What Clare spoke about.

3 May

2022

EN Speech

Impact of Russian illegal war of aggression against Ukraine on the EU transport and tourism sectors (debate)

Watch

Mr President, we acknowledge the devastation of the horrible illegal war, but what I found shocking is that there’s not a single sentence in this motion designed to assist in ending it. Instead, we see this transport sector subordinated to the war effort and nothing for the 11 million transport workers who are already reeling under the impact of COVID. We see in this new EU war fever that the Comm…

3 May

2022

EN Speech

EU preparedness against cyber-attacks following Russia invasion on Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, I think if we are worried about cybersecurity, then it’s a mistake to think of it solely in terms of cyber defence. Not all cybersecurity threats are state actors. Some are purely engineering problems. Some are problems with how our economy works. And we’re approaching everything as a defence issue. We may overlook this and undermine our actual cybersecurity. We have allowed a thrivi…

3 May

2022

EN Speech

Artificial intelligence in a digital age (debate)

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Madam President, I think there’s no doubt about it that AI has the potential to positively transform the situation for humankind. We see this particularly in the fields of medicine and scientific research, but if maintained in the hands of private companies for private profit, then that societal gain is very much limited. These are the circumstances which give rise to the undermining of workers’ r…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Watch

Mr President, I think there is a terrible irony that as Europe focuses on the war in Ukraine, almost without notice the journalist who more than anyone else exposed war crimes by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan, Julian Assange, has had his extradition case dealt with quietly, without comment, without fanfare, paving the way for him to be extradited to the United States to face espionage ca…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

A sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of fisheries and aquaculture (short presentation)

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Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteur very much for her work. I think in an Irish context, there’s no doubt about it, fishermen have been sold out; from the beginning of the European Union, sold out to the bigger interests of the bigger countries, and sacrificed and unsupported by successive governments. So it’s understandable then, when an important proposal – the end of bottom trawl…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (debate)

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Madam President, people living in Ireland produce more than 40 million tonnes of waste every year. Most of our hazardous products are exported to other European countries, and much of this waste contains toxic organic compounds that we call POPs. During the process, as colleagues have said, whether ingested or inhaled, these pose a severe risk to human health and to the environment. And shockingly…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

Watch

Mr President, there’s no doubt about it, there’s a huge disconnect between the citizens of Europe and the EU institutions. We see growing inequality, tiny numbers voting, even a country leaving. And what we have here is actually a technical fix to something that isn’t a technical problem, because the reasons people aren’t voting isn’t because of shenanigans around the allocation or the breakdown o…

6 Apr

2022

EN Answer

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022: including the latest developments of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation (debate)

Watch

I would love colleague Dzhambazki to tell me any circumstance in which NATO has played a productive role or delivered peace anywhere. History has taught us that sanctions do not end military conflicts. They do not bring peace. They make the people suffer. Not the oligarchs, the people, the people of Russia, the people of Europe. And they’re not going to help save lives because the more arms you pu…

6 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022: including the latest developments of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation (debate)

Watch

Madam President, so the EU solution to the war in Ukraine is more war: pile in the weapons, splurge on militarism, threaten to engage in all out economic and financial war against Russia. So the same things you were doing already and expecting a different result, the true definition of madness. How is not selling Kerrygold butter to Russia going to save any Ukrainian lives? How is buying filthy fr…

24 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Need for an urgent EU action plan to ensure food security inside and outside the EU in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (RC-B9-0160/2022, B9-0160/2022, B9-0162/2022, B9-0163/2022, B9-0164/2022, B9-0165/2022, B9-0166/2022, B9-0167/2022)

Watch

Mr President, I have to say, this is an absolutely diabolical motion. What could have been an attempt for us to reorganise our agriculture in order to deliver food security has been turned into a retrograde step, literally decimating many of the commitments made in our environmental programmes before us. No recognition of the fact that a stable climate and healthy environment and abundant diversit…

24 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Macro-financial assistance to the Republic of Moldova (A9-0043/2022 - Markéta Gregorová)

Watch

Mr President, I voted against this motion. I heard a lot of colleagues talking about support for our friends in Moldova, they are part of the European family. Well, I don’t know what way you treat your friends and family, but in Ireland we wouldn’t be shackling them with a giant loan, with extortionate terms and conditions in that – we’d be giving them grants, we’d be giving them donations. But th…

24 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Roaming Regulation (recast) (A9-0286/2021 - Angelika Winzig)

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Mr President, I’d like to thank the rapporteur for her work on this file. It definitely strengthens consumer rights and I really welcome that. The ability to move around the EU without being landed with extortionate roaming fees is key to our mobility and our freedoms, and that is why I voted for the file. But I think we have to step back and look at these international roaming fees – why are they…

23 Mar

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, I have to say, I was very glad earlier to see the Parliament’s Afghan delegation being very quick to come out with a statement and strongly condemn the Taliban’s disgraceful decision to deny girls the right to go to school. But unfortunately, the effectiveness of that statement is undermined by the fact that it is in sharp contrast with the months of inaction and silence in relati…

