John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I advise members of the constitutional requirements that members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, a member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I ask any members partaking via MS Teams to ensure that prior to their contribution to the meeting they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus. Members and witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name, or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory relating to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that members comply with any such direction.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, and his officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The format of the meeting is that we will hear his opening statement, and this will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the members of the committee. I ask members to be concise. This committee allocates seven minutes, to include answers as well. If we have time, we will come back around. We usually do and I suspect we will have today. We will be seeing the Minister of State later as well. I remind the members of the committee that it has no role in approving the Estimates. It is an ongoing opportunity for the committee to examine departmental expenditure, to make the process more transparent and to engage in a meaningful way on relevant performance issues. I thank the Department for the briefing note provided. The Minister of State might take back our best wishes to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on her appointment. We look forward to meeting her at some stage in the very near future. Clearly, the Minister of State is always very welcome here. It is not his first occasion. We look forward to hearing from him on the Supplementary Estimates. I invite the Minister of State now to give his opening statement.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend before the committee today. I will present, for your consideration, the Supplementary Estimates for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. These relate to Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade. In total, the request we are making is for a net increase of €145 million in Vote 28. This will increase the total voted net expenditure ceiling for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from €438.9 million to €583.9 million in 2025. Members will have received the advance briefing note provided by my Department. This summarises the reasons for the increases, which I will be happy to explain in a bit more detail and then respond to any further questions that you might have.

The Department’s request is for an additional allocation of €155 million gross or €145 million net. This takes account of anticipated additional income of €10 million, mainly arising from passport and consular fees. The specific reasons for the Supplementary Estimates are as follows. The largest part, €100 million, relates to Ukraine assistance. This allocation will allow Ireland to further support Ukraine outside of the European Peace Facility, EPF. At the outset, let me reiterate Ireland’s continuing solidarity and support for the government and people of Ukraine. I visited Ukraine earlier this year and witnessed at first hand the bravery and determination of the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression.

As we have seen this week, Russia’s brutal aggression continues, with attacks on Ukraine’s towns and cities killing men, women and children in their homes. We welcome US efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and the progress made at this week’s meetings between the US and Ukraine in Geneva. We look to these talks continuing and to further progress being achieved. I would like to reiterate that the Government, alongside our EU partners, wants to see a just and lasting peace that guarantees Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty. Any agreement must also protect the vital security of Ukraine and Europe. That means strong, credible guarantees that ensure Ukraine can defend itself and deter future attacks. It is critical that Europe and the US continue to work together to achieve this.

We are in close contact with our European partners. The Taoiseach took part in a meeting of EU and like-minded leaders in the margins of the G20 in South Africa at the weekend, and a European Council meeting in the margins of the EU-Africa Summit in Angola just yesterday. The Taoiseach will participate in a virtual meeting of the coalition of the willing today. Tomorrow, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will participate in a virtual meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council called to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

It is more important than ever that we remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine. This additional funding further demonstrates that Ireland continues to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. It reflects that the Government has acted decisively to make good on Ireland's commitment to provide €250 million in non-lethal military support to Ukraine, despite Hungary’s ongoing and regrettable blockage of the European Peace Facility. As the committee is aware, the European Peace Facility has been partially blocked since 2023, with disbursements to Ukraine under the Ukraine Assistance Fund particularly impacted. While Ireland continues to contribute to the European Peace Facility, this means that Ireland has been able to distribute only a proportion of its EPF commitment for Ukraine to date.

In March 2025, the Government agreed to provide €100 million to Ukraine through this subhead. This allocation has already allowed Ireland to provide non-lethal elements of air defence to Ukraine through procurement partnerships with other EU member states. In July, €10 million each was provided to the Ukraine defence contact group coalitions on demining and IT support, led by Lithuania and Iceland and Estonia and Luxembourg, respectively. The demining coalition aims to assist Ukraine with the procurement of demining equipment and training in the areas of humanitarian and combat demining. The IT coalition provides support in the areas of IT, communications and cybersecurity. The remaining €80 million is being disbursed to EU member states with which Ireland has agreed procurement partnerships, primarily for the procurement of non-lethal elements of air defence. The equipment is being procured directly from the Ukrainian defence industry.

