Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by also acknowledging the fine work of Senator Seery Kearney on the surrogacy Bill. I have witnessed it first-hand.I want to once again raise the issue of Palestine and, in particular, the very powerful lobby we have received over the last week calling for the EU-Israel Association Agreement to be terminated. This is the correct call to make and I am calling on the Government to make that call at Thursday's EU Council meeting. Earlier, I looked at the extent of sanctions that have rightly been applied against Russia. It would take me the best part of the next three minutes to go through all of them but they are really extensive. They include crude oil, coal and other fossil fuels, steel, gold, cement, asphalt, wood, paper, seafood, liquor, cigarettes and cosmetics. That is in place because of the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

We are all witnessing genocide. No one can even dispute that any more. The figures are horrific with 18,000 deaths, of which 70% are women and children, yet the EU refuses to impose sanctions. They are witnessing genocide and they are refusing to anything about it, effectively giving a green light. Let us also here record the shameful vote of the United States against a ceasefire at the UN last week. We have to do more and we have to do better. I have been consistently making this call. The Irish Government has an opportunity to do better this week and I really hope it does so. It is entirely inexcusable to on the one hand justify sanctions against Russia while refusing to apply those same sanctions against a country committing acts of genocide daily. I am calling for an urgent debate on that matter. I am really fearful, as we head into Christmas, as to what the situation will be when we return here in mid-January.

The second issue I wish to raise is the ongoing crisis in our health service. Members may have heard Phil Ní Sheaghdha on the radio yesterday. There were 747 patients on trolleys. She expressed the strongest concern about what is happening in our health service as we head into another winter crisis. She said the first thing that has to be done is lift the restrictions on recruitment. That is a common-sense argument. More beds need to be opened but they cannot be opened because there is a moratorium on hiring staff. This is entirely a crisis of the Government’s making. Again, I fear what we will face when we come back in January. The fact there were 32 children on trolleys yesterday is entirely unacceptable. There were 106 patients on trolleys in Limerick this morning. The situation continues to get worse. The first thing the Government needs to do is lift the embargo on recruitment. It sends all the wrong signals to those willing to come home and work in our health service. More importantly, it prevents us from dealing with the crisis this winter. I am calling for an urgent debate as soon as we come back after the Christmas break.