Speeches

Mr President. Commissioner, thank you for your work and for those initiatives. They are appreciated and very important. Colleagues, the brutality of this war has shocked us all. A thousand people in the basement of a steel plant in Mariupol feeling the net tightening around them as Russian forces advance. A thousand people in mass graves across the suburbs of Kyiv, and millions of people with the scars that will be carried with them and their families for generations. Some of the worst atrocities in this barbaric war have been carried out targeting women. Perhaps the gravest of them all – rape and sexual violence – as a weapon of war. We all know the brutality. A woman gang-raped to death in front of her children. Children, both boys and girls, brutally raped while a screaming mother is forced to look on. A pregnant 14-year-old, who decides to keep the child because the brutality of the attack against her means she is unlikely to have children again. Unimaginable horrors. When we say ‘never again’, I have to ask, do we truly mean it? I think many people feel helpless, yet emboldened to take whatever action can be taken to stop these horrendous crimes against women. This cannot continue to happen. Every Russian soldier who commits rape in Ukraine must end up in The Hague at the International Criminal Court, and justice must be seen to be done. There can be no impunity for those who commit rape in the name of war. In the meantime, as the Commissioner has said, we must offer the very best support to victims of sexual violence, including healthcare, both physical and mental. We know that, for example, our NGOs across Europe are uniquely skilled to provide the kind of specialist help that many of these women need. I’ve seen it in rape crisis centres in Dublin, which worked in Bosnia after the war. We must fund these organisations so they can do this work. Women are victims of this war, as are the people of Ukraine as a whole and its diaspora around the world. Yes, we applaud, as the Commissioner has done, the strength of Ukrainian women and we stand with them. Slava Ukraini!

Mr President, dear Commissioner, from regulatory instruments to State aid, from data to risk, this report presents a comprehensive overview of the state of competition policy in the EU today. The real focus, of course, in the report is about small businesses and jobs, ensuring that they can grow, thrive and be competitive in our globalised economy. This report is backing small business, and rightly so. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economies. In Ireland, small businesses employ over half a million people and indirectly support thousands more jobs on top of that. They are at the heart of our communities. They sustain families. They ensure the indigenous economies can thrive. It has been a tough few years for business and entrepreneurs. COVID-19 caused much hardship. Many were forced to suspend trading. Many closed their doors altogether. But the EU also supported so many to continue and to thrive. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had severe economic impacts, disrupting supply chains and fuelling inflation. The climate emergency, of course, calls on businesses to adapt and to change. I am pleased that this report recognises those challenges and calls on the Commission and Member States to make sure that appropriate supports are in place where needed. It recognises that flexibility is required to keep our business environment competitive and dynamic and to protect jobs. It emphasises, of course, the importance of the digital and green transition process and the kind of supports that will be needed for our businesses to manage that. As a representative from an outward-looking, dynamic and business-friendly city, I will always back small and medium businesses, and I am glad that the EU will continue to do so as well. It is so important that the Commission is there for business when needed. But, of course, we have to recognise the huge innovation that comes from our entrepreneurs. The huge potential for Europe. And we have to try and keep innovation in Europe and support our entrepreneurs and startups.

Mr President, we know that criminal networks extend across borders. In Ireland, in recent weeks, we have seen the effectiveness of cross—border cooperation in tackling international gangland crime and ensuring that no lawbreaker is untouchable. Europe must take the same approach to cross—border crime. The security of our citizens should be our number one priority. I know from experience as Minister for Justice the tireless work done by Europol and by our police forces, and I want to pay tribute to them. It is vital that they are fully supported by the political systems in their work. This is why today’s debate on Europol is so important because Europol exists to tackle cross—border crime in Europe by working with national justice systems. We must ensure it has the resources and the technologies, as the Commissioner has said, to do its job effectively. Today’s proposal will make it easier for Europol to process complex data, as they must, to initiate effective investigations, as they must, use information to tackle online terrorist content, and cooperate on cases more effectively with non—EU countries. I also welcome the creation of a Fundamental Rights Officer within Europol to ensure that data is not misused. It is very important that innocent people’s rights are protected and that citizens can have confidence in the administration of justice. Critical for our democracies, it is not only important that people are safe, but that they feel safe. There should be no safe haven for lawbreakers.

