The question is that the amendment to the Order of Business is hereby negatived and that the proposed arrangements for this week's business are hereby agreed to. Is that agreed?

Not agreed.

We are all waiting to see what will happen tomorrow with US tariffs. However, we know there are no winners in a trade war and that we should not see a knee-jerk reaction from the EU. At this point, we need cool heads. I was taken aback by what Paschal Donohoe had to say at the weekend when he asserted on RTÉ that Europe has to respond. We will not face down an erratic US Administration by copying it. We cannot, on the one hand, say that what Trump is doing is act of self-harm and then do the same in kind. The ESRI was very clear about tariffs and EU counter-tariffs: they both hurt the economy and both impact on jobs. Just as Trump's tariffs will be a tax on American people, EU tariffs would be a tax on Irish and EU people. We should not cut off our nose to spite our face. We need to prioritise Irish interests and protect jobs and workers and their families. Does the Taoiseach agree that talk of automatic counter-tariffs is premature and not in Ireland's interest at this stage?

I agree with the Deputy that tariffs are bad all round. Essentially, they represent a tax on people. They will be a tax on people's groceries and medication in the US. Europe will not respond prematurely or in a knee-jerk way. Europe will engage in a strategic response. The objective of the European Union's response will be to encourage the United States to the negotiating table in order to get a mitigation of whatever tariffs are announced tomorrow. No one is precisely sure how high these tariffs will be. It does make sense that there would be a negotiation to try to get a reasonable resolution. It will not be satisfactory to everybody but at least it could mitigate some of the damage that undoubtedly will be done as a result of the imposition of these tariffs.

It feels like every day we are seeing more horror around the world. At the weekend, we saw the appalling earthquake and loss of life in Myanmar. There is also the ongoing slaughter of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza and the continued bombardment of Ukraine by Russia. At this time, it is particularly concerning to see the rowing back across the world of aid programmes, with UNRWA under attack and, of course, with Donald Trump's cuts to USAID, which are triggering a global public health crisis. Even our nearest neighbour, Britain, is winding down aid budgets. How is the Government going to act to stem this growing trend? Can the Taoiseach provide a commitment that Irish Aid programmes will continue to be funded in an effective manner? We are all conscious that job losses are imminent in Irish Aid organisations as result of the USAID cuts. However, we need to ensure that our aid budgets remain robust. I ask for a commitment from the Taoiseach at this very worrying time.

Absolutely. We have a very strong aid programme that is conducted by Irish Aid and a number of well-established non-governmental organisations in this field. We will have to provide aid to the people of Myanmar following the earthquake. The slaughter in Gaza continues. We have been one of the biggest supporters of UNRWA; I believe we have provided about €58 million in core support to it. Our overall support to the people of Palestine since 2023 is over €71 million.

By any yardstick, and in comparison with anything that went before, it is a substantial aid programme for the people of Gaza and the West Bank. We are not forgetting Sudan. There is appalling violence in Sudan, and huge displacement of people, starvation and hunger. We also want a ceasefire in Ukraine. The evidence is that Russia does not seem to be up for a ceasefire right now. It is continuing to bomb and has put in belated conditions to the latest announcements around the potentiality of a ceasefire.

Since 2016, there has been an almost 70% increase in the number of aircraft permitted to bring weapons of war through Ireland or on Irish-registered aircraft. A significant number of flights carrying weapons destined for Israel have travelled through Irish airspace without permission. One would have to wonder, given the carte blanche that apparently exists in the relevant Department, why those flight operators did not simply apply for exemptions because the likelihood is that any such requests would immediately have been rubber-stamped. Since 2016, the Department has refused just 1% of the 9,848 applications it received. This is damning and represents a complete undermining of our neutrality. How can we be neutral when we facilitate the transfer of these weapons, many of which are destined to be dropped on densely populated areas of Gaza and which will annihilate the maximum number of innocent civilians. We have long called on this Government to do more than use strong words when it comes to the genocide in Gaza and to act instead. It turns out that it has been doing so by green-lighting weapons transfers. Will the Taoiseach indicate if he has concerns and if he intends to do anything about this?

Those are wrong assertions. It is important that the Deputy engages properly on the issue and finds out the facts.

They are the facts.

I will go through it here. I have just been on to the Department about the matter. It is not accurate at all that the increase is related to Gaza, and it is wrong to assert that. It is just plain wrong to assert that. Basically, the Department did see an increase in applications for exemptions from October 2023. However, these were representative of an increase in applications for Irish-registered civil aircraft operating outside the State.

The legislation applies to both-----

There was no connection to the United States military or to Israel. Correlations have been drawn between the initial Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and the increase in applications for exemptions from that month. The two are unrelated.

Applications for exemptions predominately fall into one of two categories, namely US civil air operators contracted to carry US military personnel with their unloaded, standard issue weapons, which require an exemption if they operate in Irish sovereign territory, or scheduled flights in Europe by Irish-registered aircraft operating outside Ireland. There was one particular case that has given rise-----

The legislation-----

That case has nothing at all to do with Gaza or America. People just deliberately jump to conclusions to paint the wrong picture about the objectives or intentions of the Government. That is wrong.