The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that Government is doing everything it can to facilitate the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand.
Emily is believed to have been abducted by Hamas and is likely being held in Gaza.
Leo Varadkar said Government was calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, which needs to be observed by all sides, along with the release of hostages.
Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald said entire Palestinian families have been wiped out in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
She said the “systematic dehumanisation and annihilation” of the Palestinian people is happening in front of the eyes of the world.
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Ms McDonald urged the Dáil to stand together to ensure Israel’s actions are not without consequence.
“The world was calling for a full permanent ceasefire,” she said.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure….that children are among the first to be released,” Mr Varadkar replied.
Mr Varadkar also told the Dáil that the Government cannot support an opposition motion calling for sanctions on Israel because it is not balanced and does not mention Hamas.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said his party had tabled the motion for debate tomorrow, calling for a tougher response to what he said was Isarel’s massacre in Gaza.
Mr Varadkar said neither Hamas nor human rights abuses committed against Israeli citizens merited a line in the motion and he said the Government would instead support its own countermotion.
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Mr Boyd Barrett also accused the Government of facilitating the US military to travel through Shannon airport when he said they were supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The Taoiseach said all foreign military aircraft require clearance from defence minister to travel through Shannon and he said they must be unarmed, and not engaging in intelligence gathering.
The People before Profit TD said the Government should not trust the word of US military and he said the planes should be searched.
‘Disgraceful campaign’
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has dismissed a Government “advertising campaign to highlight the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” as “disgraceful” and a “tone deaf marketing slogan”.
She condemned the spending of “€1.5m on this essentially false advertising campaign”.
“I shouldn’t need to remind you of this, but disability services are on their knees,” Deputy Cairns told the Taoiseach.
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“Rights are entirely notional. They exist on paper, and in Government advertising jingles, but not in reality.
“More than a third of posts in children disability network teams are vacant. In some teams, vacancy rates are more than 60%,” she added.
Deputy Cairns called on the Government to ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
“It was during my first term as Taoiseach that we ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities,” Mr Varadkar responded.
“And we’re not a country that just ratifies the convention and then moves on. We’re a country that makes sure that we’ve done what we need to do before we ratify a convention,” he said.
He acknowledged “a lot of shortcomings” in disability services, but insisted that “a lot of progress” has been made in some areas.
Approach to health service criticised
Sinn Féin’s Health Spokesperson has accused Government of continuing to have a reckless and chaotic approach to funding the health service.
David Cullinane said the service will still be short €500 million even after a revised estimate was given the green light by Government.
“This will carry forward as the first charge in 2024. None of the €1 billion provided is permanent funding so the underfunding for next year will be even greater. And all the while the recruitment embargo will continue as we approach a difficult and challenging winter,” he said.
The Cabinet agreed today to allocate an additional €960 million to the health service for this year, bringing the total fund to around €22.4 billion.
However, HSE boss Bernard Gloster warned politicians recently that the funding shortfall was around €1.5 billion.
The Department of Public Expenditure said the money allocated today would fund increased activity in the health service, particularly in the Acute Hospital Sector.
Contact in place for IP applicants
Mr Varadkar also told the Dáil that “a contract is now in place” to house 77 applicants for international protection in Killarney.
He was responding to Independent TD Michael Healy Rae, who welcomed the “factual” response, as there had been “uncertainty about that”.
But Deputy Healy Rae said that officials meeting with public representatives “is actually a waste of time because the deal is done, and the people are going into that property”.
He asked was it right that the decision had been made with no local input, and cited the case of an elderly woman living “right next door” who is “very worried” about the impact of this change.
Mr Varadkar said that there are 685 protection applicants living in Kerry, which is roughly 3% of applicants in a county which has roughly 3% of the population.
Additional reporting: Sandra Hurley