Madam President, thank you Vice President. Thank you, High Representative. Eight months ago, as Afghanistan quickly fell to the Taliban and as European foreign ministers reacted to the situation, I implored them to consider the situation of women and girls. I knew, as we all did, that women and girls were at particular risk from the Taliban, forced back into their homes, forced to dress more conservatively, denied education, crucially, denied all these basic human rights. This was, of course, all the crueller because we had promised this generation of Afghan women, and indeed they had expected it. They expected to have a brighter future, a future of their own making. High Representative, you referred to the heart-breaking images. Yet again, women forced away, young girls forced away from education, from institutions of learning. Why? Because a woman with an education can build a brighter future not only for herself, but for her family and for her country. And that’s what the Taliban, the all-male leadership are afraid of – because they don’t want a brighter future for Afghanistan, its women and children. They want a subjugated people they can control. Afghanistan will never be free until we let girls learn. So if the Taliban don’t do it for us, we must help Afghan women and girls build their country’s brighter future. High Representative, you must take every action you can on behalf of the EU to ensure that this situation is changed, that every pressure is brought to bear internationally. We have levers we can use. Let’s use every single one of them.

Mr President, we are in a serious, unprecedented child protection crisis, and it’s of an enormous scale. The brutality inflicted on Ukraine in places like Bucha, Mariupol, Odesa and Kharkiv are war crimes. Murder, torture, rape, death, adults brutalised and traumatised. Imagine what it is like as a child. Just imagine. This is the devastation of Ukraine, for all of us to see. Children separated from their families, as families are torn apart, their security gone. Strange places, strange journeys, new countries, new languages. This is the traumatisation of a generation, the shattering of the security of childhood. Colleagues, every sanction must be used by us and our partners around the world. And as they perpetrate such crimes against every generation, Russia must cease to be a member of the UN Human Rights Council. This is life and death, with access to food, safety, education and psychosocial support all immediate needs for children. The fate of a generation is at stake, and we must help them and we are helping. Firstly, we also have to be vigilant for traffickers. In every dire situation, there is someone who seeks to profit. Our police must be at the top of their game. The coordination must be excellent. Secondly, we must ensure the children’s right to education is not interrupted. These months, where these children are displaced and in other countries, must not be the ones where they just survive but where they thrive. Thirdly, warm beds and safe houses are what make children feel secure. Many are traumatised already. Parents, particularly mothers, need care, need support so that they can get back on their feet. We must also embrace unaccompanied minors. Being alone in the world at such a young age, can you imagine it? One of the most terrifying things you can possibly imagine. Our actions today can empower those who will build Ukraine again. It is our duty to help them now.

Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner for her work and her team. Colleagues, we only have to look around the world today to see the necessity of the EU’s gender action plan to advance gender equality in our external action. Gender-based violence, education for women and girls, support for female entrepreneurship, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and women in leadership: each of these issues need to be thoroughly integrated into our foreign policy at its core. In particular, on the day when the European Commission put forward a proposal for a directive on tackling violence against women in the EU, we must look to the Spotlight Initiative to tackle this issue outside the Union. I’m pleased to say that in 2017, the EU and the UN made a joint pledge to work together to spend EUR 500 million to combat and tackle violence against women across the world. That project has been enormously successful. The statistics speak for themselves: 880 000 men and boys educated on positive masculinity, respect for family relationships, non-violent conflict resolution and parenting, and 84 laws passed, signed and strengthened across 17 countries, 1 million young people reached. This is the kind of work we need to be doing that needs to be supported in our external actions. I want to support my colleague Sirpa Pietikäinen for all the work that she’s done on this and also the points she made in relation to human rights defenders. They do need to be specifically mentioned in our external action work. They need specific support. Also in relation to female genital mutilation (FGM), of course, let me be clear, this is a heinous crime, violating the dignity of women and girls, from which they may never recover. We must tackle this horrendous phenomenon relentlessly. Colleagues, we only have to look at the brave women of Ukraine to know why gender equality needs to be at the core of our foreign policy. Let’s do it.

