What Billy spoke about.

9 Mar

2026

EN Speech

Upcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act (debate)

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Madam President, just to say, at the outset, I really welcome this debate, and I think it is very timely that we do actually accept that Europe has an awful lot of work to do in making ourselves competitive in the whole area of innovation and research. Draghi was quite clear in outlining in his report what we had to do, because if we didn't, we were going to fall further behind. So I do welcome th…

9 Mar

2026

EN Speech

European Union regulatory fitness and subsidiarity and proportionality – report on Better Law-Making covering 2023 and 2024 (debate)

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A Uachtaráin, since June 2024, this Parliament has spent a lot of time unwinding everything we did in the 2019-2024 Parliament, that was previously supported and adopted, and much of that was at the request of the Commission. Of course, some will say that this unwinding, or U-turning, is in response to emerging new issues and threats, and that is correct in certain circumstances. However, in many …

12 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Recommendation to the Council on EU priorities for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

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Mr President, earlier this week, during the debate on the migration package, people on the right of this House stood up and repeatedly claimed that asylum seekers are a grave danger to women and girls in our communities. We just heard it again this morning. Yet the fact remains that women are most likely to be attacked by someone in their own family. To put this in context, while 60 % of female ho…

11 Feb

2026

EN Speech

State violence in Minneapolis and the rule of law in the United States (topical debate)

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Madam President, the scenes of harassment and intimidation, with multiple breaches of people's human rights across the United States in recent months is heart-breaking for those of us who view the United States positively and have fond connections and memories and visit the country regularly. Illegal arrests, detentions without trial, state-overseen murders are now all the hallmarks of US immigrat…

11 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Urgent actions to revive EU competitiveness, deepen the EU Single Market and reduce the cost of living - from the Draghi report to reality (debate)

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Madam President, it's good that within this Parliament, there is a clear focus on the need to boost European competitiveness. The Renew Group wholeheartedly supports the Draghi report. Of course, every MEP and every Member State may have issues with certain parts, but the overall trajectory of Draghi is something we must all sign up to and sign up to fast. We have spent 18 months now reading the D…

10 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the action plan against cyberbullying (debate)

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Mr President, cyberbullying is abhorrent. It is in general faceless, but it causes untold distress, harm and, tragically, loss of life in each and every one of our countries. Bullying of any form is a cowardly act that usually covers up for the bully's own failings and insecurities as a person. The easiest and simple way to curtail cyberbullying, and indeed most problems on social media, is to ban…

22 Jan

2026

EN Speech

A new action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (debate)

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Madam President, the Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights has been a good driver for implementing the necessary changes for the digital and green transitions, but progress is too slow. The need for greater action and pace has been compounded by the boom in the use of AI, as well as the geopolitical uncertainties. But in the context of the social pillar itself, and the social rights …

21 Jan

2026

EN Speech

European Council meeting (joint debate)

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Mr President, at the outset, I welcome the statement by the President of the Council and the President of the Commission regarding the fact that we are determined to insist on international rules‑based order, multilateralism and the UN Charter, and ensuring that Europe plays its part in being a reliable partner in that context and in that architecture. Reference has been made to Ukraine and we hav…

20 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Tackling AI deepfakes and sexual exploitation on social media by making full use of the EU’s digital rules (debate)

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Madam President, when there was high fives at the headquarters of X and Grok over the last number of weeks celebrating the fact that they had so many hits because of the AI-generated deepfakes of sexually explicit material, it sends a very chilling message for me as an elected public representative in this Parliament and not a faceless bureaucrat or not a faceless tycoon who sits behind the paywal…

19 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Motion of censure on the Commission (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, political stunts like this motion of censure from so-called patriots reminds me of a quote, often misattributed to Albert Einstein, that defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results each time. How many times do we need to vote on hopeless censure motions until the extremists are satisfied or accept the democratic will? Fo…

19 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Framework for strengthening the availability and security of supply of critical medicinal products as well as the availability of, and accessibility of, medicinal products of common interest (debate)

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Madam President, citizens expect results when it comes to critical medicines. They expect Europe to deliver on the basics. Making sure our citizens who are sick will have medicines they need to get better is a fairly basic requirement. The Critical Medicines Act is a good start. I believe Parliament, through its committees, has made the Commission proposal better and aligned it with the needs of c…

19 Jan

2026

EN Speech

The 28th Regime: a new legal framework for innovative companies (debate)

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Madam President, the introduction of the 28th Regime for European companies could be a real catalyst for boosting competitiveness, strengthening the single market and reducing fragmentation in the EU. It could create the right conditions for the next generation of high-growth companies to stay in Europe, to start up, to innovate and to scale up, rather than seeking growth abroad. Just last week, C…

17 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Cases of pro-Russian espionage in the European Parliament (debate)

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There are plenty of Putin apologists and propagandists, and even useful idiots, in this House, sadly – mainly on the right, but some on the extreme left as well. And we have to acknowledge the fact that when you listen to some of the debates here from time to time, it is clear that there are people who advocate for Russia, and try to undermine the basic values of this House and what the European U…

