Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 28 May 2024

Vol. 1054 No. 7

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

At a Fine Gael press conference, the Taoiseach told reporters that as he canvasses around the country, he has heard too many examples of the bulk-buying of homes by wealthy property funds, but, of course, he already knew this was happening and that it is not happening by accident. Property funds bulk-buying family homes is a direct result of Government policy. Over a decade ago, Fine Gael rolled out the red carpet for these funds with sweetheart tax deals, and it has renewed that policy year after year, choosing repeatedly to value the interests of vulture funds over those of ordinary people looking to buy a home. That is exactly why these funds can push ordinary homebuyers out of the market and then rent these homes back to the same families at rip-off rents.

The stories of property funds snapping up family homes have hit the headlines over and over again. I have lost count of the number of times we have raised this greedy and damaging practice with the Government, so the Taoiseach should not have to go out on a canvass to be told how bad it is out there. He will recall that in January, a British fund bought up 46 of 54 homes in a new estate in Balgriffin. It then put these homes up for rent for extortionate rents of up to €3,000 a month, and this was not a once-off. According to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, over 4,200 homes were bought up by funds in 2021 and 2022 alone, and the Government's response to this has really been no response at all. New figures show the 10% stamp duty it introduced on bulk-buying of homes is failing. Since it introduced this measure, funds have snapped up hundreds of homes that should be available to workers and families. Far from being deterred, property funds, vulture funds, were, in fact, emboldened. Bulk-buying actually increased in the years after the Government introduced this measure. They know they can offset the stamp duty by charging sky-high rents.

After backing the property funds to the hilt and now, two weeks before an election, the Taoiseach says there are too many examples of funds buying up family homes. He also said he wants a review. The Taoiseach must think people have very short memories. The Government has had chance after chance to stop these funds in their tracks. When it introduced the 10% stamp duty, we told it that it was too low to act as a deterrent, but it did not listen. Four months ago, following the fiasco in Balgriffin, we brought forward a motion to stop property funds bulk-purchasing family homes but the Government voted it down, and we have repeatedly called on the Government to increase the stamp duty on bulk purchase to a level that will actually work. Only last week, however, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, told my colleague Pearse Doherty that he has no plans to increase the rate of stamp duty that vulture funds are charged for buying up homes, so that is the hard reality.

Tá cistí maoine saibhre fós ag ceannach tithe teaghlaigh ó shrón na ngnáthcheannaitheoirí tí. Ní mór don Rialtas anois rud éigin suntasach a dhéanamh faoi seo agus is é sin an rud atá daoine ag iarraidh.

The Taoiseach is talking about a review. I think that is simply spoof and spin. He might like to tell us what level of stamp duty he proposes as a deterrent, since his 10% is clearly failing.

The Taoiseach

I am grateful to have the opportunity to expand on this important issue because it is always important when it comes to housing - one of the biggest intergenerational challenges of our time - that the Government is willing to listen and to respond. Something we did not hear from the previous speaker is that we live in a country where every working day, we see so many homes being built, where so far this year every working day we see around 350 new homes being built and where every week around 500 young people and couples are buying their first home. It is a country where this year so far, more than 32,000 homes have commenced construction. Almost as many homes have commenced construction this year as did for the totality of the previous year. That is real progress that gives people who want to move out of the box room in their parent's house, and indeed parents who want their adult child to move out of the box room, real hope as well.

The issue of the bulk-buying and bulk-purchasing of houses is an issue I want to see further action on. As I said previously, it is clear from the Housing Commission report - which the Deputy lauded in the House last week before having an opportunity to read it - that we need both private and public investment in order to add to our housing stock. Even within that context, we cannot have a situation where the bulk purchase of homes needed for first-time buyers is allowed to continue unimpeded. The Government has already acted and it is important to acknowledge that. This is something that, again, did not get mentioned in the previous three minutes. The Government has already put in place both tax measures and planning measures to try to address this issue.