Mr President, first of all, I’d like to thank the rapporteurs for the work that they did and for the consultations that they held with all colleagues. I’m delighted to be here today and able to discuss what I think is a very constructive and forward-looking report on gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament. We know that often our parliaments fall down when it comes to women’s representation, and ensuring that women are heard in leadership and politics is a much harder task than it ought to be. I’m very proud to be a Member of this Parliament, with its relatively high representation of women compared to other parliaments. Nevertheless, there is more that we can do, and I think this report is an opportunity to change things in the European Parliament, making it an even better place in relation to gender equality. It does that by offering a clear roadmap, complete with indicators, as to how we make sure that this Parliament is entirely inclusive of women. When you look at any parliament, including this one, and you put a clear lens on it, you see what I would call sometimes subtle discriminations, not always subtle, but very often they are subtle. You see old patterns in terms of who leads committees. You see old patterns that particular positions in finance and economics tend to be taken by men, and even in foreign affairs as well, surprisingly. You see those patterns being repeated and often, in the hierarchy of parliaments, women have a lesser role. So this is about asking how we make sure that we have a very inclusive parliament. It does talk about quotas, of course, and I always say about quotas that they are a short interim measure, as the UN has said. The quotas have operated for a long time on the side of men. Let’s be clear about that. So I’m very proud to see a roadmap for the incorporation of maternity leave for MEPs into the functioning of our Parliament, as the report states. It demands, in particular, that maternity, paternity and parental leave be recognised for Members of Parliament through an amendment to the Statute for Members of the European Parliament and the implementation of solutions that guarantee Members the ability to continue working while on maternity, paternity or parental leave, such as remote voting continuing, and so on. I think that’s very important. Let’s build for the next generation of female politicians.

Mr President, (missing audio) … the majority of whom are women and children. There is a dark cloud on this International Women’s Day, as Ukrainian women and children are traumatised and exhausted. Their lives have been destroyed and many have left loved ones behind: husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. More than two million people have now fled Ukraine to seek refuge in the European Union since the onset of the Russian invasion. The fastest exodus of people from a country since World War II. I commend our eastern Member States for welcoming Ukrainians with open arms, but we must mobilise the resources of all of Europe to help them. I welcome last week’s decision by Justice and Home Affairs Ministers to activate the temporary protection directive for Ukrainians. The shocking murder of civilians, as they flee through what are supposedly humanitarian corridors, is a war crime. We must isolate Russia comprehensively, not in a piecemeal way. We must have measures that are economic, social, cultural and business must be comprehensive. This is a ‘whatever it takes’ moment for European democracy. There is a moral imperative on all of us to save as many lives as possible as Putin and his barbaric regime murder our Ukrainian friends and partners. We must work together. We must respond comprehensively.

Madam President, I thank Oksana for that powerful speech, and thank you, Roberta, for ensuring that we had Oksana here with us today. It was truly chilling to hear her words of women giving birth in underground stations with doctors online and babies getting sepsis and all of your other images too. We have spent much of the past 13 days talking about European values because, as you have said, Oksana, as Ukrainians take to the front line to defend their country, they are not just defending themselves and their own beliefs, but the core of our very Union here. Human rights, democracy, the rule of law, these are our European values, and right at the very heart is gender equality, not an add-on, not an extra, but in fact essential and quintessentially European from the start of our project. Yet the tragedy of this International Women’s Day is that thousands of women, as you have said, Oksana, are running under a hail of bullets, avoiding missiles and their houses falling down around them, running away from the violence, protecting their children and equally running into the fire to protect our European values. Just two short weeks ago, these were the women contributing to Ukraine in business, in communities and in building up the country’s democratic spirit and democracy. Now they run under sniper fire. Yet Ukrainian women have others who know what it is like, even in the past year. Ask the women of Afghanistan – denied their voice, their education, their lives once again. And the women in Ethiopia raped and brutalised, that isn’t just another weapon of war. The women of Yemen, the women of Belarus. This is just one year for women in some of the worst places to be a woman, now imagine all the rest. Even in the best of places to be a woman we have unfinished democracies, unfinished gender equality agendas. In each of these places, and with each of these experiences, the task of finding peaceful solutions must be at the top of our agenda. The UN, the US, G7, NATO, if we are to have a sustainable and meaningful peace, we cannot only have the women working from the ground up. We must have women in the senior decision-making fora of our world. Human rights, democracy, the rule of law, our European values are worth fighting for and gender equality is right at the heart.

