Speeches

At this stage the Commission has stretched the word “simplification” so far it has lost all meaning. Nothing in this proposal will simplify life for ordinary people. It will make life easier for Big Tech to exploit extensive loopholes. This Digital Omnibus is not simplification; it is deregulation and corporate capture dressed as reform. Europe’s data-protection and AI safeguards are being weakened, not for small business owners but for corporate convenience. This is an attack on the privacy rights of EU citizens. Under this package, the compliance deadlines for high-risk AI, from biometric identification to credit-scoring systems, are delayed. Proposed changes to the GDPR risk narrowing what counts as personal data, allowing companies to treat information once protected, as something they can reuse. This is being sold to the public as a fix for cookie-banner fatigue. The real choice is far more serious: do we allow corporations to mine and repurpose sensitive personal data under an ever-expanding notion of “legitimate interest,” with less transparency and fewer safeguards than today? Whose interests are we defending? Certainly not those of the public. This hands another advantage to surveillance capitalism. Europe should strengthen digital rights, not dilute them to satisfy Big Tech billionaires.

Well, I do come from a working-class background in Tallaght in south-west Dublin and, unfortunately, you're right that it is in working-class areas that we see a lot more nitrous oxide canisters. I think we need to also invest. So while we need to restrict the nitrous oxide sales, we also need to invest in our working-class communities. We need to invest in providing community services for young people so that they have alternatives to using nitrous oxide. So you're right: this action that we're calling for today won't address the systemic problem of inequality that we have in society.

A Uachtaráin, I do welcome this important discussion on nitrous oxide. The so‑called laughing gas we know is a growing threat to public health and young people are particularly impacted. Nitrous oxide canisters with sweet flavours are being marketed at children. Inhaling nitrous oxide, as others have said, can cause sensory issues, heart problems, mental health issues and even long‑term spinal cord injuries. Added to this, we do have the littering, the greenhouse gas emissions from the nitrous oxide, the cost of the waste management and the risk to worker safety when they explode in waste processing centres. So, it is promising that the Commission is working on the EU‑wide restriction, but at national level, we can also have practical laws to manage access to nitrous oxide. This week, we heard how Ireland was a leader when it came to introducing Coco's Law. I think, again, Ireland has the opportunity to become a European leader in regulating the sale of nitrous oxide. My Sinn Féin colleague, Mark Ward, has proposed legislation that would restrict its sale to authorised users, while banning the sale of nitrous oxide to under 18s. Unfortunately, the Irish Government has chosen to delay this legislation. Every week that nitrous oxide goes unregulated, the damage to young people's health, worker safety and our environment increases. So, it is unfathomable why Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will not act now to protect young people and progress the sale of nitrous oxide bill while we await our Commission colleagues to bring forward their proposals.

A Uachtaráin, as Israel and the United States illegally attack Iran, and as the Israeli Government violates the sovereignty of Lebanon and displaces more than 700 000 people – 200 000 of whom are children; as Trump unleashes the brutal hand of imperialism on Latin America, the role of the International Criminal Court has never been more important. The EU has done nothing as the ICC has been attacked and its judges have been sanctioned for doing their jobs. The EU has failed to defend the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, as she has been attacked and sanctioned for telling the truth about the genocidal Israeli regime. The ICC is a cornerstone of international law and accountability for war crimes. Their work must be respected and the arrest warrants for war criminals like Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant must be executed. If we do not defend the ICC and international law, then the horrors that we see in the Middle East and in Latin America will eventually come for all of us.

A Uachtaráin, the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference comes at a pivotal moment for the multilateral trading system. Yes, reform of the WTO is absolutely needed, but what is being suggested is a power grab by the world's wealthiest countries. This will only further disadvantage the Global South, and it will orient trade towards the profits of large corporations, rather than for the benefit of ordinary citizens. The push by the United States to move away from consensus decision-making, to abandon the most-favoured-nation for more plurilateral agreements and to attack development will undermine the multilateral trading system. We want to see reform of the WTO so that it can really deliver sustainable and fair trade, and if we do not defend multilateralism as a core principle of global trade, then we are ceding any sustainable future to the whims of the US. The EU's approach to date has been too deferential to Donald Trump and his cronies, and we must stand up for multilateralism and for real reform and not a power grab.

A Uachtaráin, when we look at everything that's justified as 'cutting red tape' today, we have to admit that we're really just cutting our social and environmental protections. The environmental omnibus strips down the permitting rules for anything strategic, and so-called 'strategic' defence infrastructure, airports and data centres will not help the green transition. In Ireland, data centres are pushing up the price of electricity for ordinary households and they're blowing a hole in Ireland's climate targets. The Industrial Accelerator Act wants to reduce permitting requirements for all factories in acceleration areas – despite our growing awareness that industrial pollution is destroying people's soils, water and health across the EU. At the same time, access to justice is being restricted by legal tools. Sweeping cuts to environmental rules and public participation will not give us a stable, just energy transition. For example, what we need is better resourcing of the planning system, not blocking people's rights to access justice. This simplification obsession will bring errors – but errors that will be felt for decades to come.

