Nessa Cosgrove (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I thank the Tánaiste for coming in as well because I know he is probably flat out today with various things.

Everyone here has said we are in a worrying state of affairs now. I welcome the Tánaiste's remarks about working collaboratively. I am also encouraged by the fact there will be major capital infrastructure projects and that we can open our economy up to supporting indigenous companies, including in terms of regional development within our own country. It will be really important that we look at adopting the EU directive on collective bargaining. Now more than ever, I believe trade unions will play a really important role in ensuring jobs and workers are protected and that workers will have a legal entitlement to collectively bargain. It is very important the Government listens, implements this and works with trade unions. As regards international relations, I had a number of meetings this week with Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine. It is very concerning that not only medicines but also doctors are being blocked from entering Gaza. I met a number of doctors and human rights lawyers working with people with disabilities. In any conflict or warzone, the most vulnerable groups are young people, children and adults with disabilities. It is very worrying that Israel is saying that assisted devices such as crutches, hearing aids and glasses are being redesignated as dual-use items. That is something we can intervene in as a country.

We need to work within the EU. In particular, Fine Gael can work within the European People's Party. There is a bit of concern. Some other members within that grouping talk about looking at redirecting. There is kind of a change in narrative about humanitarian aid. It is really important that we support countries such as Egypt as they continue to support Palestinians in their healthcare systems, which were bad in the first place.

When I meet healthcare workers, they say that we cannot normalise attacking hospitals. We have seen that 15 healthcare workers were shot in the back, with their arms tied, and put into a mass grave. That is horrendous and we cannot normalise it. If there is anything we can do as a country, it is to ensure we do not normalise attacking hospitals. We must keep this human.