I am very clear; I want to take further measures. Just to be clear, that is exactly how I voted in the Dáil in January. It is exactly how Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party TDs voted in the Dail in January. When we voted, it was not to vote down the Deputy's motion, we voted for our motion. Our motion clearly said that the Government is committed to ensuring that newly-built houses are available to first-time buyers and owner-occupiers and that the Government will continue to examine how best we can achieve this. Therefore, the Government did not vote in the way the Deputy likes to describe.

My party, at our Ard-Fheis in recent weeks, also passed a motion calling on this party and me as its new leader to take further action in this situation as well. To be clear, it is Government policy to prevent the bulk purchasing of houses. The Government has already introduced a higher rate of stamp duty and we have already introduced new planning rules. The Government continuously monitors the situation to see if more needs to be done.

For some context, the higher stamp duty rate has applied to less than 1% of residential property transactions between May 2021 and the end of 2023. We also saw the Minister for housing introduce section 28 guidelines in 2021. This aims to provide an owner-occupier guarantee by ensuring that new own-door houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors in a manner that causes displacement of individual purchasers or social and affordable housing, including cost-rental. What the figures already show is that the introduction of these guidelines to December 2023 has resulted in more than 40,000 homes granted planning permission with conditions prohibiting the bulk purchase by or multiple sale to a single purchaser. The Government has acted, it will take further action, but let us not misrepresent the Government's position at all. I know why the Deputy wishes to distract from the positive housing figures we have seen because the Deputy has never seen a challenge she does not wish to exploit, misinform or misdirect people on.

Deputy Paschal Donohoe

Yes, absolutely

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

I am astonished therefore. If what the Taoiseach is saying is accurate why is it that out on the canvass the Taoiseach hears so much about this?

The Taoiseach

That is not accurate.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

If the Government's response has been so effective, how is it that the Taoiseach hears these accounts of vulture funds snatching up family homes when out on the canvass?

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

Hear, hear.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

Are the people on the ground wrong as well? We live in a country where we have sky-high housing prices, sky-high rents, and record homelessness. Young people and their parents are frankly in despair. The Government's housing policy is not working and the Taoiseach should do a little bit more canvassing if he doubts me-----

The Taoiseach

In Boston.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

-----and he will find that I am reflecting the truth on the ground to him. The Government introduced the 10% stamp duty and, in fact, far from the number of bulk purchases falling, it actually accelerated year on year. I have the figures to hand. They were given to me by my colleague, Deputy Doherty, who received them by means of a response to a parliamentary question. The number of bulk purchases has trebled, quadrupled between 2021 and 2023. The Taoiseach said he wants a review and he wants to take further action. Here is an action the Government needs to take. A stamp duty rate of 10% is not a deterrent. What level will the Government set the stamp duty at to be a real deterrent and stop these vulture funds in their tracks?

Deputies

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach

It is entirely possible, although it might be a new one on Deputy McDonald, to be able to report progress in an area of societal challenge and still wish to do more in that area. I travel around the country, as I am sure does the Deputy, most of the time anyway. As she travels around the country, I am sure she sees plenty of examples of new homes being built. I am sure she knocks on the doors of people who have moved into new homes. I am sure she probably meets hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have benefited from schemes that for some bizarre reason she is against. Any first-time buyer watching this debate today, or the parent of a first-time buyer who has availed of the help to buy scheme, which the Deputy would abolish, whereby they get thousands of euro of their own money back, knows they would not have been able to save for a deposit without that scheme.

As I travel around the country, I see lots of progress when it comes to housing. I now know that there are 350 new homes being built in this country every single working day. Five hundred people a week are buying their first home. More than 32,000 homes have been built already.

Deputy Thomas Gould

There are 4,000 children homeless.

The Taoiseach

We still wish to do more. Fewer than 1% of residential property transactions saw the higher rate of stamp duty. I want to see more. I want to see it reviewed. The Government intends to review it in the context of the budget.

