I am sharing time with Deputies Durkan and Devlin. It is with immense sadness that we learned last night of the death of Kim Damti. I express my sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Kim, many of whom I know well, including those who live in Ireland, although not her relations in Israel. There is immense sadness in County Laois today following the tragic death of Kim who had her whole life ahead of her. To lose a child in any circumstance is devastating. I pass on my personal sympathies to Kim's family, t…

I am taking this Topical Issue debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It gives me the opportunity to set out for the House the position with regard to post-primary school places in Greystones for September 2024 and onwards. I assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs, is an abs…

I want to acknowledge the remarks of Deputy Whitmore in the short response. In truth, the Temple Carrig Secondary School, Greystones project is at stage 1, which is preliminary design. In addition, regarding the Kilcoole area, I mentioned the project at stage 2b. That is early stages, and it is not possible to put a timescale on the finalisation of that project or either of those projects at this stage. I do not have an exact date. It would not be possible to give a date on those yet because it has not gone through…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important, sensitive and difficult issue concerning Castletown House, Celbridge. As he and everybody knows, it is an 18th century neo-Palladian country house built within an extensive estate. The Deputy will be aware that there have been many difficulties over this matter recently. I have a very extensive note on the matter but even if I do not get to read it all into the Dáil record, he will be given a copy of the full script. In 1994, the Office of Public Works took responsibil…

On the specific request for legal action to allow access for OPW staff, agents and visitors, there does not appear to be any legal grounds for this. I understand the sentiments of the Deputy. The compulsory purchase order, CPO, process is long and engaging. It would take a substantial period and we cannot be sure of the outcome. The purchase of land is an obvious option which is being pursued. The OPW has as its major objective for this project to improve the facilities in the grounds and not have overspill into ad…

I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising this matter. I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe. What Deputy Murnane O'Connor is saying resonates with everything that has been said in the debate here for the past two hours or so. The issues are very serious which is why we had a full and extensive debate on it here. We are all conscious of the notice for strike action next Tuesday. Something …

I thank the Deputy. I want to reiterate that the Government recognises the important role section 39 and section 56 organisations and the staff on their payrolls play in terms of the work they do. They continue to have a vital role in providing services to people with disabilities, vulnerable children and older people. I know that they are proposing to go out on strike with a heavy heart and a tear in their eye; they do not feel good having to do this but that this is the position they are in at this stage. The lin…

As everybody knows, on 8 September, Morocco experienced a major earthquake, which killed almost 3,000 people and injured 5,000 others. Two days later, Storm Daniel struck Libya, with flash floods affecting wide areas in the east of the country, including the city of Derna. It is estimated that over 5,000 people have died with thousands more missing and very significant numbers, running into several hundred thousands of people, displaced. Ireland responded quickly by providing €2 million in humanitarian assistance f…

The Deputy will be aware that we do not have capacity and personnel permanently available on the ground to do that. We work through our European colleagues in all situations. With regard to the overall funding, Ireland has contributed €12.5 million to the UN central emergency response fund so far this year. We give it to the fund. Ireland has directly contributed €12.5 million this year so that it can be ready for accidents and emergencies as and when they arise, rather than having a discussion on the day. The extr…

We work closely with our EU colleagues in all of these situations. The way it generally works is that some countries are better positioned to help individual countries. This may depend on their diplomatic and political relationship over many years. Some countries are very willing to take assistance from certain countries within the EU immediately while choosing not to take assistance from other countries. We always use the most appropriate country to deal with the country in question. That does happen. I again stre…

I appreciate the Senator raising this matter. It is one I know to which he is deeply committed and interested in and he has been watching very closely since this whole issue regarding the Northern Ireland legacy Act and the Bill was originally announced some time ago. I also join Senator Blaney in acknowledging Senator McGreehan's continuing interest in this matter as well. Senator Blaney has been a particularly strong advocate and voice of criticism on this legislation and I encourage him to continue his contacts …

Since the publication of the Bill, the Government has raised this issue at every possible forum, including the United Nations and Council of Europe, and at political and official level. The Act will damage reconciliation. It represents a unilateral and unnecessary departure by the UK Government from the agreed process for dealing with legacy issues in the Stormont House Agreement. The initiation of an interstate case against the United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the UK's legacy…

No.

I thank the Deputies for their detailed contributions over the past number of hours. The recognition of Palestine has been raised. I will quote directly from the programme for Government, which states that the Government will "honour our commitment to recognise the State of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or in advance of that, when we believe doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory." In the absence of progress towards…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I join him in welcoming our visitors from New York. I hope they enjoy their three weeks in Ireland and find their visit to Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann informative. I am in the House to address the current situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and especially actions by the Israeli Defence Forces, IDF, last week in Jenin in the West Bank as well as the rising level of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. I begin by expressing my great con…

I thank the Senators for their contributions to the debate. In the short period available to us at least ten Senators spoke, which demonstrates the interest there is in this matter. I myself will deal with a few of the remarks here now but there will be a debate in the Dáil tomorrow for about three hours on this same issue. The Tánaiste will be present at that debate, so we will ensure that the record of what the various Senators have said will be brought to his attention overnight and those issues can be covered i…

I thank Senator Conway for raising this issue. On the details of the particular application, I am not aware of it but I hear that the Senator has been in contact. I might touch on that matter in a few moments. The Senator might tell me roughly what month the child was born in and in what country. He may have given me some of that information but when he comes back, he might give me that as well. On a general note, the Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for citizenship by descent through the foreign births…

I want to thank Senator Conway for that further information. I will ask the office in the Department of Foreign Affairs to contact the Passport Office directly. I am not promising anything, only that I will follow up on the matter to the best of my ability. Ultimately, the decision has to be made by the relevant deciding officers, and we all know I should not interfere in a particular case. However, I will make strong inquiries as a result of what has been said here today. Senator Conway has indicated that there is…

I move: That Dáil Éireann, pursuant to section 4(2)( f )(iv) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Acts 2003 to 2021, hereby authorises the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to instruct solicitors and junior counsel and senior counsel, in a manner that safeguards public funds, in relation to the defence of legal proceedings initiated against Deputy James Lawless by Kim O'Neill, Sara Kinsella and Sarah Nugent, entitled "The High Court, Record No. 2023 / 1810P, Between Kim O'Neill, Sara Kinsella and Sarah Nuge…

I am taking this on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. I recognise how incredibly difficult it is for the families who lost loved ones during the pandemic, which presented one of the greatest and most wide-ranging public health challenges internationally in recent history. I extend my sympathy to the Delany family - Senator Clonan mentioned that Bernadette and Seán are here - on the sad passing of their family member who passed away in the Phoenix Park Community Nursing Unit at St. Ma…