Madam President, first of all, congratulations to Sandra Kalniete for her sterling work, and to our Chair and Committee for making this a very effective committee. Without proper facts and information, our laws will have little value. Without proper facts, our citizens cannot be confident in our institutions. The viral spread of disinformation and fake news has wreaked havoc on our political systems, namely through interference in our democracies and our elections. Let’s face it, we have been asleep at the wheel. None of our institutions, or indeed our national governments, have put enough resources into dealing with this threat. We need to do far more to counter this serious threat to our elections, to our referendums, to our democracies. Disinformation is a scourge on our democracy and needs to be fought all the way from policy-makers through to large tech firms. As I’ve said, campaigns have been impacted. Politicians are the losers. Our democracies are the losers. We need a well-regulated digital market. We need to increase funding for our cyber-security infrastructure, and we need to adequately regulate social media companies. As MEPs, we must of course state strongly that we stand for democracy. For that reason, I think it’s hugely important that the mandate of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE) is prolonged. Let’s ensure that, for the rest of this mandate, our political system places the highest value on truth and on facts. If we do not do this, not only will our democracy suffer, each and every citizen will suffer, too.

Mr President, climate change and gender equality are inextricably linked. Ensuring a more positive green future is a daunting task, and as women know better than most, let’s use the occasion of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2022 to highlight that women can help to get us towards that more positive green future and out of the situation we are in at present. Climate change has a differential effect, as we know, based on geography, socio—economic background and, of course, gender. Women are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change. Women who farm, tending crops to feed their family, may soon be no longer viable, resulting in malnutrition. And of course there’s the question of women’s representation, as we saw at COP26. There is also the issue of domestic violence, which often comes about after conflict, as a result of shortages caused by climate change. Ignoring women is doing a disservice. It is really robbing us of a better future, robbing society, because we know that women can be powerful agents of change at community level and right up to the top leadership, resolving conflicts and bringing people together. We need to utilise all those skills. We know that sectors in which the majority of workers are women are generally more carbon neutral. We need to invest in that seriously – take the care economy, for example. And we know that there is a huge economic potential in involving women in the green transition. We need to gain from that. Let’s not just ‘blah blah blah’ when it comes to climate change and gender equality, let’s take action.

Mr President, the youth of Europe have not been adequately represented or heard during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now time for Europe to do more for young people, and the European Year of Youth provides the perfect opportunity to make up for this lost time, because it’s estimated that one in six Europeans are between the ages of 15 to 29. This generation has sacrificed so much during the pandemic. Now, giving them new hope, strength and confidence in the future by highlighting how Europe can better their lives, will be crucial to the long-term viability of our Union. But the European Year of Youth must be more than a listening exercise. It must be a priority to encourage all young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, from disadvantaged backgrounds, from rural and remote areas, or belonging to vulnerable groups, to become active citizens and actors for positive change. It is our duty to promote opportunities provided by EU policies for young people to support them in their personal, social and professional development. Housing, which is a huge issue for young people, as well as pensions, jobs, mental health, which is another huge issue, gender-based violence and climate change – these are all affecting young people. We must now seek to build a Europe they see for themselves. Europe has always provided hope and opportunity, and the European Year of Youth is time to reinvigorate and strengthen the sense of optimism. We must ensure that programmes such as Erasmus+, DiscoverEU, Euroscola and the European Youth Event be promoted and expanded further to reach as many as of our young people as possible. Young people are not only the future, but are the present. It’s time to listen and take action.