Deputy Holly Cairns

Every week, I think we have witnessed the limits of human cruelty and depravity when it comes to Israel's genocide in Gaza. Each week, I am proven wrong. Israel's missile strike on Sunday evening on a tented refugee camp in Rafah was not just a despicable human rights violation; it was depraved and inhumane. On Sunday night, displaced men, women and children cowering in tents were deliberately burned alive. One man, who was pictured in the aftermath, held the badly burned body of his beheaded baby in his arms. I say this not to be graphic or to shock, but because we have to talk about the reality of the hell on earth in Gaza. What we are witnessing is mass murder by a rogue government that flouts international law and ignores rulings from international courts.

Israel's military initially described the missile strike as precise. Later, when even Israel's biggest cheerleaders expressed horror, Netanyahu said it was a tragic error, just like the tragic error last month that led to missile strikes on an aid convoy, killing seven aid workers. Is there anyone who still believes that the enormous death toll in Gaza is an error? It is abundantly clear that civilian deaths are not just acceptable to the Israeli Government; they are deliberate.

Yesterday, as civilians in Rafah searched through ashes for the dismembered remains of their loved ones, the EU issued a press statement about sanctions. In fact, it issued two statements about sanctions but they were not directed at Israel. They were about Russia. The EU has set up another sanctions regime to target Russia. Russian war crimes are rightly condemned and sanctioned by the EU but Israeli war crimes are not just ignored; they are facilitated by the EU through the sale of arms and preferential trading. Some have referred to the meeting of EU foreign ministers yesterday as being a hopeful sign that the EU apathy is ending. Frankly, it is outrageous that it took until yesterday and more than 36,000 deaths in Gaza for sanctions on Israel to even be discussed in a serious way. The EU has disgraced itself through its callous inaction and ambivalence in Gaza. EU leaders complicit in this carnage, like Ursula von der Leyen, should be ashamed.

I welcome that today we will formally recognise the State of Palestine and that finally, the Palestinian flag will fly on the grounds of Leinster House. Symbolism and solidarity are important. However, what we really need are punitive sanctions on Israel here and at EU level. Why will the Government not take that action against Israel, introduce the occupied territories Bill and at least give me the new legal advice I was promised last week but still have not received? The Government should not vote for the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen and should remove the diplomatic status of the ambassador.

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this very important issue. Like her, I too welcome the fact that today Ireland will recognise the State of Palestine. It is a significant moment, an historic moment and an important moment to recognise that you cannot have a two-state solution without recognising two states.

Also, I hope to create a positive momentum towards more countries now recognising the State of Palestine. I know that there are others actively considering it and today I repeat my calls to them to join us through their national processes in the coming weeks.

I am very much aware that we recognise the State of Palestine today against a backdrop that is almost unimaginable and is utterly unconscionable in terms of the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in Gaza, in Rafah and the region. Children are being starved and hunger is being used as a weapon of war. This country has been calling for an immediate and sustainable humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for many, many months. We are now seeing children starving and children going to bed not knowing if they will wake up. What we are also now seeing is a new, despicable trend where every now and then, amid the backdrop of death, maiming, injury and pain, an event of particular horror takes place and then the Israeli Prime Minister emerges and apologises for what he terms a "tragic mistake". April's "tragic mistake" was the bombing of aid workers providing food to starving Gazans. May's "tragic mistake" was the bombing of displaced children, parents and families who had fled to a designated safe zone in truly appalling scenes. Imagine taking one's children to somewhere that one believes they will be somewhat safe only to have that very place of refuge bombed and then to have the apology for a "tragic mistake". The question the world, including Ireland, Europe and the United States, must now ask itself is what June's "tragic mistake" will be and much more importantly, what are we going to do to stop it?

As I have consistently said, including at the April meeting of the European Council, there is an onus on every country and on the European Union to use every lever at its disposal to help bring about a ceasefire. It is not enough to just condemn, to find it repugnant or to be repulsed. There is a need for action and that is why I warmly welcome the decision of the Belgian Presidency yesterday, belatedly, to convene a meeting on the EU-Israel association agreement. This country - and there is a political consensus here on this - and Spain have been calling, since March, for the association agreement, which is effectively a trade benefit agreement, to be reviewed. Contained within that are human rights clauses but such clauses are not there for padding. They are not there to make the agreement longer or because they are nice to have. They are there and they have meaning and that meaning must be adhered to as well.

