It cannot be lost on us what we have done here today, in terms of adapting Leaders' Questions to deal with this issue. I commend the Government Chief Whip on allowing this today. I cannot remember a precedent for this, given all the crises we have had before. It was right to do it but it shows that this House can act, adapt and be flexible. I have to bring the Tánaiste back to the occupied territories Bill. In my time in this House, I have often had promises that Bills are going to be brought about in a particular …

In light of that, would the Tánaiste be confident it will be before the end of November?

Okay. We will have it before the end of November.

At least that is something. Is there any update on the potential suite of measures the Taoiseach announced at the UN General Assembly, to include sanctions on the travel of Israeli Ministers? Has anything new been put in place? If not, when will they be put in place and what exactly is the full extent of such new sanctioning measures?

I do not want to go over the answer with regard to vessels, observational vessels and individuals, in terms of going as far and being turned back, but we have the flotilla continuing. This could happen again and again. Is the Tánaiste open to engaging with like-minded EU states to come up with contingency plans for the protection, observation - whatever you want to call it - or engagement for humanitarian aid flotillas, or something that might continue into the future? Is he open to coming up with something a bit m…

I was in the defence committee this morning discussing the maritime security strategy. Within that came our capabilities, and we know the issues in relation to naval vessels. We do have legacy expertise in the Mediterranean neighbourhood through Operation Pontus and working with EU partner states on that. We can act and we do have expertise in our Defence Forces and Naval Service to do that. On the piracy and the kidnapping and detention of Irish citizens, the Tánaiste says he is open to practical solutions or idea…

Would it be fair to say that the Tánaiste and Government have an appetite?

In the spirit of the worker's voice on this, we have seen the action in Italy with workers' solidarity, which has been called for for a couple of weeks. The Labour Party has the Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025. Would the Tánaiste support, at least in principle, the idea that workers in this country who refuse to handle, store or provide carriage of settlement goods - I have kept it at goods for this particular Bill - would be protected under the Unfair Dismissals Act from han…

Finally, on the transport of weapons through Irish airspace, we know, as Deputy Murphy said in his contribution earlier, that these end up going into the Department of Transport investigations black hole. Will the Tánaiste please commit to this House, and this is small, that he will ask the Department of Transport to expedite these investigations, to publish results, and to change and improve how it conducts these investigations, because they are a matter of the utmost seriousness with regard to the integrity of ou…

The greatest ally genocide has is those who choose not to call it out when they see it. Over the weekend, I saw a commentary about whether there is the need for these statements on Gaza and, indeed, yesterday's statements on the flotilla. Some people in this country were questioning whether we should have these statements at all, considering the issues our own country faces. To those people I say: remember our own history. When the violence on this island came to an end, we required the assistance of other countrie…

The motion is not unimportant but it is a symbol of support. The flotilla itself is also a symbol but it is much more; it is actual action. It is an action towards developing and delivering a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, something which the international community has failed to do. If successful, it would be a counterbalance to the abhorrent Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as set up by Israel and the United States. We know an awful lot about turning symbols into action in this country. When South Africa was under…

I endorse the calls of Deputy Paul Murphy for an Irish representative on the legal observer post for the Global Sumud Flotilla. It is well within the tramlines of diplomatic action that we would do that. I raise with exasperation and desperation the case of Barry Corcoran in my constituency. In 2019 Barry wanted to take part in a deep retrofit pilot programme. He did his due diligence, checked the SEAI register for approved companies and picked a company from that list. Unfortunately, when the company began the wor…

There are swathes of people raising families in a rental system that was never designed for long-term living, with the inflationary impact of increased rental costs. The average industrial wage in this country is just over €50,000, but the average rental price in Dublin is over half the industrial wage. If we take into account all the cost-of-living increases, particularly relating to food, they have been well discussed. We have brought forward motions in relation to this. My colleague, Deputy Nash, has done great …

It was not my initial intention to raise this as a priority question this morning but I am glad of the opportunity. It relates to the pension entitlements of deceased Defence Forces officer Peter Flood and transferring those to entitlements to his widow.

The reason I raise the issue - the family understand and have been informed of the circumstances by the Defence Forces - is that the individual in question left school after his communion, had no formal education and, in the words of his own family, had severe literacy issues. He found sanctuary in the Defence Forces. He served there for 22 years and had multiple tours of Lebanon. He was a proud Defence Forces member and was always sure and had told his family that if anything happened him, his beautiful wife and h…

I thank the Tánaiste. I will not delve too much further into the details of this. I look forward to his more detailed response and anything the Department of Social Protection can do. I will come back through him if I believe there are any further avenues we can pursue.

I am sure that the Taoiseach will join all of us in sending our thoughts to the communities of Donabate and Portrane with the breaking news that remains have found in the search for poor Daniel Aruebose. I want to return to what we raised at the Business Committee last Thursday, which is a commitment from the Taoiseach at the earliest possible convenience to have a debate on Gaza, with the measures that are now being discussed in Europe and the fact that a detailed memo was apparently brought to Cabinet this mornin…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an occupying power within occupied territory; and to provide for related matters. This is a two-part Bill.…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Speaking to members of the community who were around in the first Pride and subsequent Prides, the movement was rooted in protest, demonstration and anger. We are here tonight in that spirit with regard to transgender healthcare. I want to read two things. My colleague, Deputy Wall, referred to how we were bottom of the list in Europe with regard to transgender healthcare. In the 2020 programme for Government, the Government's commitment was to: Create and implement a general health policy for Trans people, based o…