Speeches

A Uachtaráin, the EU likes to say that it listens and it learns. Well today shows that it does not listen and it does not learn regarding economic sovereignty and austerity. This deal lays the seeds for future austerity, hollows out national economic sovereignty and empowers unelected Brussels bureaucrats to further interfere in national budgets. Ireland needs a massive investment to build schools, hospitals, houses for people and to aid the transition to a clean economy. So what does the EU propose? Hardening the austerity rules. With this plan, democratically elected governments will traipse to Brussels and ask permission to change budgets if arbitrary targets are not met. There is no exemption for building houses, but there is for building tanks. We were promised rules to aid investment: we got a doubling down on austerity rules and the failed policies of the past. The EU has failed to learn. I stand against austerity policies and say no to these Brussels rules. They should be ripped up before they do real damage to real people.

Mr President, I want to take this opportunity to talk about the future for young fisherwomen and men throughout Ireland and their communities. Recently, I visited Arranmore Island, off the coast of Donegal, and was honoured to meet Muireann Kavanagh, a 14-year-old girl who catches pollock off the coast of her island like her father and grandfather before her, using this very hook and line. But Muireann has been banned from fishing in this sustainable way, while supertrawlers – nets the size of football pitches – hoover up all our fish in a very unsustainable way. She wants to live and work on her home island. Our job as legislators is to make that happen. Let’s end double standards and allow change so that Muireann and her peers have a future on the island they call home. So, decision-makers, stop the lip service and facilitate a generational renewal along Ireland’s shores.

, as the people of Gaza face a humanitarian crisis unparalleled to anything we have seen this century, some political forces here in Brussels, like the EPP, are questioning the need to fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. We should be increasing and championing the work of UNWRA, not attacking it! Shame on those trying to attack the Palestinian people when they are suffering so much brutality! The EU should be telling Netanyahu’s regime to let the aid flow freely and quickly into Gaza, not undermining that critical assistance. Everyone also knows the dangers facing aid workers faced with Israeli impunity. Therefore, the EU-Israel Association Agreement must be suspended. As for us in Ireland, it is time we implement the Occupied Territories Bill and it is time for Ireland and the EU to recognise a Palestinian state. No more excuses!

Mr President, a chairde, what is happening in Gaza is a live-streamed genocide, a humanitarian catastrophe broadcast in real time. How much horror must the people of Gaza endure before we act? How many more children must die before we hold Netanyahu’s Government accountable? The mass starvation in Gaza and the attacks on humanitarian aid deliveries must be called out for what they are: war crimes. The EU needs to send a clear signal to the Netanyahu regime with the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. There can be no trade deals with war criminals. Colleagues, future generations will ask us what we did when this genocide unfolded. Did we stand for peace, for ceasefire, or did we stand with war criminals? President von der Leyen has made it clear where she stands. History will not be kind to those who support her stance.

A Uachtaráin, EU leaders will gather in ten days’ time, with no doubt much informal discussion of the next Commission president. President Ursula von der Leyen has been selected to be the EPP candidate. I apologise, President von der Leyen, but when it comes to Ireland, you just don’t get us. That’s why I believe a second term for you would be detrimental to Ireland and the EU. Launching your campaign, you commented that you wish to work with those who are pro-NATO. As a neutral country, what does that mean for us in Ireland? You also say you want an EU defence commissioner. We are in the midst of a cost of living crisis, a climate crisis and yet you prioritise a defence commissioner? President von der Leyen’s agenda does not align with Ireland and the Irish people. We value our independent foreign policy and we don’t want any interference in setting that policy. President von der Leyen, keep your hands off Irish neutrality. A chairde, what we need is a Commission president who is committed to a social Europe that puts citizens to the fore of the decision-making process, respects the sovereignty of countries, not a neoliberal pro-militarisation agenda. And I call on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to make that abundantly clear at the next meeting of the European Council.