Everyone needs to look at all levers at our disposal. I have answered previously the question in relation to the occupied territories Bill and I will share more information in relation to that with the Deputy. The way to address this issue is through, at an EU-level, the association agreement and the review of that.

Deputy Holly Cairns

The rhetoric is great-----

Deputy Simon Harris

It is not rhetoric.

Deputy Holly Cairns

I am blue in the face acknowledging it but what we are asking for is action that is proportionate. The Taoiseach is talking about wanting the EU to use every lever available to it and that is precisely what I am asking him to do. There are actions we can take as a sovereign State, while the EU has not come round to the very obvious breach of the human rights clauses in the EU-Israel trade agreement. Months ago the Taoiseach's predecessor, Deputy Varadkar, wrote to Ursula von der Leyen seeking a review of the EU-Israel trade agreement and she did not even reply to the letter. She is someone who gave Israel her unqualified support for its war crimes and yet the Taoiseach is happy to recommend the re-election of this person as the European Commission President. Does he really think that Fine Gael MEPs and candidates in the European election are representing their voters on this issue?

When international institutions fail, it is up to independent states to take a stronger stance. The Taoiseach said that his Government cannot introduce the occupied territories Bill because of legal advice which he promised to show us last week but which we have not seen yet. What of the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill? What of the diplomatic status of the Israeli ambassador? What about all of these levers that are available to the Taoiseach? He is calling the EU out and saying that it is not using the levers available to it but what is he going to do about the things that are available to him now?

Deputy Simon Harris

I am not calling the EU out. We are part of the EU. We joined it, are members of it and are around the table. What I am doing every single day with colleagues across Government, including the Tánaiste, is working at a European level to help bring about the actions that need to happen. Europe has not covered itself in glory in relation to this humanitarian catastrophe. I am very clear in relation to that. Mistakes have been made. Condemnation is not enough. There needs to be clear action. It has been the position of this country and one other member state, Spain, since the month of March, that the association agreement should be reviewed. We saw yesterday that there is now growing support for that position.

These things do not happen by accident. They happen through the diplomatic and political efforts of this country and we will keep that up. We intend to continue to engage. We are taking practical actions every day whether it is delivering humanitarian aid, whether it is engaging with Palestinian counterparts, whether it is talking to people in the region, whether it is the Tánaiste attending the meeting of Arab and EU states yesterday or whether it is working with Norway and Spain to recognise the State of Palestine.

I do not believe in expelling ambassadors because I believe you keep the lines open even with countries you vehemently disagree with. However, I take grave offence at how our ambassador was treated in Tel Aviv. It is not right to parade ambassadors in front of television cameras and video them while they watch horrific films. We would never do that to an ambassador in this country.

Deputy Cathal Berry

I raise the issue of road safety, especially in advance of the bank holiday weekend. Fatality statistics are trending in the wrong direction again, which is unfortunate and sad. At the last count, there were already 79 fatalities this year, which is ten more than the same period last year. We know what the reasons are for these things. We know it is driver behaviour, speeding, driving under the influence, being distracted by mobile phones and sometimes weather conditions, but one factor that is never really mentioned is the pre-hospital medical trauma system. Will a functioning pre-hospital trauma system reduce the number of collisions? No, but it would certainly mitigate the downstream consequences and improve viability, survivability and outcomes.