23 Mar

2022

EN Speech

MFF 2021-2027: fight against oligarch structures, protection of EU funds from fraud and conflict of interest (debate)

Watch

Madam President, there hasn’t been a better – or should I say worse – example of oligarchic structures or fraud of EU funds than that of Bulgaria and the carry-on of the GERB party, and Boyko Borisov in particular, which has gone unchallenged for years as a result of their insidious grip on state power, which has degraded the livelihoods of Bulgarian citizens for years. It’s also gone on because o…

23 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Suisse Secrets - How to implement anti-money laundering standards in third countries (debate)

Watch

Mr President, I think it’s ironic that we’re calling this debate ‘Suisse Secrets’, given it’s absolutely no secret at all the role played by Switzerland in facilitating global financial crime. It’s been carrying out this global daylight robbery for years, and the billions and billions Credit Suisse accumulates every year by criminal elites has been permitted in the name of profit maximisation and …

10 Mar

2022

EN Speech

The situation of journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico

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Madam President, Reporters Without Borders describes this year in Mexico as beginning with a bloodbath for journalists, and the reality is that it has continued so since. But it’s not new and as we approach the 10th anniversary of the murder of Regina Martínez, the veteran crime journalist who was beaten and suffocated in her apartment in 2012, we should take note. Mexico is of course now the most…

8 Mar

2022

EN Speech

The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Watch

Mr President, I wholeheartedly welcome the EU’s unprecedented provision of immediate protection for Ukrainian refugees fleeing this devastating war. This rightfully respects our mandate to protect the fundamental rights of those entering our territories and it’s heartening to see the outpouring of support and solidarity from every point of the EU. But how do we explain that solidarity with, for ex…

8 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the EU (debate)

Watch

Mr President, while enjoying working with colleagues on the report, we have made no secret that we are resolutely opposed to the majority position of the committee and, obviously, this report is no different. Our minority report, which is attached, I think, makes the reasons why very clear. And it isn’t that we don’t think that foreign interference and disinformation are serious social harms deser…

7 Mar

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Watch

Madam President, there’s no doubt about it, we’re living in times of catastrophic crisis where the lives of innocent civilians are sacrificed in the wars of their masters. Yes, in Ukraine, but not only. Since the last plenary, tens of thousands of Afghani citizens have been forced to flee in search of food and safety. Five million children face famine and agonising and painful death. A 500% increa…

17 Feb

2022

EN Speech

The surge in commodity and input prices in the agricultural sector (G-001004/2021 - B9-0005/2022)

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Madam President, and I think the question does correctly pinpoint one of the key reasons for the rise in commodity and import prices in the agricultural sector as being energy prices, in particular natural gas reaching a new high. And I think that is a correct point to make. But the solution, of course, is very clear. It’s Nord Stream 2. Yes, we’ve had MEP after MEP getting up here yesterday conde…

17 Feb

2022

EN Speech

The death penalty in Iran

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Mr President, of course I condemn the death penalty in Iran, but I also condemn it in China, in Egypt, in Saudi Arabia, the United States and the 18 countries where the death sentence was carried out in 2020. I condemn it in the 54 countries which imposed a death sentence in that year, and areas like Taiwan and Qatar, which reintroduced the practice. So why are we talking about Iran? It isn’t the …

14 Feb

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Watch

Madam President, two weeks ago, the Parliament had its big Afghan Women Day, focusing on the denial of access to education and work and, you know, it was grand to keep the focus on, and maybe it made us feel a bit better. But, you know, you can’t go to work or school if you’re starving or if you’re dead, and against the backdrop of the cataclysmic collapse of the Afghan economy, in a bitterly cold…

19 Jan

2022

EN Speech

Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, I think the promise of the young internet wasn’t just that it would connect us all together, but rather that it would enhance our access to knowledge, liberate information from monopolies, democratise our societies and move power from the centre into communities and the periphery. And I think the fact that we have this legislation is really signalling our recognition that we’re very …

16 Dec

2021

EN Speech

Barriers to the free movement of goods (debate)

Watch

Mr President, in talking about the free movement of goods, I think it’s very important that the Commission would take into account Ireland’s specific situation among the island Member States in order to ensure that we remain effectively connected to continental Europe. The fact is that Brexit has redirected the entire Irish overland trade flow with the rest of the EU Member States. It’s meant the …

16 Dec

2021

EN Speech

An EU ban on the use of wild animals in circuses (debate)

Watch

Madam President, over 14 years ago I moved a motion on Fingal County Council in Dublin to ban wild animals from circuses, and it was the first local authority in the Irish State to pass such a motion. It passed unanimously and even though I had wanted it to include all animals, it was actually a very good start. It really saddens me that 14 years down the road we’re still in a situation where anim…