaceful nation in Europe where there were no military assaults on other count…

This is an issue of Putin's puppets versus the people of Ireland.

You are puppets of Putin. You are on the wrong side of history.

I have the floor.