Ireland is fortunate to have two helicopters on station at the moment, one in Cork and one in Athlone. They provide a very good service at paramedic and advanced paramedic level within their scope of practice. Those two services have saved hundreds of lives since they were conceived a number of years ago but Ireland is unusual and an outlier in that we do not have an multidisciplinary medical team on board these helicopters, specifically consultant anaesthetists and consultant emergency medical physicians. We have paramedics and advanced paramedics, but not full multidisciplinary teams. All the international evidence suggests that when a multidisciplinary team is put together, there are far better outcomes. The reason is simple. They would be much more capable of doing advanced interventions at the roadside or at the point of injury. I am talking about intubation, advanced resuscitation and blood transfusion. Wales has six of these helicopter emergency medical system, HEMS, teams. Northern Ireland has two of them but this jurisdiction has none. Would the Taoiseach be prepared to meet a group of consultant physicians, listen to them and hear their arguments for upgrading our pre-trauma helicopter medical service so that we can all work together to reduce the number of fatalities on our roads? If he would be happy with that meeting, on top of it, will he task the HSE to look at the proposal to see whether it is viable and whether we can end the carnage taking place on our motorways and other roads?

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Berry for raising this important issue. I absolutely will take that meeting. We would benefit greatly from that expertise and listening to those individuals. I am happy to do that.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of road safety as we face into another bank holiday weekend. Everyone needs to be conscious of what are called the killer behaviours that can take place on Irish roads. The Government and I, working with the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and the Ministers, Deputies Ryan and McEntee, have put particular emphasis on road safety in recent weeks. We have met the Road Safety Authority, RSA, and An Garda Síochána to hear what more they can do urgently to address the issue. Following that meeting, we agreed a number of immediate measures that could be put in place, including further public awareness campaigns and increased expenditure on them, which people want and expect to see more of on their TV screens and hear on their radio stations, increasing public awareness of enforcement plans by An Garda Síochána, steps to resolve the suspension of data sharing between the RSA and local authorities and investment to deliver safety improvements on our roads. I also convened and chaired a meeting of the Government's ministerial road safety committee to ensure early progress on these issues and other responses to the recent increase in road deaths. This is in addition to the Road Traffic Bill 2024 brought forward by the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, which was passed by the Dáil on 6 March and the Seanad on 11 April and is due to be signed into law shortly. The Bill deals with a number of issues.

As the Deputy said, aeromedical services are a highly effective means of reaching patients in remote areas and in vital situations where road ambulances would be incapable of achieving an effective or a timely response. I am very aware of the calls for multidisciplinary teams on board. This has been raised on a number of occasions.

It is important to say that in terms of consultant-led HEMS response, the HSE National Ambulance Service, NAS, provides two consultant-led HEMS responses in Ireland, both of which the Deputy mentioned, with additional aeromedical support from the Irish Coastguard. Both HEMS responses provide fast access to life-saving pre-hospital emergency care interventions at the scene by highly-trained advanced paramedics. The focus on HEMS in Ireland is on providing rapid access for patients to the most appropriate clinical care but this is an area in which we should seek to do more. We should examine our responses and we should be willing to listen to new ideas. I am, therefore, very pleased to inform the Deputy that the HSE’s NAS is now about to commence a feasibility study of physicians crewing on the NAS HEMS aircraft next month with the trial expected to last around four months. This trial will see the NAS affiliated emergency medicine consultants with considerable experience in pre-hospital emergency medicine undertaking a number of rotations per week on each of the HEMS aircraft alongside advanced paramedics. The NAS will then evaluate the information gathered from the trial to determine the clinical competencies best suited for the HEMS service and how best to deploy these in the future to support optimal clinical outcomes for patients. I very much look forward to taking that meeting and hope that this trial gives us some good information.

Deputy Cathal Berry

That is better than I was expecting; I thank the Taoiseach for the response. I also thank him for agreeing to meet the physicians. The feasibility study is a very positive development.

Reducing the number of fatalities on our roads would be a sufficient reason for this system but I see my constituency colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, across the Chamber and am minded that this is not just about roads. From a farming perspective, there are many trauma incidents with machinery on farms and also on building sites all across rural Ireland. Therefore it is not just confined to our roads. We need to get this system up and running as soon as possible. I urge the Taoiseach to move towards implementation as soon as the feasibility study is complete.