Madam President, her name was Ashling, she was 23, and she went for a run last Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a very public place and she was murdered. This horrendous crime has had a deep emotional, disturbing and upsetting resonance across Ireland and Europe. Violence against women. The same violence against women we discuss in this Chamber almost every plenary. And, as a woman, I’m sick of it because as I’ve said in this very spot in November, women in Europe should be safe everywhere in Europe, from one country to the next, in the home, workplace or on the street. In reality, the plague of violence against women across our world cannot be disassociated from the unfinished fight for equality. When it comes to sexual and reproductive rights and health, this too is unfinished and even regressing in some ways. Supporting women’s bodily integrity and choice and sexual and reproductive health decisions is central to equality. And in fact, where these decisions are not a woman’s own, it is in effect violence against women. A world that continues to tolerate female genital mutilation, that doesn’t ensure universal access to sexual education. A world that refuses to recognise fatal foetal abnormalities and forces women to travel in the most harrowing of circumstances is a world where violent acts take place. And we must end it now. Together, all of us can make a difference, men and women. This must be on the shoulders of men too; men and women working together. We can end it, we must end it. The price is too high for all of us, for a society. It is a societal responsibility as well as an individual responsibility. We must prioritise this. We must change this world to make it safe for women and men. Together, we can do it.

Mr President, well done to Evelyn on her report. Me Too. As we in the European Parliament gather here today to discuss MeToo in the European Institutions, as a woman in politics I raise my hand and I say, Me Too. None of us are free from the scourge of harassment, including sexual or other forms of harassment. In a world where women everywhere – movie stars, high ranking people in business, and indeed politicians – have been steadily coming forward to tell their stories of sexual harassment in recent years, it is clear that none of us are immune. The reality is that sexual harassment can happen to any of us, and anyone can be a perpetrator. Anyone at all, in the safety of their home, in the streets, in the workplace, can be sexually harassed. It can happen to any of us but none of us should stand for it. And women are becoming increasingly confident in terms of challenging it. I know that this debate will resonate with colleagues here in the Chamber today and with my own constituents in Dublin, because MeToo has created an earthquake around the world. Now, as public representatives, it is our job not only to stand up and implement legislation to curb this horrendous phenomenon, but to set an example, best practice, here in our Institutions and show that we will not tolerate, as Evelyn said, zero tolerance, for anyone. It can happen to our colleagues, our staff, our Commissioners and ourselves. Of course, education and information and awareness-raising programmes are critical and procedures that make a difference where people have the confidence to report. Educating ourselves, our children, is the only way to change what has been assumed to be understandable behaviour. Extraordinarily, it’s not, and we need to say no, now. So let’s move forward, educate our children, educate ourselves, educate our Institutions and continue to call out inappropriate behaviour when we see it and experience it, and always let our aim be that Europe will be the first continent to proudly say that we eradicated sexual harassment and violence against women – soon.

Madam President, I would like to thank the Commissioner for that comprehensive statement on what still needs to be done, because there is no doubt that we live in unfinished democracies as far as gender equality is concerned. In other ways too, but specifically, as far as gender equality is concerned, there’s a long list. We all know that gains have been made, but we also know that we are at risk right now of losing those important gains. According to the Institute for Gender Equality, the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis threaten to roll back recent progress in gender equality. That’s a really serious issue. And the Commissioner mentioned the RRF. I want to say that it’s really important that we monitor how that is spent, huge sums of money that are being given to Member States. Let’s make sure there is a gender-equality lens on the spending of that money because, as we know, when it comes to rights, often the rollbacks don’t happen with a loud bang, but as a slow creep. So we have a lot of work to do. We must double our commitments. We’re dealing with a gender pay gap, we’re dealing with a 29% pension gap. Think about the implications of that for women as they age. We urgently need the proposals on gender violence, we’ve already covered that in Parliament here this evening, it’s got to be at the top of the political agenda. And let me make the point that I would like to see more men leading on these issues. I think it’s really important that we have male champions of equality, and that the leaders of political parties speak out unequivocally about gender equality and the challenges that lie ahead. It is really important that we now have a European care strategy as well, because this is going to be fundamental to getting that societal shift that we need.