We are seeking an additional €100 million now to continue with this vital work through the provision of additional support to Ukraine at this time. We hope that talks taking place this week can lead to a just and lasting peace but how peace is achieved matters. We do not wish to see a peace that rewards the aggressor. It is important that Ireland maintains our full solidarity and support for Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia’s war of aggression. Even as the US has convened talks in Geneva, Russia has continued its attacks. A massive attack on Sunday on Kharkiv resulted in the loss of more innocent lives. This follows last week’s appalling attack on Ternopil that killed 34 people, including six children. These are not the actions of a country seeking peace. This €100 million can be disbursed quickly through established mechanisms to ensure timely and necessary support to Ukraine.

We are also seeking an additional €45 million in respect of Ireland’s assessed contributions to the UN and wider multilateral system, in particular our share of UN peacekeeping costs and the UN general fund and other mandatory costs. Ireland is a strong supporter of global co-operation and has long been committed to multilateralism, in particular through our membership of the United Nations. Ensuring a strong and effective UN, including through the prompt and full payment of the requisite mandatory contributions, is a key objective of Ireland’s foreign policy.

Mandatory - or assessed - contributions to the UN can be broken into three parts, namely, the UN regular budget; the peacekeeping budget; and the budget for UN international criminal tribunals. Ireland’s contributions, by virtue of our membership of the UN, are calculated in accordance with the UN budgetary process and contributions are not evenly spread over the three-year payment cycle operated by the UN. Hence, Ireland’s annual contributions are very difficult to estimate due to the nature of this UN process and the timing of the Irish budget setting process. A large share of the UN's expenditure addresses its core mission of peace and security. The peacekeeping budget can vary significantly from year to year in line with the size and complexity of operations mandated by the UN Security Council, many of which are subject to annual change. The peacekeeping budget significantly exceeds the UN regular budget, largely due to the increase in the size, number, and complexity of these operations worldwide.

Finally, €10 million is requested to meet operational needs of the passport service under programme B. This €10 million will facilitate the purchase of passport books now to ensure continuity of supplies of books during 2026 for this essential citizen service. The committee will be aware of the anticipated launch of a new passport book and card in 2026. This allocation will ensure that appropriate stock levels of new and existing books are held for this essential citizen service. The Department continues to modernise and improve the Irish passport, as well as the systems that underpin production and service delivery for our citizens. December will see the start of the phased launch of the new core technology system to process passport and foreign birth register applications. The passport reform programme also encompasses the redesign and modernisation of the passport book and card, as well as the replacement of existing high security printing machinery required for passport personalisation. This will ensure that the passport service remains resilient and agile in response to future passport demand.

As part of the Supplementary Estimate, the Department has identified €10 million of additional income to partially offset the net ask from €155 million gross to €145 million net.

Our discussion today is focused on the Supplementary Estimates for the Department. However, I also wish to underline to this committee that the situation in Israel, Palestine and the wider Middle East region remains a central priority for my Department. It should be acknowledged that we are in a better position now than we have been in recent months. The agreement on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement represents welcome progress.

It has brought desperately-needed respite to Palestinians in Gaza. The release of hostages has brought relief to their families. Nonetheless, this is a fragile moment and there is a need to keep positive momentum. The ceasefire is fragile and must be preserved. Much more needs to be done to scale up delivery of vitally needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. The people of Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering. Efforts must advance to return essential services and provide for early recovery needs, food, water, sanitation, shelter, heating, medical needs and schooling for children. We must also see a political pathway that can lead to a lasting peace through implementation of the two-state solution. We must not lose our focus on the situation in the West Bank. I remain extremely concerned by recent ongoing developments including ongoing Israeli military operations that have displaced at least 40,000 people since January and caused unprecedented expansion of settlement activity.

The Minister for foreign affairs raised these concerns at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels just last week. No community should have to live under a ceasefire that does not deliver peace, nor a transition that does not advance the rights of all people. That is why Ireland remains committed to our role in peacekeeping in Lebanon through the work of the women and men of the Defence Forces in UNIFIL and by supporting an inclusive transition in Syria. The risk of renewed conflict in the wider region remains. Every effort must be made to avoid this. I am really grateful for members' time. I look forward to taking questions from members of the committee.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for a comprehensive statement. This is the select committee and we have about five minutes each. I will start on the basis of when members arrived.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State. From what I can see, the revision is upwards of 33%, which is a substantial increase. However, that is quite understandable given the opening statement and the briefing provided. I have a few questions around some elements of this.