Mr President, we are celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024. It is worth mentioning that this is an international celebration with organized events around the world. Language rights are a living debate. It is so important for our identity, culture and human rights that this Parliament upholds our language rights. We should be proud of the Irish language and promote it in Europe and Ireland.

Mr President, it’s difficult to vote for a report such as this without being conscious of comments by Ursula von der Leyen, which completely disregard Irish neutrality. Last week, President von der Leyen said that we need a Commissioner for defence. This is the European Union. If she’s interested in military alliances, there’s a job going at NATO. But keep Ireland out of your plans! The texts voted today also undermine national vetoes when it comes to foreign policy issues. Unanimity must be protected. This is evidenced by the Commission President’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Her actions severely damaged the EU’s credibility as a partner for peace and an honest broker for any future negotiations. And her initial response in backing Israel unconditionally has emboldened their brutal strategy in Gaza. This is the background to texts like ones voted today. And that is why we must say no!

Mr President, this weekend I attended the Irish Skipper Expo, which brought together fishermen with fishing and coastal stakeholders from across Ireland. The message I kept hearing was that Dublin and Brussels are not doing enough to ensure the survival of the Irish fishing sector, which has taken real blows between Brexit and the COVID pandemic. There is a real fear that there is more to come, as the EU negotiates deals that could offer third countries even more access to our pelagic fish stocks, such as mackerel. We need the Irish Government to stand up and demand improved fishing opportunities for our fishing sector. Solutions do exist for improved fishing opportunities, such as quotas for species new to our waters, like bluefin tuna. A chairde, we are an island nation, and it is time for the Irish Government to stand up for our fishermen.

Mr President, I welcome the adoption of the new EU rules on instant payments. I especially welcome the approval of my amendment, which means that checking IBAN numbers to prevent fraud will be free under these new rules. This means people can use this service and so fraud can be prevented. By following this process, ordinary workers and consumers will be empowered to know whom they are actually transferring to. By making this check free, my amendment has vastly improved this service and made it so that it will be at no cost to consumers. This rule should now be applied more generally in all electronic payments, and it should be done so as soon as possible. There is no reason to wait 18 months. This is a big win for consumers and a big blow to fraudsters. People should always be on their guard but, through this amendment, they now have an important new weapon in the fight against scammers.

Mr President, I want to welcome this debate on the 70th anniversary of Abbé Pierre’s appeal on addressing homelessness. His appeal, which centred on the belief in the fundamental right to shelter and the need for immediate action to address homelessness, is as relevant today as it was 70 years ago. In Ireland, we have had successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments setting records they should be ashamed of. They’ve consistently overseen increase after increase in the number of homeless people in Ireland. Indeed, just before Christmas, a new record was set. The number of homeless people in Ireland surpassed 13 000: 13 179 to be precise, 3 991 of them children. That is the highest number of homeless children ever recorded in our state. Indeed, a government of record-breakers. They should hang their collective heads in shame. If the Irish Government are serious about tackling the housing and homelessness crises, they must reinstate the ban on no-fault evictions in order to create the space for an emergency response to be put in place. We need a package of measures to reduce the number of people becoming homeless in Ireland. We need to stop vulture and cuckoo funds evicting families or buying up the housing stock from under the noses of workers and families. A chairde, we need a new approach that puts people ahead of vested and financial interests. Only then may our children sleep easy.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Madam Commissioner, I want to express solidarity with family farmers who are feeling the pain of inflation, fuel costs, competitions with imports from outside the EU, and general lack of fair prices. These mounting challenges – while they’re being asked to do more – has reached a breaking point for many who are more concerned than ever for their family farms’ future. This was evident in the anger seen last week, but these protests did not happen in isolation: many of our farmers feel abandoned, many have lost faith in the system, a system that has burdened them with unfair free trade agreements they can’t compete with. And as rural custodians, they are expected to carry a large share of green initiatives like the Nature Restoration Law. They must be duly compensated for such efforts, and concerns such as forest re-wetting must be listened to, and I call on the Irish Government in any future national restoration plan to commit to such issues.

