Simon Harris

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I want to acknowledge at the outset, because it is true, that people in this country are still finding the cost of living a very significant issue. I know that, the Deputy knows that and there is not a TD in Dáil Éireann who is not aware of that in their own community and from their own constituency work. I want to be clear the Government is taking action…

The Deputy is accusing me of saying things that I never said. Nobody suggested here that anyone is patting themselves on the back. What I did for the people watching at home was push back against the Deputy's misinformation and disinformation that the Government is not taking action on the cost of living. People know the record of this Government in helping them through the past number of years. T…

That is why they voted to put a centrist Government back in office.

I thank the Deputy for highlighting what is the biggest domestic emergency we face in this country - the issue of housing. It is nowhere more acute than when it comes to children. We are united on that. I have huge respect for the Ombudsman of Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, for the work of his office and his independence. Both of the parties in government established this structure because it is goo…

I wish the assure the Deputy that it is. I also assure him that I am aware of the mountain that needs to be climbed to where we need to get to. We will give consideration very much to how we take forward the views of the Ombudsman for Children, whether that is through bespoke strategies or reflected in specific actions in the new housing plan. He is not wrong regarding the need for a renewed focus…

They are not going to Gaza.

That was quite an extraordinary attempt to suggest that the country in the European Union, which has done more for and in standing by the people of Palestine is somehow or other complicit in an illegal, despicable genocide that is taking place.

There you go. You said it now. The mask slips very quickly with you, Deputy.

The way this place works is that the Deputy asks a question and then I have the right to answer. It is a democracy, so I ask that my mandate be respected too because I would like to answer the question. Surely to God, it does not need to be the case in everything that the Deputy is morally superior than everyone over here. Surely to God, sometimes we can actually recognise that it does not matter…

I would like to know because it is by all of us coming together that we will create the momentum that Netanyahu's genocide cannot be tolerated. What the Deputy said about Shannon Airport is an attempt to conflate a number of issues. It is an attempt to suggest somehow or other that Shannon Airport is being used to assist with the horrific activity in Gaza. There is no evidence of that at all. I a…

Thank you for explaining it.

The people of Palestine know we are standing up for them. Deputy Coppinger might not want to acknowledge or appreciate that. The Palestinian ambassador wrote to Sligo County Council in the past week and said Ireland's commitment to international law and human rights will always be seen and commended by the Palestinian people. Every effort by the Government of Ireland to stop Israel's genocide and…

Hang on a second. It is hard to keep up with the Deputy.

I would like to use the 32 seconds available to me. It is hard to keep up with the Deputy's logic. The Palestinian ambassador has written-----

-----to thank the people and Government of Ireland. Funnily enough, I attach a greater value to her view, as the representative of the people of Palestine, than I do to the Deputy's view on behalf of the people of Palestine.

She represents them. That is how it works. She is their representative in this country. We made her an ambassador by recognising the State of Palestine. On the occupied territories Bill, let me be clear. There are legal issues about services. We will tease through them and, if we can make progress on them that is what we intend to do, but we need other countries to move. If this is not about perf…

When I heard the Deputy would be asking a question today I did not have to ask what topic it was likely to be about. I want to acknowledge that, probably more than any other Member, he raises this issue on a very consistent basis. I acknowledge he is a passionate advocate for those with rare diseases. I thank him for the focus he is keeping on that. I know he has had good engagement with the Minis…

I thank the Deputy for referencing Les Martin, a person I know well from County Wicklow and somebody who has done incredible advocacy work in relation to this based on the lived experience of his two sons. I thank Les for that work too. The points Deputy O'Sullivan makes are fair. The Minister has rightly reminded me that she is committed to a root-and-branch reform and examination of all the var…

If the Deputy wants to talk about the type of people his party commemorates, here is a photo of his party chair with a member of Hamas. Get over yourself, giving me a history lecture. Here he is - Declan Kearney meeting the leader of Hamas. I think your man from Hamas is dead but Declan Kearney is still here. The Deputy should not lecture me considering the sort of people his party hangs around w…

We do not need any revisionism from him. It is part of his party's support for terrorist organisations across the world-----

-----that has stalled the developments of peace and the release of hostages, who we need to see released.

On the GPO, I will first say this. The Deputy's party welcomed the publication of the Dublin city centre task force report, which the recommendation he is now criticising was in. Maybe he should read the documents in future. Second, the GPO is always going to be preserved under this plan as the historic cultural institution it is.

The GPO is also a massive complex. Let us read the report.

It is not shameful at all.

In relation to Kathleen Lynn------