A Uachtaráin, on Saturday, an RSF drone attack murdered at least 24 people, including eight children, in the North Kordofan province. These people were refugees fleeing war and a humanitarian catastrophe, but this is only the latest in a series of drone attacks on humanitarian convoys, as violence in Sudan continues to escalate following the massacre at El-Fasher in October. Right now, Sudan's health system is on the brink of collapse, and an estimated 33.7 million people – around two thirds of the population – are expected to need humanitarian assistance in 2026. The EU must work to end this conflict and must hold to account those who are arming and fuelling this conflict, and this includes the United Arab Emirates, with whom the Commission seem content to begin negotiations around a free trade agreement, and whom this Parliament lacked the courage to criticise in our last resolution on Sudan. Human rights should be non-negotiable, but more and more it seems that the EU is willing to trade those human rights away.

A Uachtaráin, I voted in favour of this report. However, one of the most fundamental human rights which this report does not cover is the right to self-determination. For the Palestinian people, we consistently see that right ignored by the EU and other global powers. Trump's so-called 'Board of Peace' is more a blatant form of colonial rule in Gaza: there are no Palestinians on this board, and we have the likes of Tony Blair, Jared Kushner and now a man with an ICC arrest warrant out for him, Benjamin Netanyahu. The man responsible for the genocide is on a 'board of peace'. This is colonial plundering and the EU has said nothing. Self-determination for the Palestinian people is non-negotiable: the people of Gaza have survived over two years of Israeli genocide and are now being forced to suffer a new coloniser. Trump is charging countries who want a permanent seat at the table USD 1 billion. This is not a peace process, it is colonial rule by mercenaries.

A Uachtaráin, the EU-India summit comes at a crucial time for international cooperation and diplomacy. Engagement with India is vital, and I hope that the Commission will look to other international partners that we can cooperate constructively with, instead of the tendency to rely completely on the United States to shape our diplomatic initiatives. On the specifics to be discussed, I am concerned to see that one of the first issues mentioned in the Council conclusions from October on the strategic EU-India agenda is security. I believe that this embodies the manner in which the EU's militaristic agenda is shaping how it acts on the world stage. When engaging with any country, the very first things the EU should be discussing is human rights, international law and climate action. The EU should also be looking at how it can support peacebuilding in the region. All of us welcome the ceasefire between India and Pakistan following armed conflict last May, but I want to see the EU being active in genuine peacebuilding efforts. On human rights, I hope that the Commission will be raising the significant human rights issues at the summit and, in particular, that the EU should be highlighting the ethnic discrimination, the gender equality and the need to ensure a right to a healthy environment for all citizens. As a member of INTA, I am watching with great interest to see what kind of trade agreement might be concluded at the summit. We are not opposed to trade. We want fair trade, which supports sustainable economic development. But in scrutinising the final agreement, we must ensure that whatever is agreed is fully compliant with the EU legal order, including climate legislation, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and GDPR.

Madam President, the actions of the United States and Venezuela just illustrate the broader imperialistic stance of Donald Trump and his cronies towards Latin America. The reality is that they have kidnapped the Venezuelan Head of State and his wife, and have killed 83 civilians in the process. The actions of the United States are illegal under international law, and they are a thinly veiled attempt to engage in a large-scale resource grab in Venezuela. This is not about human rights, it's about oil and protecting power in the region. The EU's à la carte approach to international law is once again on display, and the failure of the EU to condemn the actions of Donald Trump is pure cowardice. Only the Venezuelans should have the right to decide on their future. The EU must stand against US imperialism everywhere it rears its ugly head. And as for the Irish Government, they need to kick the US military out of Shannon and defend Ireland's neutrality and protect international law.

A Uachtaráin, attacks on humanitarian workers are escalating across the globe. 2024 was the deadliest year for humanitarian workers on record, specifically, in the case of Palestine, where at least 531 humanitarian workers, including 366 United Nations personnel, were killed in the Gaza Strip between October 2023 and August 2025. We have an October 2025 ICJ advisory opinion, which clarifies quite clearly what the international law obligations of Israel are on facilitating humanitarian access and protecting humanitarian workers. The EU must now act to ensure that this advisory opinion is implemented, and that there is no more impunity for attacks on humanitarian workers. Also this year alone, 93 journalists have been killed and I commend all the journalists working in places such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan who risk their lives to ensure that no one can claim ignorance of the violent acts being committed. But we also see journalists threatened and forced into exile and escalating attacks on journalists covering areas such as environmental destruction. And what is really worrying is, again, the impunity for attacks on journalists, with most perpetrators going unpunished. I recall the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022, and the fact that there has never been any accountability for her murder. The EU must hold state and non-state actors to account when they target journalists and ensure there is accountability and justice, regardless of which state is committing the war crimes.