On Ukraine, I understand from what the Minister of State said that we are making a contribution of €80 million to one of our EU partners which is procuring "non-lethal elements of air defence" from "the Ukrainian defence industry". I have two questions on that. Is the Minister of State aware of what the lead time is between us making our contribution and machinery effectively being in use to assist in their effort? Will he describe what "the Ukrainian defence industry" actually is? Who is that money ultimately going to?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The answer is twofold. The vast majority of the money that has been allocated has been drawn down already by our Ukrainian partners. The lead time really depends on whether we are talking about components of an air defence system or de-mining. Each has a different lead time and different requirements. All in, we are talking about a maximum of six to eight months at the upper end. Ukraine has an active defence industry that is at the cutting edge in terms of the equipment it is producing. It is recognised as such in Ukraine. It is regularly requested that when EU partners are providing equipment or supplies, they do so through the Ukrainian defence industry. It comprises private entities and semi-state entities. Again, it comes down to what we are ordering. For security reasons I cannot go into the specifics of what we are ordering, as members can understand, but what exactly is being ordered will decide exactly where it is coming from. There is not one homogeneous group, to be quite frank.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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Okay. That is understandable. I would also like to ask about the additional contribution of €45 million to the UN. I fully understand it is mandatory. It is an amount we are assessed for and obliged to pay over three years. How these requests are actually made seems somewhat random. Is it something that other countries also struggle with? I know some countries have different budgetary cycles but budgets typically occur around this time of year. Why is the UN doing it this way? Is it particularly bad at forecasting or is there any other reason behind it? Have we pushed back on this?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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There are a couple of aspects to this. How the amount is calculated is not straightforward because of currency fluctuations and different budgetary cycles. Most European countries would have their budget at this time of year. Our friends in the UK are having their budget this week. However, the UN is made up of many member states outside of Europe and their budgetary cycles can be very different from ours. That leads to a UN system that uses a complicated method. It is a tri-annual cycle and that can have an impact depending on when it hits in the system. We originally budgeted for what we paid in previous years but this hits in a cycle where it is a good bit more. This will ease out. As I said, it is not a uniform approach for any country. That is part of the difficulty when it comes to calculating contributions into the UN. Unfortunately, it has been like this for the past number of years. That will be on the UN side of things, as opposed to our side.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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My final question is on the Passport Office. It seems that €10 million is going in and out, which has a net-zero effect. How long will the €10 million spend on passports buy us? How much does a blank passport cost? Is that a year's supply?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The decision has been taken to buy in advance a year's supply of the new passport books to make sure there is no possible room for any hiccup in the transfer over to the new books and cards.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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Okay. I thank the Minister of State.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I thank everybody for coming in. I would like to pick up on the allocation of €10 million for the provision of passports. Is that due to an increase in applications? What is the main reason for that?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The singular reason is that we have decided to purchase a year's supply of the new passport books in advance to ensure there is no disruption to the passport service going into 2026. It all relates to the fact that there is a transformation in the passport. We will have a new book. It will be more secure, it has a different design and there is also a new card service. This provision is to ensure we have the books in advance of the new year to make sure we do not run out of supply or present any difficulties.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Do they cost €10 million?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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We have asked for an advance of €10 million. We have bought a year's supply which costs €10 million.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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In 2021 the then Minister, Simon Coveney, said he was committed to increasing the number of passport service staff to 920. Has that happened yet? That was supposed to happen by January 2022.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The exact number currently employed in the passport service is 867. That includes just over 500 staff at the office in Balbriggan.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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There was never any increase in the staff. An increase in staff was supposed to be in place in January 2022.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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There was an increase. As the Deputy can imagine, events in 2021 were extremely different compared to today. We were coming out of Covid-19. As those of us who were in the Oireachtas at the time will recall, as will people in the Deputy's constituency, there was a huge issue with passport turnaround time, which resulted in a backlog. Those issues have all been resolved and we now have a record passport turnaround time. We have sufficient staffing numbers based on that. There were staff increases but the number is fluid.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I have asked this question before. I am from a Border county, as the Minister of State just pointed out. In my office in Monaghan, we are constantly having to make representations for people in the North as well. They are entitled to their passports too but there is no passport office in Belfast. There is one in Dublin and one in Cork. Has the possibility of a passport office in the North been looked at?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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At the moment, our priority is to move as much passport activity, including first-time applications and renewals, as possible to an online basis. Opening a new physical office anywhere in the country would run counter to that. We are seeing the demand for in-person passport applications drastically decrease. Bearing in mind that having a passport office requires a printing facility as well for the passports, we have no plans to look for one anywhere else in the country.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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There is one in London.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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No, we do not.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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What is in London?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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We have an embassy in London that has a consular passport office but does not have a passport printing facility, as we do here.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State cannot see the benefit of there being one in the North of Ireland.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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What we have in London is a consular office for the entire island of Great Britain. It is not a facility to print passports. All our embassies are able to provide passport consular services to people around the world. Needless to say, we have full passport services on the island with our centralised passport office in Dublin but also the facility in Cork. That is providing the requisite levels of services at the moment.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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As TDs, we are allocated a certain number of passports that we are allowed to make representations on.

