Speeches

Mr President, Ireland has become a complete outlier when it comes to data centres. This week, another report showed how data centres are undermining our climate and our energy goals. Since 2017, Ireland has added significant wind energy, but the climate benefit has been erased as data centres devour it instead of displacing fossil fuels. Worse, data centres are increasingly connecting now to the gas grid in Ireland, creating a blind spot in carbon planning and widening the gap between Ireland's climate targets and our actual emissions. We are also offshoring our emissions to Britain, which is further obscuring their true climate impact. The Energy Efficiency Directive requires governments to register data centres by this autumn, offering a chance for some transparency. Yet Ireland and most Member States have failed to act. Germany and the Netherlands have created databases, but they remain incomplete. So while households are being pushed to change, big tech escapes accountability. Without urgent action to curb our energy impact, data centres will leave our climate and our energy targets in tatters.

Mr President, as a shadow rapporteur, I would like to thank Ms Cavazzini for her work on this file. For far too long, ISDS have been shrouded in secrecy and back-room dealings, seeking to undermine the work of governments across the world. And while this is a welcome first step, we must go much further. Corporate courts serve only the interests of profit and seek to undermine the public good at every turn. We must also recognise that corporate courts represent a new and insidious form of colonialism. UN Trade and Development has highlighted that developing countries are faced with a majority of claims most often brought by companies from wealthy countries, so corporate courts also serve the interests of climate criminals, with fossil fuel companies having historically secured at least USD 82.8 billion in damages. The EU withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty is welcome, but what we need to do is end corporate courts completely to stop corporate joints running roughshod over our policy-making process. Our public court systems are more than fit for purpose.

A Uachtaráin, the international order is very clear. Targeted attacks against civilian infrastructure, with the clear aim to cut off men, women and children from water, electricity and heating are pure acts of terror. These are war crimes. I absolutely agree, and so did President von der Leyen, because they are her words in October 2022. However, fast forward to November 2024 and the ICC have issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, citing starvation and the deliberate deprivation of food, water and medical supplies to a civilian population as the basis for the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yet there has been radio silence from President von der Leyen and frankly, the mealy-mouthed responses from some Member States have been shameful. The EU's credibility is in shreds, not just in Palestine and the Global South, but even within its own Member States. Israel is driving a coach and horses through the institutions of international law and multilateralism, and they are being aided and abetted by these institutions. Arming Israel is complicity with genocide. Trading with Israel is complicity. Absence of sanctions is complicity. International law depends on the willingness of governments to support justice, no matter where the abuses are committed or by whom. The failure to defend international law is a threat to all of us. This is not about politics, it's not about personalities – it's about justice. It's time to sanction Israel.

Mr President, I'll pick up where my colleague has left off, because the EU has certainly thrown its sustainability commitments under the bus, and it appears to have done so for the sake of a rotten trade deal. First, the Commission proposes to delay the deforestation regulation, which just so happens to help pave the way for Mercosur. And now the EPP – never one to waste an opportunity – are trying to gut the deforestation regulation. Deforestation will not be Mercosur's only victim, though: this agreement will lead to more biodiversity destruction, more human rights violations against indigenous people, more carbon emissions, and we also know that it will negatively impact on EU farmers. We need a blocking minority of Member States to stop Mercosur. Unfortunately, the Irish Government said they were part of that blocking minority, but it now appears they're speaking out of both sides of their mouth, where most recent responses in the parliament are that they are in favour of the Mercosur trade agreement. So let them answer to the farmers back in Ireland about how they defend this terrible deal!

Mr President, the COP process is losing credibility. This week we saw world leaders not show up and the COP29 CEO has been filmed agreeing to fossil fuel deals at the summit. Fossil fuel phase‑out is essential, yet 132 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP28. They were facilitated with their badges provided by EU Member States and the European Commission. Last week, Mr Hoekstra, I asked you about this – you can carry on your conversation there, but anyway, I asked you – and you claimed that there was no interaction between lobbyists and the Commission. This is patently untrue. One of the Commission‑organised panels featured Kadri Simson, Ditte Juul Jørgensen and an ENI‑invited representative. That happened at COP28. Fossil fuel companies have heard and denied climate science for decades and have an arsenal of climate delaying tactics. They're coming to COP for one reason and one reason only, and that's to delay climate action further. So no more access badges for fossil fuel lobbyists!

