Last week, I was at the United Nations and I met the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas. I also met the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Government. Both the President and the Prime Minister of Palestine thanked me, our Government and the people of Ireland for what we are doing in relation to Palestine. I come back here and I come into this Dáil and the Deputy's distortion of what the Government is doing is actually breathtaking, in terms of how he distorts the record of this Government. It …

Yes. Deputy McDonald is exactly right and I hope she will condemn Iran too-----

Sorry, hold your horses. Hold your horses-----

I condemn the actions of the Government of Israel, the incursion into Lebanon and what it is doing in Gaza, on a daily basis. The difference between the Deputy and me is that I am consistent. I believe breaches of international law are wrong no matter who carries them out, whereas the Deputy believes they are wrong if it suits his political agenda. What would he have said if those Iranian missiles had landed last night? What would he have done? Would he have engaged in a bit of whataboutery? What Iran did last nigh…

Just condemn them now.

The Deputy is not condemning them.

Condemn Iran.

When the national Chamber is reduced to some kind of community notice board, it tells us everything. While the Deputy is continuing to misrepresent the position of this Government, we are actually trying to do things. We are actually trying to do things like working with the international community to keep our troops safe. When speaking directly to the Lebanese Prime Minister-----

I ask the Deputy to have a little respect for the process here. This is quite a serious issue-----

-----and should not involve shouting and roaring. When speaking to the Lebanese Prime Minister-----

It is because of the legal advice.

May I just have a minute to answer the question?

It is a serious matter and I am trying to give it the serious answer that it deserves. The reality of the situation is we are engaging on a frequent basis, often hourly, on these matters. We are providing increased humanitarian aid. We speak up and speak out outlining our position on a constant basis. I have said consistently that I believe what is happening in Gaza is a war on children. It is a humanitarian catastrophe and the EU is not doing enough. The US has not been effective in bringing about a ceasefire. I b…

-----and the Deputies will not condemn Iran. I do not understand why they will not do it.

It is because they do not believe that the State-----

I would like to speak. I believe the State of Israel alongside the State of Palestine both have a right to live in security and peace. The problem is the Deputies do not believe that about the State of Israel.

They do not believe-----

In this democracy, the Deputy gets to ask the question but he does not get to tell people what they can say in response. I think it is quite important that I have a right to speak freely in this Chamber to which I am also democratically elected. The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh and Senator John Cummins have been working on this, as has Deputy Shanahan and Deputy Cullinane. We should not doubt the bona fides of all people in Waterford in trying to improve the services for people in…

I thank Deputy Shanahan. There has been a significant level of investment in University Hospital Waterford. I know Deputy Shanahan does not want me to broaden the issue too much but I want to say for the people of Waterford, who no doubt will follow the debate, that we have seen staffing at the hospital grow by 866 people from the end of 2019 to today. There are 49 more consultant doctors, 114 more NCHDs, 378 more nurses and midwives, as well as 118 more health and social care professionals. In 2019 the hospital in…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on budget 2025. I am very proud to commend this budget to the House. As my first budget as Taoiseach, and the last budget of this Government, I believe it a fitting balance between building on progress, helping people in the here and now and pointing the way to a more secure future. This budget comes at a critical juncture. It comes at a time when people have been strained by a prolonged cost-of-living crisis and while businesses have struggled in the face of rising costs …