I am just wondering about the MLAs and the MPs in the North. Are they not allowed to make the same representations to the Passport Office for their Irish citizens?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Of course they are allowed to make representations and, indeed, plenty come through my office from MLAs and including some from the Deputy's party. I am more than happy to support them where the requirements-----

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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So they can make a direct representation to the Passport Office.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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And they have their own dedicated portal, like we do as well.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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That is okay. I just wanted to get clarity on that.

On the diplomatic footprint, we seem to have fewer staff in our embassies in Finland, Denmark or Sweden. I was just wondering why that would be.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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All our staffing in each country is done on a case-by-case basis. This year in the budget, additional finances were provided to increase the diplomatic footprint. We have also increased the staffing in, for example, our new consulates in Melbourne and Vancouver. During the financial crash, we maintained our embassies in the Nordic countries, such as those referred to by the Deputy. We have local and diplomatic staff in every single one of our embassies. I would absolutely advocate, and I know the ambassadors and relevant diplomatic staff will always advocate, for more but we have fully staffed teams based on the business needs of those respective embassies.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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In relation to the diplomatic point, I know the Minister of State has launched an Australian campaign to encourage people, the diaspora, to come home to Ireland. I was contacted recently by a man in Australia who wanted to come home. He is a tradesman and he was going to come home with his tools but he was going to be charged VAT on all his tools when coming home. Is this something the Minister of State could look at in relation to the VAT on tools for men and women who work in the construction industry wanting to come home? It would be beneficial to us here in Ireland for house building.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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There are a couple of replies from finance up on the system. The Deputy is not the only one asking that.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I will undertake to raise that with the new Minister for Finance.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It would be a good one. We want to encourage people to come home and build houses. We need more houses. I just wanted to put it on the Minister of State's radar.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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When we come back after the vote in the Dáil Chamber, we might just follow through on the passport card, the use of that, where it can used and how it will operate. Clearly, it will look like a driver's licence or credit card kind of thing. Perhaps we could also get a breakdown of the proportion of call-ins to the Passport Office as against online applications and applications through the post. We will suspend the meeting briefly.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Just before we broke for the vote, I asked about the passport piece. A lot of the public who will be watching will be interested in this. Will the Minister of State elaborate a little on the usability of the passport card? Where can we use it? How do we get it? Do we still need our passport?

On the applications for passports, will the Minister of State say a little bit more about where they are coming from? I presume the bulk of them are through the post and online these days. What proportion of people turn up in person to the Mount Street office? I presume a lot of them are in the emergency category.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The breakdown of applications shows that 92% of passport applications are received online, 5% are paper applications and 3% are walk-ins. This gives us a very stark illustration of the breakdown.

The passport card has been in existence for quite some time. I have my card to hand. There are no vital details of mine shown on there that you cannot see on oireachtas.ie. We will be upgrading the card system similar to the passport book, with an enhanced design and enhanced security features. It can be used in all EU member states, the United Kingdom and all other EEA countries.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Is that without the hard copy?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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You do not need the hard copy. You just walk up. I have travelled on it two dozen times myself in the last couple of years. It is very handy, particularly if you are going over for a match. It is also accepted in certain South American countries as well.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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I commend the work of the Passport Office, in particular over the last couple of years. I think the new systems are working really well. If we take the agricultural estimates of what is going through TDs' offices, it has gone down a good bit on a couple of years ago. It is great to see.

