Micheál Martin

I am interested in real change and getting things done and you are not.

Is féidir liom é seo a shoiléiriú má tá deacracht ag na Teachtaí Dála.

I thought you called me.

Táim sásta-----

I did not call Deputy McDonald-----

I did say, más féidir liom-----

I am somewhat amused that the Deputy is saying we have influenced housing policy since 2016. For the past two weeks, he has been saying that confidence and supply was in no way a precedent in the context of being involved in Government and so on.

We were not in government from 2016 to 2020; we have been in government since 2020. The Deputy used the phrase "lies of omission".

I would point out that the previous Government carried out a review of the rental sector last year. Following on from that, it requested the Housing Agency to conduct a specific review of the operation of the RPZ scheme. It is doing that. The review will be concluded by the end of quarter 1. That is the intended conclusion date. As the Deputy knows, the legislation that gave rise to the RPZs is du…

-----is that it is all noise and condemnation, with very few solutions being offered.

I am not clear that there are billions of funds in Europe for housing. Any funds that are available, we would seek. However, housing competence within Europe has been at a low level. This is the first Commission with a housing Commissioner. As we have heard in various reports, the European Parliament is also now engaging for the first time.

There are not billions available to Ireland.

There are not billions available from the European Union in respect of housing.

The Deputy has asked me to respond to his two suggestions. From my engagement with Europe, I am aware that the biggest issue we will face in the context of the next financial framework is how we will increase the European budget, to which Ireland is a net contributor. There are going to be a whole range of demands on us. In Ireland, traditionally, we have always protected the Common Agricultural P…

Within that context, yes, we can respond to a proposal of that kind.

Fresh-----

Pardon. It was the word "hell" I did not pick up.

St. Patrick's Day has for many years been a substantive opportunity and occasion for Ireland, globally and in the United States, to engage with decision-makers, communities and the diaspora. We have a substantial diaspora in the United States. It is extremely important that we continue to work with our diaspora and also on our relationship with the United States. President Trump was democratically…

We need to consolidate the ceasefire. That is the most important issue for people in Gaza right now. Hamas needs to release the hostages. Its role in this has been malign, and that needs to be acknowledged. Israel needs to honour its side of the agreement. Progress has been made on the ceasefire. Aid is getting in. That is where the focus has to be.

There was no error of judgment made, and it was not in the early days of any genocide. I visited Israel prior to 7 October. What is striking is the refusal of the Deputy, or at least Deputy Murphy and the group of which they are members, to condemn what happened on 7 October.

That was before the war started. I remember Deputy Boyd Barrett asking me in the House to help to get Irish citizens out of Gaza, while at the same time condemning me for visiting Israel. The hypocrisy, doublethink and doublespeak are extraordinary.

The only way we got Irish citizens out of Gaza was because of the diplomatic relationship we maintained and the fact we had ambassadors in Israel and Cairo who worked extremely hard to get Irish citizens out of Gaza. The Deputy would have made a pronouncement that I should not go, but at the same time asked us to get people out.

I am sick of that kind of absolute doublethink and hypocrisy. The Deputy mentioned that.

I am not. If I get more time-----

Deputy Murphy is misleading the House------