I wish to announce for the information of the Dáil that having informed the President that Dáil Éireann had approved my nomination of Deputy Jack Chambers to be a member of the Government, the President on 26 June 2024 appointed him accordingly. On the same day, I assigned the Department of Finance to Deputy Jack Chambers. On 27 June 2024, on my nomination, the Government appointed Deputy James Lawless to be Minister of State at the Department of Transport, with special responsibility for international and road tra…

I, too, want to begin by paying tribute to Deputies Shortall and Catherine Murphy on their significant decision. I want to acknowledge them both as very formidable politicians. I believe Deputy Shortall is the longest serving female TD in the history of our State. That in and of itself is an historic record that deserves commendation. Through her work on Sláintecare, she brought parties with different views together to try to find common ground. Deputy Murphy has served for approximately 30 years in various politic…

I will get to affordability. So far this year, we are seeing around 500 people per week buying their first home. Sometimes, we get the impression from Deputy McDonald that no one is buying a house and nothing is happening, but that is simply not the reality. On top of that on the social housing side of things, we saw the largest number of social houses allocated last year than at any time since the 1970s. Never in my lifetime were more social homes allocated than last year. We are making very significant progress i…

Is it the Deputy's position that she accepts every recommendation of the Housing Commission report? Is that her position? We have written to her on the issue and we are awaiting the Deputy's response as the Government. If it is the Sinn Féin position that she accepts every recommendation of the report, she might just clarify that. I will sit down if the Deputy might just clarify that. Is that her position, "Yes" or "No"?

Yes, thank you.

I gave the Deputy time for a bit of straight talking. Yes or No?

I gave the Leader of the Opposition an opportunity to say "Yes"-----

-----that she accepted all of the recommendation or "No" she did not and she refuses to answer. The Deputy wraps herself in reports when it suits her but she is not a details person. She is refusing to get down into the details. Which recommendations is she in favour of and which recommendations is she against?

I thank Sinn Féin very much for the chorus behind Deputy McDonald, which is trying to assist her but I am well able to answer the question, and I thank the Deputies very much. Affordability very much depends on a person's circumstances. I am sure what Deputy McDonald thinks it is affordable is very different to what other people might think, as I am sure what I would and what other people in this House would think. That is why we provide a range of housing solutions. The average cost of an affordable home under our…

-----it would abolish the help-to-buy scheme-----

The reality of the situation is that Sinn Fein promised people in Ireland the €300,000 home and 72 hours before the local elections, Deputy McDonald admitted that was bogus.

I answered the question but the Deputy just does not like the answer.

It is €267,000 for an affordable house.

On becoming Taoiseach, I asked again about the legality of the occupied territories Bill. The same position has been reiterated to me as was reiterated to my predecessors. Indeed, the same position has been reiterated to me by the Attorney General that would have been reiterated by his predecessors as well. I fully accept the Deputy's bona fides that this is a point of difference, but the very clear legal advice to me, which would be the same legal advice available to Deputy Cairns if she were in my position, is th…

Engagement with the two-state solution is absolutely essential. I am aware of the horrific situation. I am haunted by it, as I know people across this country are. Ireland continues to use its voice at every single opportunity in every single international forum. We do not just say things - we vote that way internationally, amend conclusions that way, provide extra humanitarian assistance and stand by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA. We will continue to look for every opportunity. At a European le…

It is because her position is entirely misrepresented. If the Deputy had been at the European Council, as I was last week-----

No, hang on, I was the only Irish person in the room, so perhaps allow me the courtesy of telling the Dáil what happened. When I was there last week, every single Prime Minister and President, bar one - the Hungarian Prime Minister - supported President von der Leyen or, in the case of Italy, abstained. That included socialist governments. In fact, the Prime Minister of Spain, who is probably seen as an extraordinarily strong supporter of Palestine, supported her. This attempt in Ireland to characterise the inertia…

I am a bit perplexed. I would say the Deputy must have struggled on this dispute. I did not see this coming but maybe I should have. It is highly regrettable that any Member of this House would cast an aspersion on the Labour Court. We have a long-standing industrial relations mechanism in this country, with both the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court, that is a key part of the infrastructure. To say the Labour Court is not the friend of the worker is factually untrue. The court is not there to be …

It is there to arbitrate, mediate and come up with solutions to very important things and to bring about industrial peace. The Deputy may not be a fan of industrial peace. I place quite a significant value on it. I thank the Deputy for his intervention today. I know how upsetting this dispute is to people. That is what I think is utterly reprehensible about this, and I say that without casting a view on whether it is the pilots or Aer Lingus. There are always two sides to any dispute; I am very aware of that. Every…

It seems we have the spokesperson for pilots before profit today. I thank Deputy Barry for that intervention. My position is very clear. It is crystal clear and could not be clearer. It is not for me on the floor of the Dáil, or respectfully for the Deputy, though he is perfectly entitled to, to give a view on which side is to blame, to apportion blame or to accuse one side of being provocative. I have not done that. I have stood up and accepted that any worker is entitled to submit a pay claim and of course to use…