On the issue raised by Deputy Micheál Martin concerning the murder of a servant of this State, Deputy Adams has volunteered to make a statement to the House. Will the Taoiseach agree to time being provided tomorrow for that to occur?

In the last few weeks we have been presented with a number of Supplementary Estimates covering a variety of Departments, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. By the time this Dáil rises for Christmas the Appropriations Bill will have been passed, as is required by law. In Ireland, we have many problems that this House seeks to address week in, week out but I am sure we are all agreed that around the world there are people in much worse situations as we approach Christmas. Wars are raging in Syria and Yemen and hundreds of thousands of people have become refugees, not to mention the thousands of people who have died as a result of war this year. Over the last couple of days we have had reports of 400,000 children at risk of famine in northern Nigeria in areas devastated by civil war and Boko Haram.

As a country, we pledged to provide 0.7% of national income in overseas development aid. In truth, we are not making much progress on that target. The Government claimed on budget day that an extra €10 million was provided for overseas development aid. It turns out, however, that this was just the minimum we had to provide to the EU development budget as part of our required overall contribution thereto. There was, in fact, no increase in the amount of money provided for Irish Aid, the distributor of Irish money provided in this year's budget.

In our worst days, the Taoiseach will recall that we managed to protect our overseas development aid expenditure. Some €40 million extra was provided last year but this year we have taken a step backwards. Our aid budget, as a percentage of our national income, will be less than 0.3% next year. It is falling.

Last week, we heard reports of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, assuring the Fine Gael parliamentary party that there was plenty of money in the coffers to recover the cost of refunding water charges, which I welcome. The Exchequer returns published last week confirmed that tax revenues and under-expenditure are sufficient to give breathing space to some expenditure. In that context, some increase in the latter weeks of this year for the Irish aid budget is appropriate. The Labour Party proposed in its alternative budget an increase of 5%, or €32 million, which is not an inordinately big sum. It is one that we can afford. Will the Taoiseach agree to increasing our aid budget by €32 million, a move that would not only attract widespread support in this House but also among the people?

There is no doubt about the sensitivity and truth of the issues the Deputy raises. I refer to war in Syria, the difficulties in Libya, the hundreds of thousands coming through the Horn of Africa from Somalia and other locations in northern Africa, the difficulties encountered in the many camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, and the difficulties in crossing the Mediterranean. I am quite sure the Deputy will join me in understanding what is in our own DNA in terms of humanitarian aid and the extraordinary work done by our Defence Forces personnel in rescuing over 14,000 men, women and children from the waters of the Mediterranean.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine assisted the World Food Programme extensively last year. There was an increase of €10 million given to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for humanitarian aid. This morning, the Government signed off on the Appropriations Bill and agreed all the ceilings, and the changes made in the last period have now been signed off on. I want the Deputy to understand that we remain completely committed to doing what we can as a small country with exhaustible financial resources with which to assist in humanitarian efforts where we can. That is recognised worldwide, as Deputy Howlin well knows. To echo Mark Twain, it seems as if the words of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, have been greatly exaggerated in respect of the third- or fourth-hand report that emanated from a meeting last week.

The Taoiseach's reply is profoundly disappointing. Our corporation tax receipts are nearly €1 billion higher this November than they were last November. The overall corporation tax take is €170 million higher than Revenue planned for this year. This is happening when war is raging across the Middle East and when famine is taking hold across Africa. As we know, Ireland is the headquarters for many corporations, providing European, Middle Eastern and African bases. We use the term EMEA but we forget what it means: companies operating out of Ireland paying tax here are making profits in the Middle East and Africa.

Ireland is doing well as a result. There is a moral case to be made that, as we approach Christmas, a small proportion of the windfall corporation tax from companies operating in areas affected by disasters should be used to give something back. Will the Taoiseach agree to allow this modest 5% increase from windfall taxes as a positive goodwill gesture at this time of year, which would be welcomed by all of the people?

The Appropriation Bill was signed off on this morning by the Cabinet. We have allocated €62 million in humanitarian aid to Syria, which represents a significant amount of money from Ireland. I note, in particular, the practical assistance given to families and the leadership demonstrated by the Dublin football manager, Mr. Jim Gavin, in travelling to Africa and also the development of new breeds of food crops for families in Kenya that yield six times more than indigenous crops. These are practical measures in using Irish scientific knowledge and experience to help families to improve their income and opportunities. We will, therefore, continue to focus on humanitarian aid. I will ask the Minister to look at the issue raised by Deputy Brendan Howlin, but to confirm, we did sign off this morning on the Appropriation Bill.