I call for a debate with the Minister for Finance about creating tax incentives for people to live in the commuter belt areas of our cities. Such tax breaks could help to stop the brain drain we are experiencing. Many young people are leaving the country because they see no future for themselves here. Teachers, healthcare workers and people in traditional middle-class professions are struggling to build a life for themselves. Now we are educating people to go abroad. Many are going to places where housing is more affordable or they do not have to pay as much tax. Places such as Germany, Australia and the United Arab Emirates often appear more attractive than Ireland.

Many workers undertake long commutes that are very unappealing to them. Areas like Drogheda, Athy and Tullamore have housing for sale and rent that is more affordable than areas of Dublin. These areas have excellent rail infrastructure and could become more appealing if the Government was prepared to offer tax breaks to individuals. Any area that is a 50-minute commute from our larger cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick could be considered.

This could help revitalise local economies nationwide. Keeping high earners here via tax incentives would also provide councils with much-needed additional revenue. When so much of the money we take in from multinational corporations is indirect, it is essential we find ways to keep people in Ireland. Tax incentives like this exist in countries like Portugal and Italy. Some countries offer tax incentives to digital nomads to live in certain areas. Could the Government look at something similar?

The European Court of Justice case on Apple's tax bill is due for hearing at the end of May. With interest, this could be approximately €16 billion due to the Exchequer. At a time when the Government will be giving tax breaks to the developers keeping the cost of rent and property artificially high, could it also focus on helping to look after our young people, who are leaving in droves? Let us incentivise our people to stay in Ireland.

One such incentive is the announcement yesterday in relation to the vacant property refurbishment grant, which will now give people who own a derelict property up to €70,000 in grant support to bring that into productive use for themselves or another family. It is another important incentive introduced by Government to proactively engage with the owners of those properties to try to bring them back into use. That can be combined with the better energy support grant, meaning one can get nearly €100,000 in grant support to bring a derelict property back into use as a result of the decision made by Government yesterday, something that is promoting home ownership.

Another scheme in that vein is the help to buy scheme. That has helped over 38,500 individuals and families to get their foot on the ladder in recent years. All Opposition parties, bar none, want to abolish that essential support for young people to buy a home. Let us take a €300,000 house. At the moment, you can get a grant through Revenue of four years of tax you have paid to get €30,000. That is your deposit, 10% of the price of the home. If that scheme was abolished in the morning, what is the Opposition saying it would give young people in return? Opposition Members say they will give them one month’s rent, giving them €2,000 with one hand and taking €30,000 with the other. Even if you bought into their rhetoric that it would lower prices, let us take €30,000 off that €300,000 house. That is €270,000.

The Central Bank requires young people to have a 10% deposit, which is €27,000. What is their solution for that €27,000? The answer to that is “None”.

First, I second the proposed amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 21 be taken before No. 1.

The other issue I want to highlight is announcements this week by Western Sahara Resource Watch, which published its tenth in a row detailed annual overview of the companies involved in the purchase of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara. The illegally exported and exploited phosphate rock is one of the Moroccan Government's main sources of income from the territory, which it is holding without a mandate under international law. In 2022, a total of 23 vessels departed the territory with 1.23 million tonnes of phosphate rock. The practical doubling of global phosphate prices during 2021, as a consequence of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, means that Morocco's illegal exports are becoming increasingly lucrative. The exact income is not known because the exact prices are not known, but the data reveal that the price is substantially higher than the international market price. Western Sahara Resource Watch has estimated approximately that Morocco’s income from Western Sahara's phosphates could be as high as €655 million in the year 2022.

There is a call on all companies involved in this trade to immediately halt because Western Sahara is an occupied territory and has been internationally recognised as such. This territory is still awaiting a long-awaited referendum in respect of self-determination. Morocco does not have a mandate and we know that, much as in the case of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, under international trade law there should be no trading where there is not a mandate and where there is, in fact, an occupied territory.

In that regard, I ask that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment would ensure that at least we do what we can in Ireland by ensuring that goods from occupied territories are labelled as such, and that there is, for example, a business advisory to Irish companies that they should not engage in such trade because there is no legal basis for such trade.