I thank the Deputies. It is a crucially important issue and I am glad to see people talking positively about vaccines because there are, quite frankly, a lot of cranks out there on the Internet who are just rubbishing anything at all to do with vaccines without looking at the science and indeed, in the case of the Covid vaccine, without waiting for the clinical trials to be completed, which has not happened yet. Both Deputies raised the issue of ordering more flu vaccine. The Minister asked me to advise Members tha…

Tá áthas orm a bheith anseo chun an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a phlé sa Seanad. Senator Ward raises extremely serious concerns that are being raised by many other colleagues, and I am delighted he has taken the opportunity this morning to raise them again. The demolition of Palestinian homes and the demolition or seizure of structures, including schools, is cruel and unjust. These practices cause suffering to ordinary Palestinians and impinge on the right of children to an education. Demolitions and seizures of Pales…

It is worth noting that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the former Minister, Brian Lenihan Snr., being the first foreign minister of a western state to recognise the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Ireland has a really strong record on this, including among Members of the Oireachtas, who constantly raise the issues faced by the Palestinian people. We express our deep concern at recent demolition and confiscation of properties, including in Hebron. Our clear position on the settlements…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Ó Broin ós rud é gur ardaigh sé an ábhar tábhachtach seo ag tús an tSeanaid. Is ábhar an-thábhachtach é agus ceann a bhfuil i bhfad níos tábhachtaí anois i gcomhthéacs an Bhreatimeachta. This debate gives me an opportunity to outline some of the measures that the Government has taken and is taking to support the supply of foreign language teachers, which is a really critical issue, as the Senator rightly identified, and to provide an update on the implementation of the language st…

De rien .

We are bringing it back.

New Government.

Gracias . As I have said in the Dáil, we have a national hang-up about languages in this country. Quite frankly, we will have to get over it. I do not know what the reason is. I do not know whether it is because of the historical connotations of the Irish language of poverty. We have our own national language here that, let us be honest, very few speak and that then leads to difficulties. The challenges are considerable. When I go to European meetings, I am surprised at the amount of English that is not spoken. Peo…

I propose to read my response regarding Africa first and then to go through the questions Deputies have asked. There will probably still be time at the end if any of the Deputies wish to ask further specific questions. One of the points made was that I am not the Minister for Health so I cannot answer questions relating to health. I can answer on what I did at the General Affairs Council last week, but that involves a wider Government response as well. I thank the Deputies for their statements and questions and als…

We are not shutting down trading companies that are involved in importing and exporting.

There is no shutdown of that type of activity, which continues. That type of misinformation is unfortunate. Regarding the level of preparedness, I will organise a briefing for Oireachtas Members at which we can go through all the issues and give all the ammunition and information Deputies need to give to their constituents in terms of preparation. Deputy O'Callaghan mentioned rule of law. That is important. The issue of LGBT-free zones in Poland is absolutely horrific but it is not part of the rule of law discussio…

What I am saying is-----

I am saying that as of-----

I am not giving detailed information about what other countries are doing because I do not have it. In the past few days, governments all around Europe have been taking significant and serious steps.

Portugal has a state of calamity, for example.

The mood at the European Council and the General Affairs Council regarding Covid-19 was extremely grim. The pattern is the same all over Europe in terms of how health systems are coping, how countries are dealing with Covid-19 and what the worries are. Deputies Boyd Barrett and Ó Murchú and others questioned Deputy Richmond on Covid-19 engagement. The European Union does not have the health competence. I know that if tomorrow we held a referendum for a new treaty to give Europe a health competence, there would be m…

I gave my wrap-up at the start when I spoke about Africa. I thought it would be useful to get through some of these.

That is because I did not get to them. It was not deliberate. The Acting Chairman cut me off.

The Government agreed the procedure for the traffic light system earlier. It was a Government decision and I am sure the details will be announced in due course. I am not at Cabinet so I am not privy to that. I presume the Minister for Transport will deal with that. We want to implement the traffic light system. On Israel and Palestine, I did not answer Deputy Costello's question only because the Acting Chairman asked me to wrap up to allow Deputy Brady and others to ask questions. On the very specific points Deput…

When Sinn Féin was occupied with other states' issues we were very strong on this and we remain very strong on this. When the Taoiseach was Minister for Foreign Affairs, he visited Palestine at that time as well, as have some of my party colleagues. We will continue to prioritise the Middle East peace process on the Security Council. We will do whatever we can to advance efforts towards a just and normal peace. We resolutely oppose annexation. Any such moves are illegal under international law and jeopardise the pr…