Speeches

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.

President, COP30 is at a critical juncture for our people and planet with rising global temperatures and rising climate disasters. The profit forces are trying to get real climate action on their way. We need to talk about this issue - the military industry. With the power of the military industry in Europe growing, let us not forget that they profit from death and are responsible for the climate crisis and environmental destruction. Global military emissions account for 5.5% of global employment, excluding armed conflict itself. The European army industry and its supporters in this room are trying to betray our planet and our climate action. We now need to call for real action on military emissions and the military industrial complex that profits from burning our planet.

A Uachtaráin, 11 days ago, we welcomed the ceasefire, but since then, 153 tons of bombs have dropped on Gaza. 62 is the number of Israeli occupation forces shooting incidents in the West Bank. 67 000 is the very conservative estimate for Palestinians killed, unknown is the number under the rubble. 169 000 is the number of Palestinians injured, 4 000 is the number of children who have lost limbs. 154 is the number of children who have died from starvation. 355 is the number of bullets fired at Hind Rajab by the Israeli occupation forces. 1 722 is the number of health and aid workers murdered. 34 is the number of hospitals attacked. Almost 300 is the number of journalists and media workers murdered. 2 is the number of ICC arrest warrants for members of the Israeli Government. 0 is the number of actions taken by the European Union. This ceasefire cannot be an excuse for the EU to sit on its hands. Now is the time for the EU to restore its credibility and to end its complicity in this genocide. There can be no peace without justice – there must be accountability for the lives behind these numbers. Their lives have to mean something. So please, EU, there must be accountability.

A Uachtaráin, the legacy of the Palestinian genocide, the systematic failure of political leadership and, in some cases, the EU's act of complicity will have ramifications for decades. First and foremost, the profound trauma of mass displacement, of the loss of multiple generations of families, of tens of thousands of orphans, of forced starvation will be catastrophic. Palestinians may never be able to forgive the Western and Arab world, but it is not just Palestinians. Across Europe, young and old have taken to the streets in ever increasing numbers. They have been beaten and criminalised for standing up for international law. More than 100 civilians, EU civilians and three Members of this House were illegally abducted by Israel for trying to do what their governments should have been doing, which was to end the illegal blockade, and neither the Council nor the Commission thought to mention them today. How is this that a small, oppressive foreign regime built on racism and violent ideology has been able to infiltrate our institutions and dominate our foreign and domestic policy to create a situation where the freedoms, interests and wishes of our own citizens have been trampled on? We absolutely need the killing to stop, but this peace plan is colonialism. Gaza does not need a viceroy, and certainly not one who prosecuted an illegal war in Iraq. Gaza needs to be free from occupation, and Palestinians need to be treated with respect and given the autonomy for their own future. International law is the only framework for peace. Palestinians need more than EU money. They need justice.

A Uachtaráin, Ireland's energy system should serve as a cautionary tale to others in the EU, because 20 years ago, Ireland had one of the lowest energy costs in the EU, and today we have some of the highest. And why is that? It is because government after government has chased the big tech and data centres to establish themselves in Ireland. Not just have they led to increasing energy costs, there is also a moral cost to this. Microsoft's Irish data centres were sucking our grid dry and they were powering cloud and AI systems used by Israel's war machine to facilitate the genocide in Gaza. Data centres also take up a huge toll on the environment. The EU conducted an official assessment of the sustainability of Irish data centres, and only 1 in 6 of those centres even bothered reporting. So it is outrageous that Ireland – the highest concentration of data centres in Europe – has failed so badly at even basic reporting. Not only are they worsening emissions and driving up energy costs, they are now preventing housing from being connected to the grid. I would urge colleagues to be wary of encouraging data centres onto your grids.

A Uachtaráin, the EU must not take reactionary measures to what is an extremely volatile presidency that's hell-bent on enriching the billionaires around him. So standing firm is just as important as any countermeasures. The EU needs to hold its nerve. Trump and the US cannot be allowed to dictate laws to the rest of the world. His latest announcements on pharmaceuticals are deeply concerning for workers in Ireland, and they will only hurt families and workers. It is important not to bow to bullies, and I would call on Ireland to resist the pressure and the baseless accusations that are being levelled at it from the US Administration for upholding international law and enacting the Occupied Territories Bill to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements. The tariff war should instead be used to reset trade politics that delivers for people, communities, and social and environmental progress. And it also hasn't gone unnoticed that the Commission is trying to exploit the crisis to plough ahead with deals that have widespread public opposition – deals like Mercosur or those that contain corporate courts, like CETA, and have been found to be unconstitutional in Ireland.

