Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)

I return to this State's commitment to evacuate seriously ill children from Gaza because we all want to know what is going on. It is nearly a year since the Government promised to evacuate 30 sick children from Gaza and since then, just 12 children have been evacuated. We now hear that petty bureaucratic concerns about visas are delaying the evacuation of other children. The Taoiseach has been clear today that visas are not the problem. What is the problem? What is the delay? Why, if paperwork is not the issue, have the remaining 18 children not been evacuated? Eight children were approved for treatment in the past month but their travel has been blocked or delayed. What is going on? When will these children be evacuated and why is there a delay?

See this speech in context