In relation to the assistance for Ukraine, the Danish have a model where they are investing in funding the purchase and manufacture of lethal warfare materials in Ukraine. Are we doing a similar thing but for non-lethal equipment? Is it a similar model but for non-lethal? If so, do we have cast-iron assurances that the money we are giving is for non-lethal military hardware?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate Deputy Smith's warm words towards the Passport Office service. I know he laments no longer representing it in the wider Dublin Fingal but they miss him as much as he misses them.

The Deputy asked about the Danish model and Ukraine. It is similar but different. Because of our policy of military neutrality, we do not provide funding for any lethal military equipment. We have an extremely robust governance and accountability arrangement, including relevant oversight, and these are central to our agreements. As I mentioned, we do partner with countries like Denmark to procure the equipment and the technologies, as best as possible, for the Ukrainian defence industry. It is absolutely a cast-iron guarantee that it is not spent in any lethal manner at all.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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Do we have the back-end receipts to show where our money has gone?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Absolutely. As I said, we have full governance and full oversight. Where relevant, our officials go out and check it as well.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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That is fantastic. Again, I commend our commitment. It reflects the commitment in our local communities to the Ukrainian effort.

On the coalition of the willing, obviously we are in a position whereby the Government will shortly move legislation to remove the triple lock. If that is successful, we will remake peacekeeping and how we in this country go about peacekeeping. Peace negotiations are taking place on Ukraine. Have there been any discussions among the coalition of the willing, notwithstanding the fragility of those talks, to the effect that there will have to be some kind of a presence at some point? If so, even at this stage, what is Ireland's mood or view towards that?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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What the Taoiseach has said and the Tánaiste on this matter was that Ireland is prepared to consider any request but there has not been that level of detail-forming discussion. The talks at the moment are ongoing. I am not in the talks. We are just get read-outs from talks. They are grey. It is hard to describe them because they are not those formal negotiations. There are two sets of negotiations happening with two sets of parties. We are depending on information. What we have said quite clearly is that we want to part of the coalition of the willing, particularly with the rebuilding of Ukraine. We have already started that process. I attended the rebuilding Ukraine conference in Rome at the start of last summer where we pledged ongoing commitments of up to approximately €34 million. That is for building things like schools, underground schools and providing those sorts of services. We have a number of Irish commercial partners that are tendering for work to rebuild Ukraine as well. Regardless of what happens with our triple lock - that is a matter for the Dáil as the Deputy knows-----

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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Of course.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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We will have that debate in due course. Any decision on deploying Irish peacekeepers will be based on the legislation that is in practice in the here and now. We have not made any commitments. We have not been sought for any commitments at that stage. It is in all of our interests to keep an open mind in all elements of peacekeeping and make those decisions when the requests come in.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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I had not planned on bringing this up, but the Minister of State raised Palestine and Gaza. It would be remiss of me because the previous Minister for foreign affairs said that there is an expectation that the Government's occupied territories Bill would be before the House before the end of November. That is not going to happen. I raised that in the Dáil today. Will the Minister of State give any indication on whether it will be brought before the Dáil before the Christmas recess? Is the Government still waiting on advice? It seems like things have gone very quiet since the summer when there was energy through pre-legislative scrutiny here and on the Government's side for getting this forward.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy can correct me because I was not in the Chamber at the time, but I believe the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, replied on behalf of the Government when it was raised at Leaders' Questions today.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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It was the Chief Whip.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I beg your pardon; it was the Chief Whip. The point I was making is that it was not the Taoiseach. We made the case that we are still working on this. We are still awaiting legal advice. The commitments and the debates that have been held through the summer months are still valid. The opinions of the current Minister for foreign affairs are the same as the Minister for foreign affairs of last week as well.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I have a few general questions. In relations to the Estimates and the budget, it is welcome that there was an increase of €30 million for oversea development assistance. That is important in the context of the world that we are in. There was a mixed reaction from some of the organisations in relation to that. They welcomed on the one hand that Ireland has not gone the direction that others have in terms of cutting it and that it is increasing, but maybe pointed to how it does not quite keep us on track for the 0.7% commitment on ODA. It was a welcome increase. Will the Minister of State respond on some of that commentary?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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That is welcome. I am grateful to this House that it has held the Government to account to ensure that the commitment in the programme for Government to continuously support the furthest behind first is maintained. The Deputy is right. We are in a situation where USAID, has been completely abolished and where the United Kingdom has gone from pledging 0.5% to ODA to 0.3%. The Dutch have cut; the Swedes have cut - all the reliable partners. For context, Ireland and Spain are the only EU member states that are increasing their ODA spend. To be quite frank, I wish we were increasing it by a lot more. I acknowledge that. I am grateful that we are not cutting it and we are increasing it. When I sit around European tables, it is saddening to hear that on one hand, there is a country saying that it is for budgetary reasons - they can make that argument all they want - but there are other countries that from an ideological point of view are just giving up on development. Ireland is not. We will hit 0.4% this year based on the amount. We will continue to move towards 0.7%. It is a huge challenge. Unlike other countries, we separate out first year Ukrainian assistance and country assistance to a different metric. If we included that we would be a lot further along, but we do not unlike other countries. We think it is important to be clear about what we are spending.