A Uachtaráin, the EU must not take reactionary measures to what is an extremely volatile presidency that's hell-bent on enriching the billionaires around him. So standing firm is just as important as any countermeasures. The EU needs to hold its nerve. Trump and the US cannot be allowed to dictate laws to the rest of the world. His latest announcements on pharmaceuticals are deeply concerning for workers in Ireland, and they will only hurt families and workers. It is important not to bow to bullies, and I would call on Ireland to resist the pressure and the baseless accusations that are being levelled at it from the US Administration for upholding international law and enacting the Occupied Territories Bill to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements. The tariff war should instead be used to reset trade politics that delivers for people, communities, and social and environmental progress. And it also hasn't gone unnoticed that the Commission is trying to exploit the crisis to plough ahead with deals that have widespread public opposition – deals like Mercosur or those that contain corporate courts, like CETA, and have been found to be unconstitutional in Ireland.

A Uachtaráin, we're now at a point where gunning down hungry people as they desperately try to get aid is a daily occurrence. There was international shock the first time, but just like with the bombing of the first hospital, when there are no consequences for Israel, they are emboldened and they carry on. 700 Palestinians have now been slaughtered at aid sites; baby formula is blocked. They are literally starving babies to death, and still the EU does not act. In fact, instead of holding Israel to account, President von der Leyen has Netanyahu, a war criminal, on speed dial, and she's actively encouraging him to carry out Illegal strikes on Iran. There is more outrage from EU leaders about artists calling out a genocide than there is against those who are actually carrying out that genocide. Solidarity with Palestine is being criminalised and the EU is sacrificing its civil liberties to support Israel. But Palestinian solidarity grows stronger every day. The people won't be silenced. The people are demanding suspension of trade with Israel. The people are demanding sanctions against Israel. The people are demanding an end to their complicity with Israel's war crime and its genocide, and they are demanding that their EU leaders act and listen to them.

A Uachtaráin, I welcome that the Parliament is challenging the Commission's use of Article 122 of the TFEU to adopt the SAFE Regulation. The Commission chose this mechanism for the very purpose of bypassing parliamentary scrutiny, and it is a wholly inappropriate mechanism for defence spending. Article 122 is supposed to help Member States in the event of difficulties in the supply of certain products, like energy, or for natural disasters. It is not for the use of defence spending. But it is not the first time that the Commission has done this. They've also wrongly used Article 173 as the legal basis for the ASAP Regulation, which is effectively a EUR 500 million slush fund for the arms industry. This Commission is hell bent on funnelling as much public money as possible into the hugely profitable arms industry, while people across Europe are facing a cost-of-living crisis. We must stand up for democratic scrutiny and for public money to be used to address the cost of living, not the needs of ultra wealthy arms companies.

A Uachtaráin, I welcome this debate on enlargement, as EU membership is a discussion that's happening in many regions across the continent – regions like the north of Ireland. Here the debate is coupled with the conversation around Irish reunification. This is an oven-ready, straightforward enlargement. The EU Council has already agreed – in the event of Irish reunification – the readmission of the north of Ireland. The conversation on reunification is taking place across the island of Ireland, in both public and private forums. Its special status is already recognised in international agreements. It's only a small step to reintegration into the EU. The conversation on unity has been heightened since the people of the North were forced out of the EU against their will by the Brexit vote. It is now time for the British Government to set definitive criteria for a unity referendum. The north of Ireland is a developed region which spent decades in the EU. The next enlargement could be about welcoming back the people of the North. However, I urge caution: an enlarged EU must be one that upholds the values that it claims to hold: that means respect for Member States' foreign policy and their policy of neutrality, and that means respect for international law and human rights.

Madam President, on a point of order, the keffiyeh is not a political statement. Is it against the rules of this House to have a Ukrainian flag or a pin on our lapels? Would somebody call on us to remove that? People are more annoyed about symbols than they are about starving babies!

