Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments of other Deputies in congratulating the Minister on his reappointment. I also welcome the new junior Ministers to their roles.

I would like first to focus on the comments on the occupied territories Bill and significant legal doubt. In my view, that is not sufficient grounds for the Bill not to be passed by this House. We could pass it and refer it to the Supreme Court or it could be referred to the European Court of Justice to avoid any doubt in relation to it. We need effective action on that. I have three questions for the Minister. Given that the Government does not propose to proceed with the occupied territories Bill, what effective action does it propose to take to ensure that the annexation does not go ahead? It is a very worrying situation.

On the global pandemic and Covid-19, there is no doubt about the importance of interdependency in this world. We live on an island but it is abundantly clear that what happens halfway across the world can intimately affect every aspect of life here. It is clear that underinvestment in public health systems across the world has knock-on effects for all of us. Earlier, Deputy Brady referenced cuts to the gender programmes. That is very worrying. From my experience of meeting human rights defenders, trade unionists and women's groups in Colombia, I am aware of how central a role women's organisations play in holding their communities together and standing up for peace and against violence. The proposed cuts are regrettable.

My second question is on overseas development aid. The Minister will be aware that for more than 40 years, successive Governments have committed to the 0.7% target, yet we still have a distance to go to achieve that. Given the increasing level of hunger around the world, with 820 million people going hungry every day, which is exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, does the Minister agree that the commitment in the programme for Government to reach 0.7% by 2030 is far too late and that we need to reach it much quicker?

My final question is specifically around the global response to Covid-19 on the health front. As we know, with increased urbanisation and intensification of farming, we are at ever increasing risk globally of virus transmission from animals to humans. We know that there are thousands of viruses with that potential. What we need on a global scale is more research, early warning systems, prevention, hygiene, and global co-operation with regard to vaccines and drugs.

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