On the ask to increase from the collection of NGOs, they asked to increase by €300 million in one go. While it was merited on a calculation base, we have to be a little bit realistic about the budgetary environment we are in as well.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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To be fair to the Minister of State, I do not think he includes the in-country Ukrainian support. Some Government representatives occasionally do. That cannot be charged against the Minister of State.

I have two other areas I wish to touch on. With the time I have left, I ask the Minister of State to give a response. The first is in reference to the UN peacekeeping missions. We will continue to have debates on the triple lock. I am firm in my view that it is a reliable basis for ensuring that our peacekeepers are deployed in internationally recognised and reliable missions. In any event, unfortunately UNIFIL is being wound down. That means a gap. It is an important element of our Defence Forces' development. This straddles between the two Departments under the Minister, which are connected. From a foreign affairs point of view, there is a degree of negotiation and discussion that happens in relation to UN peacekeeping missions. Does the Minister of State have a sense of whether there is an opening for Irish troops to be deployed to other peacekeeping missions at this moment in time that they are not currently deployed to?

The second area is that the Minister of State touched on the situation in the Middle East. He made the point about it being a fragile moment. It is a fragile moment but in several respects. It is a fragile moment as well because as eyes perhaps move away from the Middle East, the concern is that settlements continue to develop, the ground on which a two-state solution can land narrows and the ability of the Palestinian people to have their own independent state that is fully sovereign becomes more challenging. That is the context of the occupied territories Bill. Pressure must be kept on to ensure compliance with international law in every respect. We were told that the Attorney General's advice on that was nearly ready. That was several months ago. Is there an update as to when the Attorney General's advice will be available to us?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In relation to UN peacekeeping, Ireland is committed to UN peacekeeping. We have an unbroken record, and we are alone in that regard. Certainly, when Ireland appears before the United Nations when we run for election to the rotating seats on the UN Security Council, our unbroken track record of distinct service by our men and women in the Defence Forces is regularly cited. It is a proud record. Many men and women have given their lives in relation to the service of peace. We are committed to serving the mission of UNIFIL until it has ended. Unfortunately, it was not renewed by the UN Security Council. Unfortunately, under the current legislation, the decision for the mission not to receive the mandate from the UN Security Council - in this case, the United States - means that it is being wound down. There was not a fight to keep it on without a UN mandate.

There are two existing UN peacekeeping missions that have the requisite conditions as per the terms of the triple lock and the defence Act 1960 that we might be able to consider. It is a matter for the Department of Defence and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, who will take it into consideration with the Government. I will be supportive while considering it as long as we can play a part, contribute to it and our men and woman of the Defence Forces are going in to do something that is worthwhile and responsible for them to do. The Deputy is right. It is something that we should continue to look at. We will have the argument about the triple lock in different fora.

As for the situation in the Middle East - the occupied territories - I often worry that the situation in West Jerusalem is not given as much attention as it needs. What is happening in Gaza is horrific; it is a genocide. We agree with Deputies on that. However, we must keep pressure on West Jerusalem and in relation to the situation of the occupied territories. As I said to Deputy Smith, the Attorney General's advice is in process. The Government is willing to and ready to act on that when it is ready.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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What are the two missions?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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There are two peacekeeping missions in Africa. The Deputy can correct me if I am wrong. I think there is one in-----

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Is it Sudan and South Sudan?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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That is one of them. I think the other one is either Chad or Mali. I apologise to the Deputy, I was not expecting that question, so I did not have it ready to go off the top of my head. I will get him the exact particulars of what could be possible to look into.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Is é an duine deireanach le labhairt ná an Teachta Brian Brennan.

Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)
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It would be remiss of me to start without mentioning one of the Minister of State's colleagues, Mr. Nick Lee.

I believe he is going up the aisle and I wish him the very best. You are only as good as your team. I have had plenty of dealings with the Minister of State's team and I can only give them the height of the praise.

Going back to business and Ukraine, I welcome the current supports but I would like to hear the plans, especially going forward, about the rebuilding of Ukraine.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I was going to use some of my time to ask about that as well. I ask if it will be under our trade heading, as the Minister of State adverted to it briefly.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Brennan. I will pass on his good wishes to Mr. Lee and his fiance. I am delighted the Deputy did not compare married life to the situation in Ukraine. It would have been brave. Personally, it is a utopia.

In relation to our support for Ukraine, the Supplementary Estimate we are providing today is for current support. It is for defensive supports and for ensuring the brutal and vicious attacks we are witnessing every day from Russia can be deterred and we can provide the demining capabilities and ICT equipment that is needed. In relation to rebuilding going forward, the Cathaoirleach highlighted a very interesting part of it. A considerable number of Irish companies are currently working in Ukraine, particularly in western Ukraine, in terms of rebuild. I do not want to name them here. Enterprise Ireland has appointed a Ukraine pathfinder, who works out of the Enterprise Ireland office in Warsaw, because there are commercial responsibilities for this rebuild as well.

Ireland has committed to current, real time rebuilding for Ukraine. As I mentioned, we partnered with the Lithuanian Government to build a new, underground bunker school in a contested area to allow children to continue to go to school without the constant fear of death by shelling and attack. It goes back to the future rebuilding of Ukraine. First and foremost, I would argue the most important thing for the security and rebuilding of Ukraine is membership of the European Union. Ireland is steadfast in our support for future Ukrainian accession into the European Union, which we will touch upon in the next session.

We are also on hand to provide a real, clear effort. As I mentioned, I attended the reconstruction conference in Rome. There was a recent rebuild Ukraine conference in Warsaw and a number of Irish companies are present in Ukraine, primarily in the construction sector but also in the life technology sector as well. Ireland stands ready to provide whatever commitments are needed. Before there is a full reconstruction, however, we need a lasting and just peace.

Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)
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On funding of the UN, I was lucky enough to be on the fringes of some meetings in America. What came across was a funding crisis. The one issue I took away from my meetings with those people was the number of UN people who were killed this year. In Gaza alone, 263 people were killed. Does the Minister of State think the drop in funding and increase in deaths are related?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The year 2025 is the most dangerous year in the history of mankind to be a humanitarian worker. There is the world's largest humanitarian disaster occurring in Sudan and there is a genocide taking place in Gaza. There are two man-made famines. At this time, we have men and women who are prepared to enter that fray to provide humanitarian relief, the vast majority of whom are working for UN agencies. Funding is part of it but the level of danger they are stepping into should not be discounted, either.

I have met quite a number of UN officials in recent weeks, as has the Deputy and all of the officials around me who have spent their life doing it. They personally know friends and colleagues who have lost their lives in conflict. They will always say that funding cuts to ODA costs lives. Funding cuts to the agencies of the UN providing humanitarian support or peacekeeping support is dangerous and will lead to a loss of life. We have to be brave enough to spell that out. We have to make sure that missions are fully capitalised. We believe they are and we believe it is right that Ireland continues its contributions to the United Nations, its agencies and the wider, multilateral system.

Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)
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My final question is again in relation to funding. I welcome the extra funding because the geopolitical situation and what we are going through at the moment is frightening, as the Minister of State laid out. I also note we are withdrawing our troops from Lebanon in 2027. Will that lead to a decrease in future budgets?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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It must be stated that we are not withdrawing our troops because we want to. It is because the mandate is not being renewed and that was a decision that was taken out of our hands. Ireland is absolutely committed to UNIFIL and we will stay fully committed to it until the end of that mission.

When it comes to the overall UN peacekeeping budget, we are in a time of absolute flux and existential crisis, in many regards, in relation to the UN and peacekeeping missions. We are seeing so many countries either delaying their funding or not making their contributions. I am very worried that the lack of funding going into the UN and the shortfall that is created by that lack of funding will mean the UN will have less of an ability to carry out its core mandate in relation to peace and human rights.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and all of his officials for being with us here today. I thank my colleagues, the members of the select committee, for their really useful contributions.