17 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

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Madam President, tomorrow's European Council summit is a vital opportunity for the EU to take a united and unequivocal response to President Trump's national security strategy. Europe cannot underestimate the gravity of this strategy, and that it signifies a seismic shift in norms of geopolitics. For centuries, relations between our countries have been underpinned by clear principles: sovereignty …

16 Dec

2025

EN Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative ‘My voice, my choice: for safe and accessible abortion’ (debate)

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Mr President, up until 2018, abortion was banned in Ireland. Twelve women a day travelled either to England or the Netherlands for a termination. This was not abortion tourism; these were lonely journeys – very lonely journeys – of lonely women, sometimes in very vulnerable positions, because they could no longer continue a pregnancy for whatever reason. It's fairly shameful that inside this Chamb…

16 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Presentation of the EU Cardiovascular Health Plan (debate)

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(Start of speech off mic) ... 1.7 million deaths, disability, early retirement and dependency and the huge cost to individuals and society in our economy. And if we are to address it, Commissioner, I do really welcome the Safe Hearts Plan, but we have to really insist on investment in prevention and early detection, in other words: health promotion. The biggest challenge that we have is that count…

16 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Presentation of the European Affordable Housing Plan (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, I welcome the publication and presentation of the European affordable housing plan. And just to say at the outset, Commissioner, we have to succeed in this. At the moment, across most of Europe, we have a housing crisis. It's fracturing society, undermining social cohesion and harmony, and undermining intergenerational solidarity, and we are now in a situation where we are in a de…

15 Dec

2025

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, sadly, the Governments of France, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland ganged up last Friday to block the implementation of the Hague Preferences for 2026, which will result in a catastrophe for the Irish fishing sector. The Hague Preferences were created in the 1970s to account for Ireland's underdeveloped fishing fleet and to counter the impact of increased access to Irish waters pr…

15 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Relations between the EU and Saudi Arabia (short presentation)

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Mr President, I welcome the report. And just to say that we should continue to engage in dialogue, particularly human rights dialogue between the European Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And that dialogue, obviously should cover women's rights, vulnerable groups and migrants. It should also cover the rule of law, rights to a fair trial, and obviously the issue of the death penalty. Saudi Ar…

15 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Impact of the geopolitical situation on European patients and their access to medicines (debate)

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Mr President, of course, we should be very concerned about the geopolitical tensions and the impact that they may have on medicine supplies in Europe. We have to ensure that we have a continuity of supply, both in terms of the production, the manufacturing, but also access to ingredients and generics. Being too dependent on a small number of countries for the large volumes of medicines that we pur…

26 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Fishing opportunities 2026: ensuring the sustainability of fish populations, marine ecosystems and coastal communities

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Mr President, the scientific advice regarding the quotas for 2026 are devastating from an Irish perspective: a 70 % cut to mackerel, a 41 % cut in blue whiting and a potential loss of 2 600 jobs in coastal communities across Ireland. Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Russia: non-EU states are unilaterally pillaging Irish waters, Commissioner – pillaging our coastal communities of their ability t…

26 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Defence of Democracy package (joint debate)

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Madam President, Nathan Gill, a former Member of the European Parliament, a member of UKIP, sat on those seats from 2014 to 2020. He was jailed for 10 years at the Old Bailey last week for taking bribes from Russia – Russian money paid by oligarchs to make speeches in this Chamber promoting Russia and denigrating Ukraine. It sounds very familiar from those benches over there. Oleg Voloshyn was a R…

26 Nov

2025

EN Speech

EU response to the continuous airspace violations and sabotage of critical infrastructure in the EU originating from Russia and Belarus (debate)

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Madam President, last week, the Russian spy ship Yantar, spotted in the UK waters, was heading to the Irish exclusive economic zone. The ship is specifically built for subsurface work, and so was seen as a threat to undersea cables and energy pipelines. This is the same boat that was escorted from Irish waters last November. It also coincides with the fact that President Zelenskyy is planning to c…

25 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Increasing the efficiency of the EU guarantee under the InvestEU Regulation and simplifying reporting requirements (debate)

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Madam President, the agreement on the simplification of the InvestEU programme is something I welcome with open arms. Increasing the guarantee by EUR 2.9 billion will strengthen the InvestEU instrument and can help boost the EU's competitiveness. According to the Draghi report, the EU is facing an EUR 800 billion investment gap annually. A strengthened InvestEU can help mobilise much-needed public…

25 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Communication on the Democracy Shield (debate)

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Mr President, I very much welcome the announcement of the European Democracy Shield and the EU Strategy for Civil Society. We have to protect our societies as importantly as our democracies – they are intertwined. But our minds and our freedoms cannot be for sale to the highest bidders. And, in that context, I really urge the Commission to continually support and underpin the DSA to ensure that it…