Work underway on 'substantial' aid package for Gaza, says Tánaiste

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations  the northern Gaza Strip. Ireland has joined the Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the Palestinian Authority (PA), a group established in response to the 'urgent and unprecedented financial crisis confronting the PA'. Picture Ariel Schalit/AP

Ireland will have to commit millions of euro in further aid to Gaza, Tánaiste Simon Harris will tell the Cabinet today.

The Tánaiste will tell ministers that work is underway on a further "substantial" aid package from Ireland. It follows the announcement on Monday that the Government will provide an additional €6m in humanitarian aid for people in Gaza, as UN and humanitarian agencies prepare to ramp up aid supplies following the newly-agreed ceasefire.

Ireland has joined the Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the Palestinian Authority (PA), a group established in response to the "urgent and unprecedented financial crisis confronting the PA".

It is likely that, in addition to the immediate aid package, Ireland will also ultimately commit funding for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Overall, Ireland has provided over €95m in support to the people of Palestine since January 2023, of which more than €83m has been provided since October 2023.

Meanwhile, housing minister James Browne will bring forward legislation which will make the entire country a rent pressure zone from March 1 next year.

The law has extended rent pressure zones, but the new legislation will “solidify the basis of the rent control”, according to sources.

The law will mean that rent resetting will be allowed for tenancies that begin on or after March 1, 2026, where a tenant terminates the lease of their own volition or if the landlord terminates the tenancy due to a breach of tenant obligation, or where the home no longer suits the needs of the tenant.

It will also mean that landlords with up to three tenancies will be considered smaller landlords.

All landlords with four or more tenancies registered, irrespective of the number of tenancies they have, will be considered larger landlords.

The memo also provides necessary technical amendments to provide for Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) hearings to be held in public.

Additionally at Cabinet, enterprise minister Peter Burke will bring a memo to Government on progress his department has made on reducing red tape and simplifying processes for small businesses.

Mr Burke is expected to tell ministers that the recently established small business unit in his department has reviewed all local enterprise office grants schemes, resulting in a reduction in the numbers of questions asked for each grant approval.

Mr Burke will also tell Cabinet that work has commenced on merging application processes for different grants, so that businesses can use the same information again with a “once only” principle of data provision. 

Mr Burke has asked Enterprise Ireland to target a 24-hour turnaround time for application approvals.