We have all had emails this morning about protests this afternoon and there is an unprecedented number of emails regarding Gaza. There is no question that the savagery on all sides there has been horrific since 7 October. I want to raise the point that, throughout this, when I go through the newspapers, I notice every day where Ukraine appears in the newspapers. It is falling further and further back in the headlines and it has certainly been way off the front pages for quite some time. It is appalling that, right now, on a daily basis, there are killings in Ukraine and people dying in Ukraine, there are increased missile attacks and, in the background, the people of Ukraine are still suffering and facing into a winter where Russia has already started to target their infrastructure.

I had a conversation with the Ukrainian ambassador yesterday in this regard. In all of this, when we talk about Gaza, we talk about the Israeli ambassador and we have spoken in the past about the Russian ambassador. What are we saying about the Iranian ambassador? What are we saying about those who pull the strings in the background, who supply equipment, arsenals and all of the rest in all of these wars and to all of these protagonists? We are saying nothing about the Iranian ambassador. The fact is it should equally apply to the Iranian ambassador and we should have calls on the credentials there and the veracity. It is not that long ago since we got a complete and utter piece of propaganda sent to all of us from the ambassador, telling us a different version of events - their version of events - when it came to the killing of a woman.

I mention that and wish to say that we still stand with Ukraine and that we still remember Ukraine. There is a narrative creeping in, and I heard it in this House even yesterday, of it almost being an irritant, rather than the fact that people are suffering in the name of democracy and holding the bastion of democracy on behalf of all of us against a Russian aggressor that thinks it is all right to completely set aside a nation-state and the boundaries of a nation-state. I want to bring that to the attention of the House and to make sure we remember that, although that is not to diminish in any way the horror that is going on in Gaza and the children who are dying every day there and how awful that is. However, we need to remember, because they are being lost in the news cycle, that, as a Parliament, we still stand with Ukraine.

I welcome the news this morning that as many as 30 Irish citizens will be released from Gaza today. It is absolutely good news to see the first set of Irish citizens leaving the enclave of Gaza since the horrific events started on 7 October. For those living in Gaza, it is every person’s nightmare and the thought of Emily Hand spending her ninth birthday there is horrific.

I listened this morning, as many of us did, to Ibrahim Alagha talking about that bittersweet feeling of himself and his family leaving but knowing they are leaving 2.3 million people behind. I am also glad that Aymen Shaheen and his family have had the opportunity to leave, but I am thinking of Khalid El-Estal, who I listened to on KFM last week. His children, a four-year-old and a one-year-old, are not on the list. Their mam sadly was killed along with his brother, his father and his best friend's wife, and all of his first cousin's family were wiped out. They are not on the list today and we absolutely need to make sure they are on it quite soon.

I want to make a point regarding the ongoing diplomatic realities in the background. There have been some calls for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. That would obviously lead to the expulsion of the Irish ambassador in Israel, who is central to trying to get our Irish citizens out. I want to make clear that I absolutely condemn the actions of Hamas and the barbaric response of the Israeli armed forces. However, open communication and diplomacy between our Government and the relevant authorities and ambassadors are key to protecting and securing the safety of Irish citizens. If I believed for a moment that expelling an ambassador would lead to peace, a ceasefire or the release of hostages, I would support it, but the reality is that that is not the case. Cutting all diplomatic ties, as has been called for, would leave our citizens in Gaza in an even more precarious situation.

As the Leader knows, we had a meeting earlier with representatives of the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA. It is worth saying again and again that local authorities in Ireland play a very significant role in housing, planning, roads, environmental protection and fire services, both in a policy and legislative way and in an advocacy and representative way. We have 1,949 elected councillors, who play a very important role in the functioning of their community and their society. Unfortunately, we have one of the most centralised systems in any country in the OECD. It is important that we hear their calls both in terms of supporting those who are elected members regarding their gratuity and regarding their representation on the boards that are relevant to all of us and to the working of good government.

The first thing I want to mention today is the reading room downstairs in this building. I circulated the Members of both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Eireann, asking them to express a view as to whether the reading room should be restored to its previous state. I am glad that a very clear majority of Members of both Houses have responded favourably to my suggestion.

The reason I mention it is I ask the Leader in particular to consider whether the wishes of the Members of the two Houses in Leinster House should be taken into account and that agendas that are not shared by them should not be progressed. All one has to do is look at the current state of that reading room, which is a crying shame compared to what it-----