Hear, hear.

Well said.

I agree with the previous Senator on Lebanon. I have family living in Beirut. What a beautiful place it is. Our thoughts must be with the whole region and on the conflicts there.

Let us be mindful of the passing of two great former councillors who served in local government: Brian Bermingham of Cork and Rainsford Hendy, who happens to be related to me. They were Fine Gael councillors. Both were distinguished councillors and I wanted to acknowledge that fact and say we are thinking of their families at this sad time for them.

I call for a debate on the residential zoned land tax, which is a very controversial tax. We all know we need to activate more land for housing. We also know the Government has, or aspires to have, a policy on land use.

Over the summer, there have been conflicting views from the Minister for Finance, the Minister for local government and the Minister for agriculture on the residential zoned land tax. We cannot have a situation where there is a land tax on lands in active agricultural use, be it agriculture in its purest form, horticulture or forestry. We need clarity on this issue. Farmers who farm land that is zoned for agriculture must be encouraged. One of our key objectives is to increase our production of agricultural produce, in particular crops. I am calling for a debate on the residential tax. Farmers want to be on the right side of Revenue and it will be Revenue and no one else collecting this tax. There have been mixed messages from the three Government parties about what they want to do. I call for a frank and honest discussion about where this tax is going.

I draw Members’ attention to Parliamentary Question No. 388 of 18 September, submitted for written reply by Deputy Connolly. That reply, which was delivered to me today, raises a number of questions about this matter. I saw accompanying correspondence, according to which the Ministers for agriculture and Finance were not in a position to answer. The question asked about the quantum of land within the scope of the residential property tax. No one seems to know the quantum. This relates to another issue, in that no one seems to know how much land in the country is mapped and zoned for agriculture. The common response is that it is a matter for local government. If we want land use strategies and policies, though, then we need to get the data and facts. Until such time as we do, we should not proceed with the residential zoned tax on agricultural land. Therefore, I call for the tax to be deferred until 2026 when we will have all of the facts about these matters to hand.

In recent days, we have seen the appalling extension of the bloodthirst of the Israeli Government. Approximately 41,500 children, women and men are dead in Gaza and the death toll in Lebanon is rising as we speak. The apparent crusade to wipe out Hezbollah and Hamas is a genocide. We have used that word many times, yet the world is still looking on. The UN General Assembly is taking place this week. The UN and the EU were both established as peace projects. I am struck by the number of people who raise this situation on the doorsteps in our communities and ask what we are doing. What will we tell our children in ten years’ time about when we did to stop this genocide? Even now, the Israeli state is subjecting its own citizens to a special state of affairs in terms of banning gatherings, although that is a minor matter compared with the slaughter inflicted. Our country needs to stand tall and take a leadership role, particularly in the EU now that we have a new Commissioner. We need to prevail upon the President of the European Commission about how, as a peace project, the EU needs to do much more. We cannot allow this to continue.

I looked in detail at the Government’s legislative agenda last week. It was with great disappointment that I noted the Government had effectively ignored the bogus self-employment problem that has existed in this country for many years. A landmark Supreme Court judgment in October 2023 effectively deemed Domino's Pizza drivers as employees. It was the Revenue Commissioners who took that case. On foot of the judgment, we called for the Government to legislate to make who should be an employee clear to workers. People should be employees by default but be able to opt out in genuine cases of self-employment. During the summer, Mr. Matt McGranaghan – a musician and campaigner on bogus self-employment rights – went to great lengths to prove his employee status.

He was subjected to disgraceful treatment by his employer and very serious and questionable conduct by the scope section of the Department of Social Protection. I normally have great things to say about the scope section but, unfortunately, his claim to that section was appealed. There is now a very serious issue of the Government turning a blind eye to bogus self-employment in this country. There is a Supreme Court action and a WRC case. We need to see action by this Government.

In the six years since I first tabled the occupied territories Bill, the situation, as we all know, has rapidly deteriorated. While the world is focused on the horrific genocidal war in Gaza, we are also seeing one of the biggest land grabs in decades across the West Bank, where more homes are being destroyed, families displaced, settlements built and people beaten and killed on a daily basis. We have to ask how we can repeatedly condemn this as illegal but continue to trade in the goods produced. It is clear hypocrisy and it must stop. As we all saw in June, the highest court in the world effectively said that all countries, including Ireland, are obliged not to trade with the illegal settlements that Israel has built on stolen Palestinian land. It is not some optional extra. There is no doubt about it that our legal obligations are clear. Palestinians, academics, NGOs and human rights organisation have been saying this for years. Over the past six years, we have set out clearly, with detailed input from some of the world's top lawyers, that the Bill would not breach EU law. We have received new legal opinion from two eminent lawyers that states the former Attorney General was wrong on this issue. The ICJ has now made it clear that we were right and that we can do this. In fact, it would be illegal for Ireland not to pass the occupied territories Bill.

It is so brilliant to see the huge public demand for the occupied territories Bill. At every march and event, people who are horrified at the genocide taking place in Gaza are coming out in their thousands and demanding that the Government takes action. The calls to pass the occupied territories Bill are getting louder. I am sure every single Member is aware of the south Kerry IPSC whose members are walking all the way to the Dáil to hand in a petition with 40,000 signatures. They will hand that petition in at 4.30 p.m. today outside the Dáil. It is inspiring and incredible. The Cathaoirleach might like to know that last night, I hosted a meeting on the occupied territories Bill in Cork city to a packed-out room. More chairs had to be brought into the ballroom of the Metropole Hotel where it was held. The people are demanding that Ireland takes a stronger stance. We need to introduce sanctions and enact the occupied territories Bill and we need to do it now. People want to see Ireland take a stronger lead on issues of international law, human rights and justice. The Government has an obligation to do the same.

I follow my colleagues in asking the Tánaiste to come to the House to give us an update on what action the Government will take going forward. When will we see the Attorney General's advice? That is very important. We would like to know about and have an update on the Attorney General's advice. We also definitely need to have a debate on the occupied territories Bill and what is happening with it.