The Taoiseach

I am conscious that I am sitting beside a colleague and a friend, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who knows all too well how that life-saving service made a massive difference to her own daughter, Tara’s life. This is a service that everyone in Ireland really values. It does absolutely incredible work. We live in a country that is small in geographic size but is in someway vast in terms of the remote ways in which our emergency services endeavour to respond to people in real time at a time we know both response times and the clinical competencies at the scene can make an absolutely incredible difference to the clinical outcomes and, indeed, the life of an individual. I am really pleased that this is an issue that is being taken very seriously by the health service and NAS. I am really encouraged, on foot of inquiring into this, to find out about this new feasibility study where physicians will be crewing the HEMS aircraft from next month for four months and there will be rotation and an opportunity to learn from that. It is not just a trial to see if there is benefit to doing this but more specifically to identify the clinical competencies going forward. I look forward to taking the meeting with the physicians and thank them for reaching out.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

Fillfidh mé ar cheist na Palaistíne. Cuirim fáilte roimh chinneadh an Rialtais aitheantas a thabhairt don Stát mar stát neamhspleách. Is céim chun cinn é sin ach tá gá le briathra eile agus le réimse leathan gníomhartha a dhéanamh anois chun beart a dhéanamh de réir ár mbriathar.

I am returning to Palestine. It is difficult to talk, actually with the images on our television screens night after night. It is clear that Israel is out of control. The government and the army is out of control and they are acting with impunity. I welcome the Taoiseach’s very good decision. It is a proud day for Ireland and today the Palestinian flag is raised. I welcome that but it has taken too long. It has taken the deaths of 36,500 people, the vast majority women and children. It has taken their deaths – and there have been more deaths today – for us to do the most basic thing that we have promised for years: to recognise the State of Palestine. In recognising that state, we must then decide what steps we will take to give meaning to that because we need to give meaning to that decision. We have taken that decision, and I am praising the Taoiseach for it, but it was taken following the protests on the ground over and over.

There is a sense of outrage and upset. On any given day, Deputies in this Dáil were receiving up to 10,000 emails telling us to do something to act. While we have acted to a certain extent now, through recognition, I would like for the Taoiseach today, either in response to me or later, to outline what precise steps he will take to make that meaningful.

The most meaningful number of steps are: to stop the troops and the arms from going through Shannon Airport; to enact the occupied territories Bill; to stop trading with Israel; to have sanctions against Israel; and to recognise that it is completely out of control. We need to reflect on why it has taken us this long because we are also part of the bloodshed that is happening in Palestine. This is in our name because we have refused to act following various reports and decisions.

Amnesty International told us quite some time ago that the system is apartheid, and Israel was running an apartheid regime. We ignored it when six human rights organisations were classified as “terrorist”. We ignored many other things, including the fact that as far back as 2015 the International Criminal Court, ICC, started a preliminary investigation into crimes that Israel was committing. From 2015, slowly and methodically, the chief prosecutor built up a case to the point at which she opened a formal investigation. Her successor is now following up on that by issuing arrest warrants. Can you imagine? Arrest warrants have been issued for the Prime Minister of Israel, his defence minister and the three leaders of Hamas. That has followed years of slowly and methodically building up a case, while we did nothing. We did absolutely nothing other than say words. In fact, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, told us we were very good on rhetoric and not on action. In the month-----

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

I will finish. In the month after 7 October, the General Secretary of the United Nations told us that Gaza was becoming a graveyard for children and that the nightmare in Gaza was more than a humanitarian crisis; it was a crisis of humanity. Yesterday, he affirmed that there was no safe place in Gaza, demanding that the horror must stop.

I apologise for going over time.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Palestine and the horrific humanitarian catastrophe that continues to unfold. I acknowledge her welcome for the fact that this is a proud day for Ireland in recognising the State of Palestine. I also recognise that this is very much something on which the people have led. I very much hear that as I go around the country as I meet people. People I have met have respectfully, forcefully and passionately put forward their view that Ireland must act. Not to be disagreeable, but the only point on which I slightly disagree with the Deputy is when she says it has taken too long. It has always been the position of this Government, previous Governments and many governments across the EU and in other parts of the world that the recognition of a two-state solution would come as part of a peace process.