Madam President, , firstly, I want to acknowledge the promotion of better cross-border cooperation. As someone who grew up near Britain’s border in Ireland, I know the administrative and economic hurdles, as well as the societal hardship this border imposed on our communities. So I fully appreciate the importance of cross-border cooperation. Our Good Friday Agreement established a North South Council to encourage cross-border cooperation and to address some of our island’s challenges. Recent days have seen a new executive established in the north of Ireland, which must ensure that these north-south bodies can work together for the benefit of all the people of Ireland. It’s also time for the EU institutions to engage more with citizens north of the British border in Ireland. That means that each minister in the new executive should fully engage with the EU to see what benefits all-island cooperation with the EU could bring for workers and families. I urge the new executive to have an open door to the EU’s many excellent cross-border initiatives and programmes.

Mr President, the assembly in the north of Ireland has elected an Irish citizen, a republican, a pro-Irish-unity First Minister. I want to congratulate Michelle O’Neill on her election to that role. We must harness the full potential of this decade of opportunity for our island. Now is the time for the European Parliament and the Belfast Assembly to begin formalising direct engagement between our two institutions. Many laws of the EU single market apply in the North, but we have a democratic deficit and only direct engagement between MLAs and MEPs will allow two million Irish and British citizens in the north of Ireland to have a platform for their views to be represented in the policymaking process. Let us embrace the progress made over the weekend and let us build upon it. A united Ireland inside the EU has huge potential. Let us all work together to help bring about that future as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement.

Madam President, throughout the pandemic, it was the women of Ireland that sustained our societies. The weight of paid and unpaid caring responsibilities, as well as work in low-paid essential services, was disproportionately carried by women. Now, post-pandemic and faced with the cost of living crisis, the disproportionality continues. Irish women often act as the shock absorbers of the cost of living crisis going without food, clothes or heating to protect and provide for their families. The childcare system in Ireland is on its knees, with families paying akin to a second mortgage each month. Meanwhile, workers in the childcare industry, predominantly women, are barely earning enough to make ends meet. Many qualified and very capable women are forced to make the difficult decision to remove themselves from the workforce, as they’re not earning enough to make paying extortionate childcare fees feasible. Action must be taken to introduce a truly affordable childcare system in Ireland and finally give families the break they badly deserve.

Madam President, I want to welcome this debate on an EU strategy to assist young people facing the housing and cost-of-living crises – crises exasperated by the greed of energy and financial institutions, who record record profits while workers and families pay record prices. In Ireland, the cost of renting or buying a home is beyond the reach of most people. North American cuckoo funds should be prevented from buying up the housing supply from under people’s noses. So if the EU is serious about tackling the housing crisis, the first step they must take is to bin the vulture funds directive and put a stop to these vultures from making workers and children homeless. The revised fiscal rules should not make it easier to buy tanks than to build houses. And in Ireland, we must build houses. Ireland’s coffers are allegedly awash with money. Yet this Christmas will see 13 000 people homeless in Ireland, 4 000 of them children. This is a wrong which must be righted immediately. We need real action. We need to build more homes.

Mr President, a chairde, in October, the Irish Parliament became one of the first in the world to demand a ceasefire. That vote sent an important signal to the international community: it told the world that the people of Ireland are on the side of peace and against violence. Standing with the oppressed, not the oppressor. And it sent a signal that other parliaments should have followed: the assault being committed against the people of Gaza is incomparable to anything we have seen in recent times. We are seeing war crimes being televised in front of our eyes – blatant disregard of international humanitarian law. It is time the European Parliament shouted ‘Stop!’ We need an immediate ceasefire now. We need the immediate release of all hostages now. We need the international community to intervene and bring all to the negotiating table. We need to sit down for real and meaningful talks that can deliver a two-state solution built on peace and trust. Only then can there be a just and durable peace in the region with a free and sovereign Palestine.