Mr President, as we approach Christmas, many in this Chamber will look forward to spending time with their children to holding them tight. For Palestinian children, however, there is no safe place: 2025 has seen Palestinian children endure genocide, starvation, torture, mass displacement, enforced disappearance and relentless violence from settlers and the IDF. In the West Bank, the IDF has killed 54 children. Amir was shot seven times. The paramedics were blocked from reaching him while he was still alive. In Gaza, the situation is catastrophic: now home to the highest number of child amputees in the world, the children of Gaza face deep psychological trauma. Two-week-old Mohammad has died of hypothermia while tents continue to be blocked from entry. The genocidal Israeli regime is responsible for this barbarism, but so too is the EU, who has done nothing to hold Israel accountable, and who turns a blind eye to the foreign money that's funding Israeli lobbyists ELNET to shape EU policy, to spread disinformation and to pay for MEP junkets. Shame!

A Uachtaráin, in Ireland, thousands of much-needed new homes have been blocked from connecting to the electricity grid by data centres. Earlier this year, because of information requests that I made, I was able to reveal that the Minister for Energy had been warned that data centres would jeopardise the housing targets by taking up all the remaining spare capacity on the electricity grid. This was as a result of a first-come, first-serve policy, which ultimately favours big corporations with deep pockets, allowing them to secure grid access for their speculative projects while blocking desperately needed housing projects – this at a time when Ireland faces record levels of homelessness. When I challenged this, I was told that the EU rules mean that homes could not be prioritised even in a housing crisis – this is madness and it must change. System operators like the Electricity Supply Board must be able to have the discretion to put housing before data centres, and I hope that the grid package will deliver on this reform.

Madam President, the EDIP regulation is another giveaway to the arms industry, but this time we're not only giving them taxpayers' money, but we're also sacrificing our environmental and workers' rights protections, in order that weapons companies can make even more money. This regulation, as others have said, steamrolls over the Habitats Directive, water quality legislation and the Working Time Directive. The proposed defence security of supply board is an undemocratic front for the arms industry, who are being handed a huge amount of power with zero accountability. Let us be very clear: the top 100 arms companies are earning more money every single year. They earned USD 632 billion in 2023 alone. This proposal is an attempt to give them even more money and more power as they destroy our planet. This regulation is corporate capture personified, and I urge colleagues, for the sake of democracy and the citizens we represent, to vote against it. I would also remind colleagues in this House that I come from a country that is militarily neutral, so we do not want a European army, the EU is not a member of NATO, and let that not be forgotten. We are a neutral state and deserve respect.

Madam President, today, ten countries have not ratified the CETA trade agreement. Yet the Irish Government is getting ready to bring forward amendments to its Arbitration Act to ratify CETA and effectively bring investor courts to Ireland. Ratifying CETA and introducing investor courts so that large multinationals can sue our countries would be a disaster for housing, for climate, for workers' rights, for public health, and so much more. All of the free-trade elements of CETA have been in effect for years, all that remains are the dangerous corporate courts. Why are the Irish Government so hellbent on introducing corporate kangaroo courts that ordinary citizens cannot access? These courts have awarded sums exceeding USD 100 million in more than a quarter of all cases won by the corporations. The Irish Government seems unable to stand up and say 'no' to corporate courts, they have not withdrawn from the Energy Charter Treaty and are now facing a case from Predator Oil & Gas. So the Irish people will always say 'no' to CETA and 'no' to the corporate courts.

A Uachtaráin, as we debate the Barcelona Process and the pact for the Mediterranean, Israel is still murdering Palestinians in Gaza and dropping bombs on a civilian population. The Israeli government is escalating the de facto annexation of the West Bank, and the illegal Israeli settlers are still inflicting extreme violence on Palestinian communities in order to steal their land. In the communications around the new pact for the Mediterranean, the Commission claimed that it is a pact built on listening. They are clearly not listening to the screams of Palestinian children being murdered by Israel. They are not listening to the International Court of Justice, which has clearly said that we should ban trade with the settlements, and they are not listening to their own citizens, who do not want to be complicit in genocide and apartheid. The Commission is ignoring its duties under international law, and this new pact demonstrates its willingness to return to business as usual with a genocidal regime. Israel should be excluded from the pact. It should not be able to benefit from any of the three pillars of funding while it continues to murder Palestinians, maintain an apartheid regime, and actively sabotage all efforts towards peace and justice.

A Uachtaráin, I rise to make a point of order under Rules 2 and 229 of our Rules of Procedure. As Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Palestine, I have been banned by the Israeli authorities for five years. Three members of the delegation are now blocked from participating in their mandate and from going on missions to Palestine. There have also been defamatory comments made about myself by Israeli authorities and about civil servants who work for this institution. All of this is a deliberate attempt by the Israeli Government to frustrate the work of the delegation, which is a part of this institution, and it is an insult to the institution. Therefore I am asking you, President Metsola, to please make a public statement condemning this ban by Israel and also to take reciprocal actions. We cannot have Israeli politicians coming into this House when they refuse to allow the politicians who are elected to this institution to do their job.