Mr President, isn’t it unbelievable that every ten years, a city the size of Marseille, Amsterdam or Zagreb disappears from the world. Just imagine that. How? Because every year it is estimated that 87 000 women worldwide are killed, 50 300 of them by an intimate partner or family member. We call this femicide – when women are killed just because they are women. Just think about those cities disappearing and the numbers in them and that number of women are killed over a ten-year period. And now we are also dealing with cyber-violence – an increasingly pervasive and common form of violence against women and it is part of the continuum of this type of violence. While new technology, as we all know, can be a wonderful thing, it can also have unintended and devastating consequences when instrumentalised and weaponised. Research shows us that 52% of young women and girls have experienced online abuse – your sisters, your daughters, your mothers – sharing private images, videos or messages without their consent, mean and humiliating messages, abusive and threatening language, sexual harassment and false content – absolutely appalling and a whole new realm of violence. We have to take action. Imagine the psychological consequences of that happening to you. Hopefully, the European Parliament will take action – and the European Commission – because we know, what is illegal offline must also be illegal online. So let’s hope we take the right action and really make sure that this is stopped.

Mr President, today we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – for the 30th time. However, it is simply not good enough to mark this day each year and talk about the significant achievements we have made, or the challenges that are still there. Violence against women remains a scourge. Women are dying. Women are suffering every single day across Europe, and you have to ask the question: how do we tolerate this as a society? We saw a 30% increase during the COVID pandemic in the number of cases – physical, sexual, psychological, online, offline, sexual, coercive control, financial control. Transnationally we have taken significant steps, of course, with the Istanbul Convention – but what has happened to it? It’s extraordinary. Despite having the Istanbul Convention, which was a seminal moment, a game changer, we now see it used as a target, a Trojan horse. To those who have not yet ratified the Istanbul Convention, let’s be clear: you are sitting back and letting violence against women happen. Shame on you. Shame on those countries that will not take the steps that are needed to eliminate violence against women. The European Commission, of course, needs to ramp up pressure with its proposal to combat violence against women, because women in Europe should be safe everywhere – in their homes, in the street, in their workplaces. So let’s make a pledge now that we shall not come back here year after year. Let’s ensure that drastic action is taken in the coming months so that in a few short years we can proudly proclaim that Europe is the first continent in the world to eradicate violence against women. That is not too tall an order. That’s where we should be. That’s where we need to be. And if women are to be safe, those are the steps that we need to take to ensure a quality life for all our citizens, including women.

Madam President, vaccines work, vaccines reduce hospitalisations, morbidity and mortality. We must follow the scientific evidence. Data released from the ECDC and the Commission, on vaccination rates in the EU – just yesterday, shows a strong and undisputed correlation and causation as a result of the vaccines. The higher the vaccination rate in the Member State, the lower the death rate; fact. The EU is clearly leading the way in global vaccine equity, despite ill-informed commentary from some. We have much more to do, as many colleagues have said here today, and we must accelerate what we are doing. But we have pledged to share at least 500 million doses with the most vulnerable countries by mid-2022. But to succeed in a global vaccination strategy, we need the public and private sectors working together. Fair public-private partnerships offer one of the best guarantees to increase production, supply and distribution of vaccines all over the world. I support the EU target of reaching a global vaccination rate of 70% by next year, but let’s try and beat that target and go even further. Let’s encourage other countries and global players, including pharmaceutical companies, to export and donate every available vial of the vaccine. To reach this target, we cannot take a soft stance on fake news and conspiracy theories. Make no mistake, this vaccine misinformation battle is a battle for the health of our citizens, and I call on all Member States to implement clear, public-led, targeted outreach campaigns to all unvaccinated groups. We cannot allow populism to triumph over science. COVID-19 has served as an important reminder that we need to transform our global health architecture. The only chance of beating this global pandemic is by continuing to work together and sharing vaccines. That is the right and just thing to do.

Mr President, it is estimated that up to USD 2 trillion is laundered globally every year. In my own country, the level of money laundering has more than doubled in the space of a year and we also have the amounts, of course, exposed in the Pandora Papers. Money laundering is a scourge in our society and disrupts our whole economy. It allows criminal organisations to thrive and to grow their murky operations. Europe cannot afford to be seen as a gateway for dirty money to be channelled to criminals. With the Commission’s new package, which I really welcome, the EU has the potential to become a global leader in the fight against money laundering. It’s now up to the Member States and the European Parliament to make it a reality, and we must all be upfront. All Member States must be up front and centre in the renewed fight against money laundering in Europe. We must strive for a gold-standard anti-money laundering regime. Criminals only need one loophole to exploit the system. Closing off these loopholes is not easy, given that we live in a complex and interconnected single market. But Europe’s reputation is suffering through more and more money laundering scandals. The EU needs all the Member States to champion this cause.

