Helen McEntee

I thank Deputy Doherty. If I can, I will take the opportunity to inform the House exactly what the current situation is with the 14 Irish citizens who have been detained. The Government has been very clear in condemning the actions of the Israeli Government and the illegal detention and detainment of our citizens and many others in international waters. The behaviour this week by an Israeli Minist…

-----but we made a decision last year that we needed to respond directly and that is what we have done. The fuel allowance, which supports over 400,000 people who are directly and most impacted by the increases in the cost of fuel, has been extended so a further 50,000 households have benefitted from that payment, and it has been extended by four weeks to take into consideration the situation tha…

Does the Deputy not understand that in the past month and a half alone, the Government has provided €750 million directly to homeowners, to people who get into their cars every day and go to work and to businesses that transport food and all of the commodities around the country and bring our children to school? That €750 million has not come nowhere. That is from our taxpayers, our Exchequer and …

The Deputy is talking about €178 million. Some €750 million has been provided in the past month and a half alone. That is on top of the additional fuel allowance that we have provided, and on top of the retrofitting-----

-----that is taking place because the best thing we can do for people is to make sure that their overall energy bills come down-----

-----and we have a target of 74,000 homes that we want to retrofit this year. That is on top of the hundreds of thousands of people who have had their homes retrofitted and who are now seeing an overall and long-term reduction in the costs of their energy bills. If we look at the ESRI report published in April, it said that the most effective supports-----

-----are those targeting the least well off and that is exactly what we are doing. We are targeting those who need our help the most with-----

-----with €750 million in the past month and a half.

I thank the Deputy. I fully agree with him and everybody in this House, in that I am equally appalled by the actions of the Israeli Government in the detention of our citizens and many others in international waters but in particular the footage we saw yesterday that clearly shows that people were not treated with basic human dignity or respect. As I said to the Deputy's colleague earlier, if this…

I thank Deputy Nash. The commitments I have made here do not depend on each other. If we do not reach a consensus on a European level, that will not prevent me and the Government from brining forward the occupied territories Bill legislation and enacting it. Any legislation needs to be brought to Government beforehand, so I am not going to get into the details of it but I have been very clear. I h…

I thank the Deputy. The footage we saw yesterday speaks to the Deputy's point. One thinks one cannot be shocked further when it comes to the actions of the Israeli Government but then we see further footage that shocks again and again. While we do not have a direct report as to whether or not any of our Irish citizens have been physically harmed, because the Israeli Government has not let us to ha…

I will work closely with Kaja Kallas, who is the High Representative and who chairs the meeting but who I will be working closely with throughout the Presidency, to ensure that the situation in the Middle East, in Gaza and in the West Bank, is firmly on the agenda and that a number of actions will be taken. Ireland will have to be a neutral arbiter as we are for any of the files or Councils that w…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. While I know he is specifically talking about somebody with cancer or a long-term illness and the implications for them and their families long term, this could apply to a number of different scenarios for people. As a country, how we treat those who are at their most vulnerable is a testament to who we are. It is a sign of who we are as a Government, as…

What we need to do is build on what we have and always try to improve the system. When we live in a country where our economy is growing strong because of the people the Deputy mentioned who have contributed to it for many years, we need to ensure that we are reinvesting in those people, our communities and our economy and, in particular, targeting those who need our help the most. I have no doubt…

The Presidency offers three key opportunities and three key priorities for me. I also acknowledge the role Garret FitzGerald played not only in this country, but also when it comes to our position and the benefits that we have seen from the European Union over many years. This Presidency offers an opportunity to restate that. I grew up in a time where I have only known the European Union with the …

The Deputy is right that it is about trying to get that balance. In every decision we take we have to think of our core European values, our fundamental principles and why we do what we do. It is to make life better for all of the people that we represent, our citizens in Ireland and across the EU. We have seen a lot of backsliding in certain countries. Elections are taking place at the moment and…

I was also concerned by the reports that I saw on the front of newspapers today. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who has informed me that the Department received the accounts for the CIÉ group only just this week and he has not had a copy at this stage. He will obviously read it and will have to take action or respond to what is in the report. I have spoken to the Deputy about this …

I have been asked twice this week to open a Passport Office in Northern Ireland, which could cost up to €6 million. We know that fewer than 500 citizens-----

-----are using a front desk at the moment.

I did not blame anybody.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. In the past week or two, we have seen the Go Purple Day but, more broadly, we should be talking all the time about how the number of women in particular coming forward who are victims of domestic and sexual violence is increasing year on year. In one way, I see it as a good thing because women are coming forward but the figures we are seeing are complete…

I cannot be any clearer in my view that Europe has not been strong enough. We have not responded effectively, and that is why we are where we are now. Ireland has not just woken up to this. At an EU level, we have consistently been advocating for the EU to step up and take a stronger stance. That is why we have been advocating - I have been doing so in the past few weeks - for the EU-Israel Associ…

This is an issue that my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has been actively pursuing. She is engaging in particular with the pharmacy associations. It has been the case that there were different charges being applied in terms of dispensing and the overall blister packs themselves. An unequal approach was being taken, depending on the pharmacy and its approach. The work the Ministe…

No one wants to hear of somebody of any age, let alone an 80-year-old person, having to go into homeless accommodation. It is important to stress that we have cost rental in place, which we did not have a few years ago. That is helping a lot of people. Without knowing the exact details of this case, perhaps there is an opportunity for the local authority to step in with the tenant in situ scheme. …

We all know as local representatives, because first and foremost, we are local representatives, how important it is that when we build new homes, we build new communities as well. It is not just about houses but about shops, community centres, recreational facilities, playing pitches, schools and all of the things we need to build a new community. It is important to get that right when we are deve…