I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 142 together. I thank the Deputies for raising this sensitive and important issue. Recent changes to the abortion laws in Poland are clearly of great concern to many people in Poland and the EU more generally. Ireland has its own recent experience of these issues and we have seen major changes with regard to reproductive health rights in recent years, and they are very welcome. Our experience in Ireland in achieving broad consensus in this area is something we are proud of a…

I first thank the Deputy for raising this issue and, in particular, for the way in which he done so because he has been sensitive to the issue here. I have been to Warsaw and have visited the largest Ukrainian refugee hub, if one wants to call it that, just outside Warsaw. There are about 7,000 Ukrainian people there. Approximately 2,000 come and go every day. It is just extraordinary that this is a reality on the Continent of Europe today, where close on 6 million people have had to flee their own country, 36,000 …

I thank the Deputy for this question and am glad to be able to put a number of things on the record in respect of this agreement. A trilateral memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt on co-operation relating to trade, transport and the export of natural gas to the European Union was signed by the European Commission on 15 June in Cairo. Ireland supports the agreement, which is an important and timely initiative that will strengthen energy security across the EU. The legal framework for the EU-Israel partn…

As I said in my response to the Deputy, this agreement does make a distinction between occupied territory and Israel proper, for want of a better term. That is appropriate. As I said my reply, the legal framework underpinning the EU-Israel partnership is provided by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which has been in force since 2000. Unlike Russia, Israel is part of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Ireland has taken a consistent, clear, and firm line on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory both…

Do I get a last word?

I know we do not have a huge turnout for this legislation. It is important but I do not think it is controversial, which may explain why there is not a strong Opposition presence here. I am pleased to present this Bill to the House. While technical, it is important legislation. The principal purpose of this Bill is to provide for members of the military police to take and use DNA samples and other evidence for the purposes of its investigations, including outside the jurisdiction when Defence Forces personnel are d…

I thank the Senators for being both helpful and co-operative. I have a long closing speech here but I am just going to answer their questions if I can. No offence to the people who put the words together; they are very useful.

Yes, absolutely. This legislation is technical. It is effectively ensuring investigations undertaken by the military police can be as comprehensive, using DNA samples in the way the Garda uses DNA samples in other criminal cases. It would be extraordinary if there were investigations taking place under military law that could lead to a court martial that could not use modern forms of evidence gathering and so on. Of course, there are limitations to that. Certainly, the taking of intimate samples is only justifiable…

Will the Deputy let the Minister answer?

Last Sunday, 22 May, marked the 24th anniversary of the simultaneous referendums on both sides of the Border on the Good Friday Agreement. The agreement was endorsed by 94% of people here and 71% of people in Northern Ireland. It was endorsed by 85% of those voting across the island as a whole. It was a transformative moment for the island. I remember the day vividly, as I expect most in this House do. Maybe for a younger generation, who do not remember at first hand the importance and emotion of the vote, it was c…

We are doing a lot. We are doing a lot on every platform on which we have a voice, including the UN Security Council. Today we are hosting in New York a meeting of other UN Security Council members on the protection of journalists. As the Deputy knows, this has been triggered by the killing of a journalist in the West Bank. We will continue to use our voice in the EU and at the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council and the Council of Europe, whose Presidency we will hold for the next six months, to raise…

Those were very different days in terms of numbers. We are currently delivering 5,000 passports a day to people in Ireland. Last month, 170,000 passports went out successfully. This year, we will do about 1.4 million passports. The highest figure in any other year was about 900,000. We are talking about passport demand increasing by approximately 50% in a year. This summer, we will have 900 people in the Passport Office. Last summer, it was 460. This year, we have a special phone line for Oireachtas offices. It has…

No.

At the outset, I thank Deputies for this important and timely debate. While the television cameras and eyes of the world most recently focused on the killings of journalists in Ukraine and the occupied Palestinian territory, we cannot afford to overlook attacks on journalists anywhere. Across the world, attacks against journalists occur against the background of growing authoritarianism, with associated restrictions on press freedom, increased cyber-surveillance and growth in disinformation. In too many countries, …

We are trying to change it.

But we do it by building collective engagement internationally and not isolating ourselves.

To be helpful to the House, I would be very happy to have such a debate but I would like to be here for it, if that is possible. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, I have made some quite strong statements on both the killing and what happened at the funeral, which was disgraceful and should be condemned. I have no problem in doing that but I would like to be here for the debate. I believe it would be helpful to the House. I happen to be in Turin on Thursday and Friday of this week because Ireland is taking the chair …

Some 5,000 are being delivered per day.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 3 together. As the Deputy will be aware, the Permanent Defence Force is currently under strength by just over 1,000 personnel. The report of the Commission on the Defence Forces made it clear that the level of ambition for the Defence Forces must be elevated beyond that at which it is operating at the moment. The report outlines three levels of ambition. Level of ambition 1 is essentially proceeding as we are at present and trying to move back to a full establishment figure of…

There were a number of questions. First, with regard to strength, as colleagues will know, in the Army, the establishment is 7,520 and the current strength is 6,778. In the Air Corps, the establishment is 886 and the current strength is 733. In the Naval Service, the establishment is 1,094 and the strength stands at 855. We have a challenge here. While it is about recruitment, it is also about capacity in terms of training and about retention, on which the commission carried out quite a lot of work. In some parts o…