What we have actually done is change the order. In many ways, we are recognising the State of Palestine at a time a comprehensive, sustainable, just peace settlement looks to be further away than ever. We are doing so because we have to keep that destination alive because others are literally seeking to bomb it into oblivion. My sense from my engagement with people in the region, counterparts in the region and those at an EU level, is that the actions that Ireland, Spain and Norway have taken today will have a positive effect that will go beyond just our own recognition. For example, more EU member states are considering doing the same. A number have publicly indicated their wish to do the same in the weeks ahead. Is it possible that we can get to a point during the course of this year that a majority of member states of the European Union will recognise the State of Palestine, or that a majority of prime ministers and presidents at the European Council will recognise the existence of the State of Palestine? What will that do for positive momentum and change in policy and approach?

Ireland, by any objective standard, has been extraordinarily proactive on this. I pay tribute to the Tánaiste, our diplomats, my own Department, my predecessor, and so many others who have done much work in this area, such as by supporting the work of the ICJ when others somewhat seek to undermine it; by providing additional funding in a practical way to help the work and investigations; by increasing humanitarian aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, when others sought to distance themselves from it. These are all practical measures that we have taken.

When it comes to the occupied territories Bill, the clear legal advice to the Government is, and consistently has been, that this legislation would not be compatible with EU law.

Therefore, the way we need to advance this is at European level. The decision yesterday of the Belgian Presidency on a meeting on the Israel-EU association agreement is significant; I genuinely believe it is significant. The practical measures that we now intend to take are to continue at every single forum because, ultimately, the result of success or not for everybody in the world is a cessation of violence, and anything that does not bring that about will prove to have been ineffective.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

We have come to the point where we are recognising the State of Palestine, where there is very little left to recognise except the determination of the Palestinian people. Palestine has been bombed practically out of existence. The International Court of Justice last week issued a very strong order and Israel completely ignored that. Over the weekend, they dropped a 2,000 lb bomb supplied by the US - our friends, of course - and I understand a British air force Shadow spy plane was flying overhead at the time. Since that order, over the weekend, 200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been murdered - I use the word “murdered” - by Israeli bombing in several areas throughout Gaza. It is glaringly obvious that the whole purpose is genocide and to eradicate the Palestinian people.

I did not join the call for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled and on the last occasion that I spoke, I said it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to stand by that decision. This is a woman, an ambassador, who is threatening us on trade, who is openly using our airways to threaten us, doing exactly, as outlined yesterday in The Guardian, what Mossad did in relation to the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. It is time for us to act. The most basic thing is not to support von der Leyen, who from day one said she would stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. That would be one obvious thing.

The Taoiseach

It is the clear position of President von der Leyen that she wishes to see an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East. That is the clear position of Ursula von der Leyen, although Deputy Pringle can shake his head if he wishes. It is the clear position of the conclusions of the April European Council; I was at it and the Deputy was not there.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

She gave the green light for the genocide.

The Taoiseach

The ability of Irish people to not be misinformed or misdirected on the position of the European Council, including the President of the European Commission, is important because there is enough misinformation out there at the moment. We need to see an immediate ceasefire and we need to see practical actions to help bring that about. What I have said on behalf of Ireland at the European Council, what I have said this morning, what I will say this evening, what I will say everywhere and in every forum, as will the Government, is that we must now use every lever at our disposal to bring about that environment. It is not enough to just call for a ceasefire. We have to see what can be done to put pressure on to make that a reality. That is why it has been the position of Ireland since March that the association agreement, the trade benefit agreement, should be reviewed. I am pleased to see others join us in that call. That needs to happen because I am not ready to stand idly by and wait for Netanyahu’s apology for the tragic mistake of June, as he continually does now when particular horrors emerge on our television screens and radio stations. This is an extraordinarily, horrifically difficult situation and I do not even think that the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe is fully understood. I want the people of this country to know that the Government is doing everything it possibly can to voice its concerns and its views in every forum. We are taking a very practical step in recognising the State of Palestine today to give hope to the Palestinian people at their darkest hour. I know that is really appreciated and means a lot to people in Palestine today.