Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for their contributions. Regarding the tweet or message sent out by somebody in the Israeli Embassy, I want to categorically reject any suggestion that we provide any funding to Hamas, directly or indirectly. The funding we provide is done through the UN, the EU and NGOs. There is no evidence to support the claim that was made and I am pleased that the comments were deleted and a clarification issued by the embassy indicating that the tweet did not represent the position of the embassy or the Government of Israel.

Regarding the forthcoming European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, time has been set aside for that tomorrow. There will be statements in advance of the European Council and I will be present to give those statements. The Opposition has its dedicated time throughout the week which it is free to use for anything it wishes to, including this issue.

Deputy Whitmore mentioned that today is international day against climate change. She made a very valid point around adaptation. We have a national adaptation plan which needs to be updated. It will be the main issue for discussion at the next meeting of the Cabinet committee on climate action. We had a meeting this week and will have another one in a few weeks' time. The sad reality is that so much global warming is now baked in. It will be 2050 by the earliest by the time the world reaches net zero, if not later. There will be more climate change and global warming and, as a result of that, more adverse weather events and more flooding.

We need to focus much more on adaptation in the period ahead. People will be aware of the enhanced support scheme that has been put in place for Cork, Waterford and Middleton to help householders.

We will be happy to have a debate on mental health. The mental health budget is €1.2 billion for the coming year, which is a big increase on where it was previously. That should have been scheduled at the Business Committee but unfortunately it was not raised

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