Madam President, I stand here today to do what EU leaders won't do, and that is to apologise to the people of Gaza and Palestine. I'm sorry that it has taken tens of thousands of deaths and the imminent death of 14 000 starving babies just so that the European Commission can agree to review an association agreement that should have been suspended years ago. I'm sorry that the EU countries continue to send the bombs and weapons that shred your children to pieces, and that there's no accountability for their complicity in your mass murder. I'm sorry that over a year after the ICJ ruled that there was a credible risk of genocide against your people, EU leaders have failed to agree a single sanction against Israel. I'm sorry that EU leaders have refused to enforce the ICC arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the war criminals responsible for the genocide against you. I am sorry that you are starving while a few kilometres away, Zionists dine in the finest restaurants. To the children of Gaza, I am sorry that the EU's complicity and the moral cowardice of our leaders have resulted in your childhoods being stolen, your bodies being starved and broken, and your brutal murder. I want you to know that the public stand with you. We stand with you against the complicity of our leaders. Outside these institutions, people are making it clear they will never accept the normalisation of genocide or the violation of international law. We have not abandoned you. 'Never again' means 'never again' for anyone! (The President cut off the speaker)

A Uachtaráin, I abstained on the discharge because the attached resolution is totally out of touch with reality. In the last number of days, the Israeli Government has agreed plans to permanently occupy Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, was attacked and the Israeli authorities are carrying out a mass starvation program in Gaza. Food is rotting at the border, while only a number of miles away, children are starving. The Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Mike Ryan, has said that the world is breaking the bodies and minds of the children in Gaza as a result of the inaction and complicity of many world leaders. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla recognises what EU leaders did not. You do not stand by while children are starving. You do not stand by while they are shredded to pieces, as they are bombed in tents. And you do not stand by with those who carry out these crimes against humanity. It's time to end the EU complicity!

A Uachtaráin, Commissioner, when it comes to the EU's response to Trump's tariffs, it's essential that all Member States, including smaller ones like Ireland, are taken into consideration. The collective response must be one that protects workers, that funds and encourages upskilling and that does not pursue the same anti-worker, anti-environment, Trump-lite deregulation agenda. We also cannot exploit this crisis to increase LNG imports or to advance trade deals like Mercosur or the ratification of CETA. Deforestation, food laden with chemicals and corporate courts will not protect workers in Europe, but it will protect the profits of the few. Now is the time for fair, sustainable trade, which does not leave us exposed to the whims of oligarchs or serve the interests of corporates. Instead, it serves the interests of workers and families in Europe.

A Uachtaráin, I voted against this report because it shows just how committed European leaders are to militarisation and the arms race. The EU is founded as a peace project. Indeed, in the Schuman Declaration, it was said that the pooling of coal and steel production will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims. Now we have European countries withdrawing from the Cluster Munitions Convention and the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention. In their desperation to give more and more public money to the arms industry, European leaders will next propose cutting public services. A better Europe is possible, one envisaged from 75 years ago, one that is committed to peace and one that defends the international institutions that were born out of the war – those institutions like the ICJ, the ICC and the UN.

A Uachtaráin, I'd like to welcome VP Kallas here today, given her notable absence at recent debates. And today I want to compare what Israel says with what Israel does, seeing as the Commission is unable to make that distinction. Israel claims it facilitates humanitarian aid entering Gaza. Yet all entry points into Gaza are closed for cargo since early March. At the border, food is rotting, medicine is expiring and vital medical equipment is trapped. Israel originally denied bombing the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. It has now attacked all hospitals in Gaza. Israel denies targeting journalists, yet they've killed over 200 journalists in Gaza. Israel denies killing humanitarian workers, yet they've murdered 15 paramedics and aid workers one by one and buried them in a shallow grave, some of them with their hands bound. Under the EU's watch, Israel has normalised genocide and contempt for international law. When will the EU find its humanity and stand up to this rogue state. Sanction Israel, free Palestine!

A Uachtaráin, the decision by the Israeli Government to cut off electricity to Gaza is just the latest in a series of actions designed to make life for Palestinians unliveable. The decades-long illegal occupation and the 18-year blockade and siege of Gaza have all been allowed to continue because of the inaction of the international community, and that includes the EU. 'Attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes': those are not my words, those are the words of the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who rightfully called out Russia but refuses to call out Israel when they deprive Palestinians of water, food and electricity. War crimes are war crimes, and international law applies to everyone. The obvious double standards that we are seeing are undermining the EU's credibility across the world and even with its own citizens. The provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in weighing the allegation of genocide brought against Israel specifically referred to the facilitation of aid deliveries. In the International Criminal Court, one of the charges against Netanyahu is that he is using starvation as a method of warfare. We had the Association Council meeting in February, and some of us naively thought that maybe some strong words would be said to the Israeli authorities; maybe they would be asked to uphold international law. But instead, what we have seen is that things have gotten worse since that meeting. Israel is escalating its violation of international law. So the question is: when is the EU going to finally stand up for international law and human rights?