A Uachtaráin, we meet yet again to discuss Israel's escalating assault on Lebanon and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The EU must now reckon with its own ethical and moral failures, because it has been 'business as usual' with the Israeli Government as they have engaged in the most egregious breaches of international law. And yes, last week, the European Council condemned the attack on UNIFIL. But the question is: who attacked UNIFIL? It was the IDF who attacked them, and it was deliberate. As an Irish MEP, I want to express concern for the 379 Irish soldiers in UNIFIL and commend them for their bravery. The EU remains the largest trading partner of a country that violates human rights on a daily basis, that deliberately targets UN personnel, that wages an escalating campaign of brutality in north Gaza. How have we reached a point where burning patients alive in their hospital beds is not a red line for the EU? Where is the EU's moral compass? This week, we will see shameful attacks in this House; attempts to attack and undermine UNRWA – the last lifeline for the Palestinian people. UNRWA provides essential services, including education, health care and support, for 5.9 million refugees. And I can tell you now, the public are on the right side of history. They have taken to the streets to demand sanctions, to demand the application of international law and for a permanent ceasefire. So now, no more double standards, no more impunity and no more hypocrisy from European leaders.

Mr President, energy is not a luxury that people can do without, and energy poverty is widespread across the EU. But after decades of privatisation, Ireland now has some of the highest energy prices within the EU and people are struggling more than ever before. Over half a million Irish customers are behind on gas and electricity payments. This is the highest level we've seen, years after energy prices first spiked after the Ukraine war. Irish households alone owe almost EUR 160 million to energy companies. What has been the response both at the EU and the national level? A few temporary credits and a bit of tinkering around with the market, hoping that it would somehow magically fix itself. But it hasn't and it won't. Those in positions of power at the EU and national level have chosen a system that leaves people at the mercy of big, profitable energy companies. It's time to face the facts: the system is failing. That is why we need real EU market reform that puts the public before profit and gives households the relief that they deserve.

President, the people of Gaza are recalling a full year of genocide. One year of brutal violence against civilians. Following recent controls by the ICJ, the EU needs to take action. It must suspend trade and impose sanctions. The attack on Lebanon is a dangerous escalation. It ignores the shameless situation in the lives of civilians. Ireland is a neutral country. We have a proud history of peacekeeping in Lebanon. On Sunday, Israel repeatedly ignored UNIFIL warnings that they were putting at risk the safety of peacekeepers.

Madam President, prior to 7 October 2023 was one of the most violent years for Palestinians in over a decade. Israeli soldiers had murdered 247 Palestinians, 47 of whom were children. But there was no EU outcry. In fact, for over 16 years, the Israeli authorities have violently imposed an illegal blockade on the people of Gaza, something the EU was aware of, but took no action. The war in Gaza did not start on 7 October. Israel has repeatedly trounced international law and committed war crimes without any consequence for years. And if the EU really believed in the rule of law and human rights, the EU-Israel Association Agreement would have been scrapped long ago, and sanctions would have been swift and harsh. But unfortunately EU double standards are the norm when it comes to Israel. However, the acts of barbarism that we are witnessing in Gaza right now are beyond our comprehension. Genocide is being live-streamed into our homes, and not a single person in this Chamber or any of the EU institutions can say that they didn't know, that they were not aware. A 649-page document documents the names and ages of those recently slaughtered by Israeli forces. The first 14 pages are the names of those under one year of age. Babies! 14 pages of dead babies! So the question for the EU today is: does it recognise the International Criminal Court? Does it recognise the International Court of Justice? Will it abide by its decisions? And if so, then it is time for Israel to finally be held to account.

A Uachtaráin, the rule of law is the glue that binds our union together. Those are your words, Madam von der Leyen. So why is it that, in your eyes, some people are more equal in law than others? Why is it that human rights are applicable in some conflicts but not others? Why are the lives of Palestinians not worthy of the same human rights, the same international law, the same humanity? We are witnessing the most documented genocide in history, and still there are no consequences for Israel. When you declared Europe stands with Israel, when you stood shoulder to shoulder with Netanyahu, you greenlighted this genocide. The double standards, the hypocrisy with how you reacted to the conflict in Ukraine compared to Gaza has done untold damage on the world stage to the European Union. There has been no sanctions, no suspension of trade. In fact, EU money and arms continue to flow to Israel. 40 000 civilians slaughtered, children burned alive in their tents and still no consequences. Colleagues today – say no to genocide and say no to von der Leyen!