This evening in the Dáil, my Sinn Féin colleagues will move a motion calling on the Government to recommit to a 50% contribution to the redevelopment of the A5 road. Anyone who knows the north west or has to travel it knows how notorious and dangerous a stretch of road the A5 is.

Tragically, the significant loss of life over several years on this road has devastated families and communities. The people behind the Enough is Enough campaign are to be hosted in Leinster House today. In this regard, I encourage colleagues to attend a briefing hosted by Deputy Pearse Doherty at 4 p.m. in the audiovisual room. The name Enough is Enough says it all. It is time for the Government to recommit to the 50% stake in the redevelopment of the A5. We can all agree that the most important thing is the effort to save lives and improve safety on this stretch of road. The road is important as infrastructure that connects the oft-neglected and forgotten north west with the rest of Ireland and makes it easier for people to visit, commute to work and go about their daily lives in a much more safe and connected way. I encourage people to attend the briefing at 4 p.m. and urge their colleagues to support the motion that will be debated in the Dáil this evening.

The Leader will know that I have been calling for some time for statements on the situation in Palestine. Senator Black and others across the Chamber have joined me in that call. I understand we are limited in what we can do, but I am just so frustrated and anguished by the scenes of a refugee camp being attacked by air and land. On RTÉ radio, I heard this referred to as an ongoing Israeli operation. I want to have the opportunity to convey the solidarity that I believe the vast majority of Irish people show for the people of Palestine and the determination of the vast majority of Irish people to see a peaceful and just settlement. Also, I want to hear what the Irish State is doing at international level to hold apartheid Israel to account for its war crimes. It is not controversial or too much to ask that. The Members of the Irish Government have rightly laid out its actions regarding Russia and its flagrant breach of international law. Maith siad; more power to their elbow. I want to know what action the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs is going to take – not on behalf of himself, because he has made it clear where he stands on these issues, but on behalf of the Irish people and the Irish State – to hold apartheid Israel to account. I hope the Leader can facilitate statements next week so we will have the opportunity to engage on this important issue and hear what action will be taken.

I want to follow on from what Senator Ó Donnghaile said about what took place in Jenin overnight. Activities have now been escalated to a new level given the loss of life and the campaign by Israel to effectively uproot whole communities. We need to hear a clear message from the Irish Government. I very much support calls for statements next week.

A second thing has to be said today. Very serious aspersions are being cast on the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, a very important organisation. While Senators may agree or disagree with its views, casting aspersions on it and its motives regarding the hate crime legislation before the Seanad is unacceptable.

I want to raise an issue I raised before. Last Friday, we heard about the loss of 44 preschool places in the very small area of Stoneybatter, Dublin 7. This means a loss of 105 places over the past 12 months. This is because the preschools have had to leave the primary school settings they were in because of an expansion of special needs education. This is all good in itself but there is a complete lack of joined-up thinking between the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. There is now a massive loss of preschool places on top of what is already a huge shortage of childcare places for the under-threes, a shortage of afterschool places and a provider who has found it impossible to source an alternative location and who is heartbroken as a consequence.

We have Tusla regulations that need to be set at a very high standard, but the reality is that it is near impossible, particularly in the inner city, to try to set up a new preschool or childcare facility. The Government has announced funding for next year, but the situation needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency now because whereas the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has told us there is an increase in places elsewhere in the country, it is not happening in Dublin.

My final point relates to what happened regarding the administrative error within the Arts Council last week in respect of the notification of 141 individuals that they had received next generation awards. We all get that there can be administrative errors or human error, but we cannot overestimate the impact on those involved, particularly the artists, many of whom live a precarious existence. We also cannot overestimate the impact of their achievement in getting the award and then realising they had not succeeded in getting it. The Arts Council obviously needs to look at its IT systems. Just as importantly, there is a serious flaw in the system in that artists are precluded from applying for more than one award in any one year. Therefore, if you apply for the agility award, you cannot apply for the next generation award. It is not good enough that it takes five months for a response to come back to any artist on his or her application. If we want to support artists, and given that they may qualify for a number of different awards, we have to allow them to apply for multiple awards as opposed to limiting them to just one a year.