The programme also covers communication by the Department of its policies, objectives and activities to citizens at home and abroad. I look forward to people's comments and questions. I congratulate the new spokespeople in this policy area and look forward to working closely with them.

I am not sure if we are allowed to hand out copies because of Covid, with us touching the same sheets of paper.

It will certainly be available online and I will ensure that everyone gets a copy.

My apologies, Chairman, I am not clear on the procedures. Do I have a minute to respond?

I will respond to the accusation that was made about me misleading the Dáil, which I do not think I have done. Let me be very clear and quote from the advice of the Attorney General on the occupied territories Bill which states that: “there is significant legal doubt that it would be permissible for the State to take the unilateral step of prohibiting the import of produce originating from illegal settlements on the grounds of public policy without being subject to EU infringement proceedings.” This is pretty clear…

There are only two minutes and 35 seconds remaining but I will try to deal with all of the Deputy's questions. On Brexit, I intend to maintain close co-operation with Opposition parties to continue the stakeholders structure that we have had and that has worked very successfully. We hope to have another stakeholders' meeting before the end of this month. I will keep the Deputy and all other Deputies who are interested in progress informed as best I can during the Brexit process. It is not party political in terms o…

I do not know how many times I have to say it but people do not seem to want to hear . The reason I have opposed as Minister the introduction of the occupied territories Bill is I have clear legal advice from the previous Attorney General, which I believe to be very credible, that we cannot enforce or implement it. People just do not want to accept that, as if to say the legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General is not valid because there is some other legal advice from somebody else somewhere that says …

It is a legal position. I can understand the frustrations over the occupied territories Bill but I have on many occasions explained why we cannot do it. People do not want to accept that for political reasons.

I am making the point. The Deputy had his say and I am having mine. On the other issues the Deputy raised in respect of annexation and the Middle East peace process, I have been very vocal at UN level, at EU level and domestically about Ireland's absolute support for a two-state solution. Ireland's leadership within the EU seeks to ensure that the EU provides the necessary deterrent to a new Israeli Government to proposals to annex lands that are not Israeli lands but Palestinian lands. We will continue to advocate…

I thank the Deputy for her compliments on the work of the Department's consular division during the Covid crisis. We are not finished yet because the virus is still accelerating in many parts of the world, including where Irish citizens live. This is the case in Latin America, South America, the United States itself and across Africa. I expect our consular division will continue to be very busy supporting Irish citizens who want to come home. On fishing, the Deputy has raised a series of issues. No one should assum…

I thank the Deputy and I will try to deal with some of the questions. I thank her for the comments about our efforts with the United Nations Security Council. I assure everybody in the House that we did not aspire to be on the United Nations Security Council again just to sit there and win the competition. We want to make a difference and use all the influence we have, including the capacity to bring people together and build bridges on a council which is quite divided and which has been unable to make key interven…

I am glad to be able to respond to several of those questions and comment on some of the broader issues that have been raised. Deputy Richmond is correct. The plans for Ireland to increase its footprint and influence across the world are not confined to activity outside of the European Union. The EU will certainly be very different in a post-Brexit world to how it was when the UK was very much a part of it and was an ally of Ireland in so many different policy areas. For some time now we have been investing in incr…

I thank the Deputy. I will need some time to answer his question. Deputy Brady asked the same question earlier and I did not get a chance to get back to him. Deputy Harkin and others also mentioned the commitment to 0.7% of GNI and how we can get there. As the Deputy knows, the programme for Government includes a commitment to getting to 0.7% by 2030. We have also committed to ensuring that we do not allow the actual spend to fall below 2019 levels of expenditure at any point between now and 2030. We will use a thr…

I welcome this opportunity to discuss my Department's role in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, including our immediate consular response to the crisis, our wider contribution to the whole-of-Government response, the impact on the passport service and our plans for the coming months. The scale of the consular challenge caused by the Covid-19 pandemic saw an unprecedented number of Irish citizens stranded across the world. The Department quickly developed a comprehensive approach to the repatriation of citizens w…

I am almost finished.

No problem. I can deal with it in questions.

I join the Deputy in condemning racism in all its forms and I am sure that is reflected across this House. Many of us are pretty disturbed and shocked by the images we are seeing coming out of the United States for what I think is the eighth day in a row. What everybody wants to ensure is that peaceful protest is part of any democracy, as is the need for robust and independent journalism. Violence is not the way to bring about change. What is needed is leadership at both community and political level. The undercurr…

I am answering the question I was asked.

I ask for clarity on the rules.

I presume the distribution of the time is up to those asking the questions.