Micheál Martin

Their expenditure had not gone down at all but their income had been halved in many instances. I will ask the Minister to look at this and we will revert to the Deputy on that.

The Government and I have made it clear that, as far as we are concerned, Israel is committing a war crime in terms of the weaponisation of humanitarian aid going into Gaza, the blockade and the prevention of the basic necessities of life going into Gaza. We have been proactive from the very beginning. We were the first country in the EU to call for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a …

-----the Deputy knows as well it is simply unworkable.

We will not be opposing Labour's motion tomorrow-----

-----in respect of actions at the United Nations because we are fundamentally multilateralist. We have worked on the Gaza issue with many like-minded states within the United Nations. Many of the votes on the Middle East reflect that approach by Ireland. We have worked with Arab partner states on a peace process in the Middle East. We supported them and helped in respect of formulating a peace pla…

The occupied territories Bill will come before the Dáil. That in itself will not change Israel. We need to be realistic.

We need a collective approach. I am cautious about saying it but the EU-Israel association agreement is now under review by the European External Action Service.

For the record, there is no major trade between Ireland and the occupied territories. Let us be clear about that.

There is very little, actually, but that is not the point.

The point is that it is a symbolic move. That is important in itself. We recognised the State of Palestine with Norway and Spain. As soon as we did that, all of those who had called for it changed their tune a couple of weeks later, saying that it was too little too late and not of much significance. My point is that we have done very practical things. Probably the most impactful has been on the h…

Those are the realities.

My understanding is that the Minister visited Donegal recently and had constructive engagement with all involved. Work is under way now within the Department. I will ask the Minister to maybe revert to the Deputy in respect of specific timelines around the legislation.

First of all, I believe that design is important. Perhaps one of the issues with the new children's hospital - and which was reported in the PwC report - was that it did not have a finalised design prior to the contract issuing. That is one of the conclusions. That is my understanding and I stand to be corrected on that. I would not be against good design for a national children's hospital. That i…

No, it is more than that. It is more than just building boxes.

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this issue. It is something that has been raised in the House and it is an issue that has been causing concern over the past number of months. Regrettably, day services recently ceased due to staffing shortages. That has caused a lot of distress to service users, their families and the Irish Wheelchair Association personnel at local level. The service ceased in Apr…

It is a laudable objective to be listed as a UNESCO site. That might not mean the level of investment that the Deputy envisages, however, as it could have other implications in terms of investment. I will talk to the Minister. Is the application under way?

There has not been an application. There are others seeking UNESCO status at the moment. My first advice is to get the process in place to apply. The port has all sorts of historical and literary contexts that are quite unique in themselves. The first process, I think, would be to organise an application. I will talk to the Minister for culture and heritage.

Victoria's case should not have come to that-----

----- because very substantial funding was allocated last year and this year, particularly with regard to a case of that priority. It is difficult to understand how that case could not have been accommodated above and beyond any other case.

I am just making the point. I know the city council can prioritise, too. I know the Minister is engaging with the city council. I do not know the specifics of all cases-----

Do not tell me the council is not in a position to resolve the case as it is presented now.

Yes. Very.

Very serious.

First, I thank Deputy Cahill, who has been raising the issue of the UNESCO world heritage site of Sceilg Mhichíl persistently. As he knows, the Office of Public Works conserves and manages the UNESCO site. The boat permit system was originally introduced to improve health and safety on the journey to and during visitation of the island. In December 2024, the OPW advertised a competition via the e…

I would hope common sense would prevail.