Mr President, and friends, this debate comes at a very crucial time. Therefore, it’s disappointing to me that the same old voices have decided to exploit it in order to advance their agenda of promoting qualified majority voting instead of unanimity in areas like taxation or foreign policy and defence. Make no mistake about it, we in Ireland are determined to keep our foreign and defence policy fully independent and neutral. President von der Leyen’s recent actions in offering full support for Israel launching an attack on the people of Gaza is a crucial reminder why unanimity must be retained on foreign, security, and defence policy. Friends, let us not use these debates and reports, such as the one before us, as power grabs in areas of national competence. Let us use them to bring the EU closer to citizens, in order to make this House and other institutions more reflective of our towns, villages, cities and countries.

Madam President, across Ireland we have seen mass rallies rightfully calling for an end to Israel’s massacre of innocent children, women and men in Gaza, wiping out entire families, brutalising those in occupied territories. The Israeli Ambassador in Ireland has insulted and attacked the Irish people and our President for showing solidarity. Further, Israel now refuses to allow Irish citizens to leave Gaza. Her position is untenable whilst Israel intensifies attacks and turns its face against an immediate ceasefire. And what has the European Union done to help? Its inaction and the indifference of EU leaders and EU institutions towards Gaza has brought the European Union and this House into disrepute. It’s shameful! They should be ashamed for not demanding an immediate ceasefire, for turning a blind eye to 4 000 dead children in Gaza, murdered by Israel. These are war crimes wiping out generations of Palestinians from existence. This genocide must end with an immediate ceasefire!

Mr President, Commissioner, I welcome this report and thank the rapporteur for working constructively with us all to produce such a progressive report. Generational renewal is key for the social, economic and environmental sustainability of rural areas, and indeed for the future of agriculture. Ireland is particularly vulnerable as one third of our farmers are over 65. Unfortunately, young people are not attracted to farming for various reasons. Those that are interested in the farming sector face numerous entry barriers: difficult access to land or credit and financial supports or low earning capacity. The elephant in the room is the issue of land grabbing and concentration of ownership being transferred from the hands of family farms and successive generations to corporate entities who are locking young people and younger generations out of farming and rural areas due to these practices. If land grabbing and concentration of ownership are allowed to fester, we will see the price of land rocket further, see further corporatisation and unsustainable industrial intensification of agriculture and forestry, and family farms disappearing. This must not happen. We also need to strengthen the socio-economic of rural areas, a key objective, by prioritising generational renewal. It is crucial that we work towards making rural areas places that are capable of providing adequate living conditions for young and new farming families. That means improved mobility, access to better services such as health and education, and better digital connectivity. And I would urge the Commission to take this report and make it a key feature in shaping the next CAP. Our young farmers expect, and indeed deserve, nothing less.

Madam President, I welcome this debate on mental health in the workplace. It’s a time of unprecedented advancements in science and technology, which we are told will improve the work-life balance for workers and families. Regrettably, the reality falls far short of the promise. The extent of mental-health challenges within the EU is alarmingly significant. It’s particularly pronounced amongst younger generations grappling with distinct and increasingly severe difficulties, particularly in housing and the escalating cost-of-living crisis. Eurostat reports that a staggering 68% of people aged 25 to 29 in Ireland still live at home – 26% higher than the EU average. The lack of home ownership, financial insecurity and accelerated automation in our daily lives takes a toll on the mental well-being of our workers and families. We must tackle these issues comprehensively. As legislators, we must confront the rising cost of living, alleviate the housing crisis, and institute policies that safeguard workers from workplace-related impacts, such as AI and teleworking, that can affect their mental health.

