I thank all Members who contributed today.

Senator O'Loughlin welcomed the record sports capital announcement for Kildare and nationwide. I concur with the Senator's remarks. Senator Lombard also raised the same point. It was a good day for sports clubs, communities and grassroots clubs across the country to get that much needed injection of funding. The Senator also raised the apartment remediation scheme. I understand the constraints there with houses not being included. Perhaps a Commencement matter to the Minister on that might yield more information. I also take on board the Senator's comments regarding Hallowe'en and illegal fireworks that might be coming across the Border. We must bear that in mind as we approach that festive point.

Senator Lombard welcomed the return of the Gambling Regulation Bill this evening when we will start Committee Stage. He made the point about coming across people who were struggling with addiction and the impact that has, which is a point very well made.

Senator Clonan spoke eloquently and passionately about the escalation of tensions in the Middle East and what Israel is doing. It is of huge concern. We are all deeply concerned for our troops on the ground who are serving in UNIFIL in Lebanon. The Tánaiste and Minister for Defence said the situation is under constant review and that the Department is in regular contact with families here who are, of course, very concerned about what is a deeply dangerous situation for them now on the ground. What Hezbollah is doing is appalling but equally, Israel's response is just off the scales. There is no justification for it. It puts further away the prospect of peace and a ceasefire in the region, which is equally disappointing to see. We had hoped we might see some resolution as we approach 7 October, which is an appalling date we will have to remember and has marked an escalation overall.

Senator Martin introduced the domestic violence amendment Bill, which is on the Order Paper. I welcome the introduction of that Bill. He raised the matter of the occupied territories Bill, as have other Senators, and his position that there is no legal impediment to it. I urge the Senator to talk to his party leader, who is one of the three leaders in the Government. The Attorney General is providing advices to the Government, hopefully very soon. Advice is also being sought at an EU level.

Senator Wall also raised the issue of the Defence Forces serving in Lebanon and has taken calls from families in the area. It is of particular concern where he lives, as it is for Senator O'Loughlin. They are at the heart of the defence community in County Kildare. Senator Wall made an interesting proposal on Irish Sign Language. I had not thought about it in that way and probably should have. I commend the proposal coming forward from that group. It is a good idea.

I suggest a Commencement matter on the school transport issue. The Minister has been out very recently on that issue. She wants to do more. There is a struggle to get buses and bus drivers, as we know. Every effort is being made and funding has been provided. The Minister has announced that criteria for the school transport service will change for the next academic year. The distance people need to be from the school will be reduced to a lesser distance of 2 km and it is hoped down to 1 km. The aim and ambition of the Government is to get to a point where more children can access school transport, but we need the buses and the drivers. The Minister is very aware that there are pinch points throughout the country where there are particular difficulties. That is not a sufficient answer for the families the Senator is talking to who are awaiting school transport but every effort is being made to try to supply services throughout the country and get children to school on public transport.

Senator Higgins raised the matter of the occupied territories Bill, which I dealt with in my reply to Senator Martin. I take on board her comments on the planning Bill. She proposed an amendment to the Order of Business, which I am not in a position to accept. Senator McDowell proposed a similar amendment.

He supported it.

My apologies. I understand the frustration expressed by Members. It is a privilege to serve and to be Leader of the House. I would have liked to get this Bill sooner. We had engagements before the summer. We know the challenges in the Bills Office. It has taken the Government four years to get the Bill to this Stage. The risk of it not passing before the Government finishes its term would be a massive failing on its part. I am sure that it is not perfect in every aspect but, certainly where I am living, planning is a big issue in terms of blockages, delays and how long it takes. It is impeding the country's advancement. We are losing investment because of our planning system. We had to try to do something. I completely understand the frustrations, however. I would have liked to have gotten the Bill sooner.

Even when we finish the Bill this week, it will still be two weeks before it will get back to the Dáil because of its size. Bills Office staff are saying they are struggling to process it due to its size. I do not want to disregard the views of Members. This is a particularly challenging Bill. I know we would like more time and that Members have made their best efforts to be efficient in their speaking time to facilitate other Members coming in. We had more than 20 hours of debate on Committee Stage. We will have two days this week. We are having more debate time in the House per Member than they have had in the other House. I hear what Members are saying but I have a responsibility on the other side to try to get Government business through. As I said, it has been a priority for four years now to get this Bill passed through the Oireachtas to try to make some headway in dealing with what is a broken planning system. One of the key requests from citizens throughout the State is to do something about the planning system. I hope the Bill will go some way towards dealing with the concerns that have been raised with us. I am absolutely not discounting the frustrations that have been aired by Members on that legislation.

Senator Gavan raised a number of issues relating to Palestine and the occupied territories Bill. I dealt with that Bill in putting his position on the record. I concur with the remarks of Members overall on what is happening in Gaza and with the Palestinian people. Our Government, and the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, have consistently been very clear and strong in their language since this conflict escalated towards the end of last year. Even now, as they are in the UN meeting with world leaders, they have very clearly been advocates for the Palestinian people and for a ceasefire. As a small country and a member of the European Union, we have often been in the minority in our position on this. We have led from the front in recognising the State of Palestine and supporting humanitarian aid on the ground. Overall, to paint the Government as somehow not doing its part, or not being in the corner of the Palestinian people, is not a fair assessment of what it has done since this conflict escalated. Of course, we want to do more. As I said, that is being actively considered.

