I thank the Deputy for the question. The International Criminal Court is under attack. We are seeing this very regularly in many parts of the globe. Last week I met the President of the ICC in Dublin and we discussed ways in which Ireland can continue to defend the court from sanctions. The president thanked Ireland for its support to date, but having discussed it with her, frankly I was shocked at the impact sanctions, threats and a threatening environment is having on its work. I intend to raise this with Europea…

We certainly will. The Deputy is correct. We are seeing people queuing for aid for themselves and their children in a situation of near starvation and being shot at and killed. This is beyond horrific. Ireland will continue to support the ICC. I need to stress to the House how volatile and dangerous the situation is in terms of the sustainability of the ICC. We have to support the ICC. We have to support international courts. Europe has always had and still has unanimity on that support, or almost unanimity, on the…

We certainly will do that. The beauty of Irish foreign policy is its consistency. We are always in favour of human rights, international law, peace and dialogue, regardless of the parties involved. I often hear Ireland's position being misrepresented, with questions about whether we are pro this country or anti that country. We are pro international law, multilateralism, human rights and humanitarian law. It is easy to speak up and speak out for one's country when its foreign policy is grounded on those principles …

I deplore antisemitism, as does everybody in this House. We should speak with one voice in condemning antisemitism in all its forms. It needs to be called out and we all need to do more, as countries, as the European Union and as a global community, to stamp out antisemitism. That is beyond doubt. Separate and distinct from what I just said, we will continue, as a country, to speak up for our values as a people in terms of human rights, the work of the ICJ and our feeling of obligation to be in compliance with ICJ …

Absolutely, and that is the difference between the Government and the Opposition. The Taoiseach and I were in the United States, where he had a meeting with President Trump, engaging on behalf of this country, speaking up for our values, putting forward our views and valuing our relationship. The leader of the Opposition took the weekend off. That is the difference. It is easy to turn up when everybody is getting on great. It is more important to turn up when there are legitimate points of disagreement and to artic…

I remember the challenges to do with envoys previously. I agree with the Deputy's broader point on the need to empower as many people as possible to engage. I will reflect on his point. The first way we should do that is by continuing to facilitate and host Congressional delegations, known as CODELs, whereby people from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, travel to Ireland together. One of the most recent delegations, which visited in April, included three members of the House Committee on Foreign A…

I thank the Deputy for raising this question and giving me an opportunity to provide some further information about the matter, as I am sure she will provide the same to me. I am aware of this case and have been apprised of the details. I spoke with officials in my Department on the matter as recently as yesterday and have asked them to meet with Mr. Cornelius's wife, family members and representatives to discuss his ongoing detention and explore possible avenues for our engagement. As the Deputy is aware, the pers…

I am conscious that I am talking to a family through the prism of the Dáil. I wish to be respectful of that reality. I thank Deputy Gibney for writing to me on this matter. My officials will meet with Heather, the family and Mr. Cornelius's representatives because we want to be helpful. While this might sound like a frustrating thing to say, and I can understand why, this case requires exploration as to what is helpful. I do not wish to do anything, accidentally or otherwise, that would be unhelpful. The UAE has a …

We will absolutely do that. I am happy to keep in direct contact with the Deputy on this issue. I cannot imagine how difficult, traumatic and upsetting a time this must be for Heather, her children and the wider Cornelius family. As I said, I do not wish to accidentally endeavour to intervene in a way that is unhelpful. That would be the worst thing to happen. We are very eager to engage with Heather to, in the first instance, discuss her perspective and experience, including her dealings with the UK authorities an…

I thank my colleague, Deputy O'Shea, for raising this question. I am pleased to say the passport service is delivering passports to our citizens within advertised turnaround times and, in many cases, well before their due date. More than 580,000 passports have been issued this year to date. The public offices in Dublin and Cork operate an urgent appointment service for renewal applications. The Dublin office offers one-day and four-day turnaround services, while the Cork office offers a four-day turnaround service.…

Let me take those suggestions on board. The passport reform programme is continuing. While we made significant progress on passport delivery, turnaround times and the integrity of the passport, that process continues. I am happy to continue to engage on that. On Deputy O'Shea's point, what I am saying for the people of Cork is that we are committed to Cork, to our Passport Office and to the new passport office. We will have the new passport office operational by autumn 2026 at 1 Navigation Square in Cork city. In a…

I hear the Deputy. We are continuing to do everything we can to reduce the number of people who ever need to travel for an in-person appointment. I am really encouraged to see that that is less than 2% of people. It is quite incredible. We have spare capacity for the appointments in Cork today. Only about 26% of the slots in Cork are being used. I join with the Deputy in saying that is not by accident but is a testament to the incredible work of the people in the passport service. It is not that long ago that, afte…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16, 23, 46, 48, 55 and 73 together. I thank Deputies Ward and Ó Murchú. As the House is aware, as far back as 14 February 2024, the then Taoiseach and the Prime Minister of Spain wrote to the President of the European Commission, requesting an urgent review of whether Israel was compliant with its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel association agreement. It was a lonely place back then, with just Ireland and Spain seeking this review. Further, the letter requested that the…

Yes.

I hear Deputy O'Reilly about that. I acknowledge that people are trying to do something good, in good faith. We all share that view. There are rules in place relating to visas, particularly when it comes to minors, especially when they are not travelling with parents or guardians. An appeals process is in place. I make that point without over-commenting on individual applications. I agree on the point about consequences and made this point at the Foreign Affairs Council. We cannot find somebody in breach of their h…

First, I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in remarking on the fact tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was one of the most horrific atrocities ever to take place on the European Continent and an atrocity that resulted in the massacre of more than 8,000 men and boys. It is our duty as a country, a Parliament and an international community to remember the brutality and devastation that occurred. I know we all join the community today. Deputy Doherty mentioned K…

I am very clear, not just from my perspective but from that of the entire Government, that on 25 March of this year, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality secured sanction for the €8 million grant fund. There is a budget of €3.2 billion for disability services, as the Deputy knows, and €8 million of a grant fund was sanctioned for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality on 25 March. From the Government's point of view, once it was sanctioned, we expected it to be drawn down and spent. In l…

It is welcome to have a question on climate as I am not sure we, as a Dáil, are having the level of focus and discussion needed on this issue. The climate emergency has not gone away; far from it. We need to look at how we can accelerate the pace of change that needs to take place. We need a conversation about how we bring people with us, on which the Deputy had some good ideas. I, too, know people who would like to retrofit their home or switch to an electric vehicle but cost is still a barrier. We, as a Governmen…

We are committed to providing the investment that is required. I am being very honest in saying I am not convinced currently of the need for more legislation in this area. There is a lot of legislation in place. It is an implementation issue now in terms of how quickly we can accelerate delivery. Most sectors of our economy are seeing a decrease in emissions, including agriculture and transport. Our electricity is now cleaner than ever before. Last year marked the first year in which no peat was used for power gene…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As a previous Minister with responsibility in this area, I know Tipperary ETB to be an excellent and well-run organisation. I am aware of some of the exciting projects in which it is involved, including at the old barracks in Clonmel and the plans for a FET college of the future. I know the ETB to be a well-run organisation and would take very seriously any feedback it has for the Government on any supports it requires. I am happy to have further engagement on th…