Mr President, firstly, I want to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of the Irish woman Kim Dampti, and all families who have lost loved ones, whether they be Israeli or Palestinian. There is no justification for the killing of civilians by either Hamas or Israel. We must also condemn the forced displacement by Israel of Palestinians in clear breach of international humanitarian law and the cutting off of water, fuel, food and medical supplies, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure throughout Gaza, which amounts to collective punishment in contravention of international humanitarian law. To achieve de-escalation we need rigorous, impartial international leadership. So to President von der Leyen, I would say: your actions are a crucial reminder why unanimity must be retained on foreign, security and defence policy, particularly for neutral countries like Ireland. Finally, following last night’s horrific hospital attack, there is an urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and to formulate an effective roadmap providing for a proper negotiations process based on unconditional adherence to international law and the UN charter. Only then can we begin to ensure a durable and just solution to the Palestinian question.

A Uachtaráin, I want to welcome this debate. Speaking as someone who grew up near Britain’s border in Ireland, I have seen the administrative and economic hurdles and community hardship this border imposed on our peoples. This mechanism could be an interesting model for better working cross-border cooperation, pending reunification of Ireland. So I welcome this report. The Good Friday Agreement established a North South Council to encourage cross-border cooperation and to address some of the challenges facing our island. However, a functioning Council is hampered by a Democratic Unionist Party who refuse to accept election results and a London government that last week voted to deny justice to victims of conflict with their legacy bill. A Uachtaráin, it is time for the DUP to accept the May 2021 election results and re-enter the executive. Further, it’s time for these EU institutions and the Dublin government to join the conversation happening across the island of Ireland – the conversation of Irish unity. A Uachtaráin, go raibh maith agaibh go léir.

Mr President, the situation in Palestine is dire and the Israeli regime is making conditions in Palestine difficult for any free and democratic government to function. In the West Bank, nearly 200 permanent checkpoints, scores of barriers, a draconian permit regime – all supported by a repressive biometric surveillance system – continues to control and divide families. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are at risk of forced eviction by the Israelis, who, in parallel, kill innocents and destroy refugee camps and homes. It is a shame that today I was forced to vote against the report on Palestine, courtesy of deplorable amendments by the ECR, trying to wrongly link legitimate criticism of the Israeli state with antisemitism, whilst ignoring Israeli crimes and suffocation of Palestinian statehood and democratic government. It seems they are content as mouthpieces for the Israeli regime. However, be clear on this: there are many of us who will continue to challenge you as apologists for annexation, apartheid and occupation.

Mr President, the Nature Restoration Law endorsed today was an important step in placing the reversing of widespread loss of flora and fauna to the top of the agenda. But we must ensure that farmers are fully involved in this process. We need to address their concerns. The Parliament’s endorsement of Sinn Féin’s amendment on having a national socio-economic impact assessment to tailor any measures or plan to suit Irish food producers is a welcome one. However, for this law to make headway, we need to be pragmatic. It is crucial that the Irish Government and the EU ensure that there will be voluntary rewetting, safeguarding of Irish family farmers’ livelihoods, especially our hill farmers and participation of stakeholders in decision-making on any measures and plans locally. Further new dedicated funding and revenue streams for farmers, foresters and fishers alike to incentivise rather than penalise. This needs to be part of any final package, and we in Sinn Féin will keep pushing for these.

Madam President, in Palestine, we have again seen over our airwaves the Israeli military committing gross breaches of international law and standards on the use of force, which may constitute a war crime. These are not my words, but the words of representatives of the United Nations, when last week in Jenin, Israeli forces murdered a dozen Palestinians. Five were children, many more badly wounded. So why does the EU not act? Is it because of Netanyahu supporters in the EU, some here in Parliament, many over here on the right of this Chamber? The very same people who denied the Netanyahu Government’s crimes against humanity and disregard for international law, denied the human rights of Palestinians and the principle of recognition of Palestinian statehood. The EU must intervene. The Israeli regime’s colonisation of more territory with illegal settlements, their intensification of apartheid and systematic slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children — it must end.