On the issue of Shannon Airport, the Tánaiste's remarks have been very clear. Airlines are not permitted to travel through without permission. An investigation is under way on whether that permission was sought. Airlines will not be permitted to travel through, if they are breaching our rules. That is being taken very seriously. We await the outcome of that investigation. It is being dealt with by the Department of Transport but there will be a response from the Government as a whole on that.

Senator Ardagh raised a number of issues regarding the assisted decision-making Act and that it is quite cumbersome to access something that was meant to be very positive for people. She also raised the matter of the wills registry legislation and delays in the probate office.

Senator Ahearn has once again raised the issue of the N24 road, and the mooting by the Taoiseach of a Ministry for infrastructure. I have my own views on that. It might be too much for big infrastructure projects to be in one Department or under one Minister but we need to speed up the delivery of infrastructure in any event.

I dealt with Senator McDowell's comments and what he said. I do not disagree with a lot of what he said, but I hope he will accept my bona fides when I say that I have absolute respect for the House and it is a privilege to serve here. I am trying to meet all sides and deal with requests from a number of different places. The Senator will understand what I am saying in that regard.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke about small business, tourism and the Christmas markets in Limerick. It is a very important point. Tourism has had a difficult summer because of the weather for starters. The economic figures for tourism are down in most areas. There should be any little bit of an injection to support local and small businesses, especially in light of that. Even though the Government has done some work through the increased cost of business grant and trying to support business, one of the top issues the Minister for Finance is considering in the budget coming up on 1 October is how to support small and medium businesses in particular with the cost of business. There are still significant challenges and their cost base has gone up across the board, particularly in the hospitality sector.

Senator Black spoke about the drugs task force. I might suggest a Commencement matter on that. She again spoke about the occupied territories Bill, as others did.

Senator Craughwell spoke about the Tánaiste's comments on our airspace. We cannot defend our airspace because we do not have sufficient resources in the Air Corps. The Defence Forces are massively underfunded and under-resourced and have been for years. A lot of work is to be done there. At least now we have a Government commitment to increase defence spending to up our level of defence in the country. There has been a maturing of the conversation in the country in the past four years regarding where we are and what we need to do, not just domestically but at an EU level. The Tánaiste has been quite progressive in his approach to that and has not been afraid to take on challenging issues in the area of defence, put his views out there and get the conversation going.

He needs to explain what he meant by-----

Sorry, Senator.

-----not feasible in the Irish context.

The Senator had his opportunity. Let the Leader reply, please.

The Senator is correct in that I am inferring what I think the Tánaiste means by that.

We need him in here.

We have a request in for the Tánaiste to come before the House on the issue of the Middle East. It is to be hoped we will get a date for that. It will give an opportunity to raise issues that are connected to the defence space. I am trying to get a date for the Tánaiste but the Senator will appreciate it is difficult with diaries given all that is going on and the budget coming up.

There have never been fewer members of the Defence Forces in the history of independent Ireland than today.

The Senator will know my views on that. We are massively underfunded.

You and I are on the same wavelength but-----

We are on the same page, absolutely.

It is a pity the leaders of the country are not.

Senator Craughwell had his opportunity.

We have many years of underfunding and under-resourcing to catch up on. As well as wanting to do more than just get to a low base, we want to increase what we can do. We have a big gap to bridge. It will take time but the will is there to do that. Crucially, the support from our citizens is there to do that in terms of increasing defence spending by the State.

The Israeli friendship group was dealt with adequately by Senator Craughwell. Diplomacy and keeping channels open are important. The Senator has made his views on the Middle East very well-known.

Senator Flynn spoke about the Irish Foster Care Association. The requests made by that association are very reasonable. Foster carers do such an important job. We do not have enough of them. We do not have enough foster places. There are more demands in certain parts of the country and fewer people doing it.

A lot of work has been done by the Department of children to increase the number of people coming into that sector and to get more foster carers and families in place. It is difficult to get people to sign up. It is a huge responsibility and people never know what situation will land in through their door or what the child has been through. It is extremely important and anything we can do to make the job easier and to encourage people to do it, we should.

Senator Keogan spoke about the four councillors newly elected to Donegal County Council, who were elected for the 100% Redress party. The redress scheme has been an ongoing issue there. I can only speak about my own county of Mayo. It has worked very well in some circumstances and homes have been rebuilt to a high standard. While it is traumatic to have to knock down your home and go through that process, anyone I have spoken to who has been through it is really happy now that they have gotten it done and sorted. They have a brand new, A-rated home that has been substantially paid for by the State, if not fully paid for. It is a significant cost to the State as well. Through no fault of the State or the people affected, the regulations of the time were too lax and the proper checks were not carried out on the defective blocks that were used to build homes. We are just going to have to deal with that. From what I understand, the challenge in Donegal is that it is slow getting into the scheme, accessing it and getting advices. There is a particular constraint with the supply of construction sector workers to do the work. It is a big challenge in my own county getting tradespeople as well. They are hard to get and have a lot of work on. I commend the councillors on their work. They have been working with other parties in Donegal as well to try to get things moving for the affected homeowners.

Senator Cummins spoke about Waterford and the 44 new cost-rental units, the second such development in the county, which is great to see. We are turning the tide on housing. Cost rental did not exist four years ago; it does today. It is a fantastic addition to our housing supply and the choice available for people. There is a long way to go yet. We still need to increase the numbers but we are catching up on a period when there was not enough building. We are putting record financing into housing and starting to see the fruits of that labour.

Senator Victor Boyhan has requested a debate on the recent report from Mary O'Toole on the sex abuse scandal in schools. We are actively working to get time for that and get the Minister in. It is really important to have that debate in the House and give it its proper airing, and give Members an opportunity to have their say as well.