Mr President, when I spoke on this issue in February, I said the situation is bleak in many ways in Poland. A government that seeks to discard the rule of law and human rights; a government that persecutes its own people advocating for LGBTI-free zones. I ask the Prime Minister, why, Prime Minister, would you do that to your own people? A government that feels it has the power to unilaterally undo checks and balances and the separation of powers; a government which operates a punitive regime for women with a crisis pregnancy? I ask again, Prime Minister, why would you do that to your own people? Yet we see glimmers of hope, as Robert Kennedy called them, ripples of hope. We see them in the thousands of people who took to the streets to tell their government that Poland’s future is within the EU. We see them in the Polish judges who offer dissenting opinions to a shameful ruling that discredits the rule of law, and we see them in the reversal of the hateful LGBTI-free zone declarations. As a former Minister for Justice in Ireland, I know what our Member States agreed when they joined the EU. The EU law has primacy, it is above national law. I know because we changed our Constitution to make it so in 1972, as so many others did. That was our solemn promise and commitment when we joined. The recent ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court represents a blatant disrespect of the very principles and values of the EU. Poland’s future is inside the European Union, and EU law stands firm.

Mr President, the shocking stories from around the world, including in all our Member States, remind us yet again that they are the starkest of reminders that we have not dealt with this issue of violence against women and it remains an absolute pandemic around our world. I believe that the Commission’s proposal to tackle gender-based violence, due later this year, cannot come soon enough. Domestic violence remains a total scourge in our society, a 30% increase during COVID. While the immediate effects of intimate partner violence are clear – deaths, usually of women, the need for emergency shelter and support to escape a violent household – less discussed aspects include judicial proceedings and custody agreements where children are concerned, and the linkage between the granting of custody rights and domestic violence. This report shines a light on that issue. What is crucial is that the voice of the child must be at the centre of proceedings, their well-being is paramount. Children who witness violence suffer, we know that, and it is imperative that our judicial proceedings and their consequences do not re-traumatise them. I call on the Commission to include judicial proceedings within the Member States, of all types, including both criminal and civil, within their proposal. Let’s strive again to make intimate partner violence and gender-based violence history.

Mr President, the situation in Ethiopia is dire: conflict leading to fear and terror, people fleeing from their homes and pouring across international borders, famine and hunger, and desperate and brutal sexual violence and rape. Last week’s ceasefire offered a glimmer of hope. However, any genuine ceasefire must include actions to improve the humanitarian situation. The destruction of important routes for the delivery of humanitarian aid is unacceptable. The brutal murders of three Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff underlines the dangers faced by humanitarian workers. In relation to what will be left in the aftermath, we know that cases of rape and sexual violence are widespread and brutal, and perpetrated by armed actors. They are not weapons, but crimes, crimes against women. I strongly call on the Commission and the External Action Service to make a strong commitment to support women as they try to rebuild their lives after such devastating attacks. Too often, women and vulnerable communities are left on their own when conflicts end. We need to step forward and to be there for the women of Tigray.

Mr President, while some sense of normality is resuming in our economies and societies, we cannot forget that many businesses all over Europe are still under severe strain. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has been an important support and lifeline throughout the crisis with its EUR 46 billion-worth of COVID—19 funding projects, and 425 000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have benefited. That is a valuable contribution. But this contribution must translate into more financial resources to enable the EIB not only to address the post-pandemic recovery, but also to drive forward key EU priorities: as has been said, the Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age and an equal and fairer Europe. My country, Ireland, has benefited from EUR 19 billion-worth of financing from the EIB since the start of its operations, providing crucial support for our transport infrastructure and renewable energy. This has helped transform our economy, but given the enormous environmental and post-pandemic challenges we now face, public and private investment has never been more important. We need a strong and well financed EU bank to do this.