What Billy spoke about.

24 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

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Mr President, there's a very simple principle when you join a club, a group or an organisation, or indeed our Union: you comply with the rules of law. In this case, Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. In Hungary, at the moment, we have attacks on rule of law and public institutions, freedom of media, attacks on civil society, attacks on people'…

13 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 23 October 2025 (debate)

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Madam President, I welcome the conclusions of the European Council and its emphasis on competitiveness and decarbonisation, and the President referring to the fast, effective response that is required for the challenges ahead and some of the success that we have made in terms of the Paris Agreement, going from a projected 4°C increase to just a little over 1.5°C, and that we are bending the curve …

23 Oct

2025

EN Speech

Combating violence against women and girls, including the exploitation of motherhood (debate)

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Madam President, equality between men and women is a fundamental principle of our Union. Yet right across our Union, in countries, women are objectified, subjugated, exploited and commodified, and we do need to take this very seriously. In Ireland alone, in 2024, there were 41 000 cases of domestic violence. Recently, Minister Jim O'Callaghan brought forward proposals with regard to a domestic vio…

21 Oct

2025

EN Speech

Commission Work Programme 2026 (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I welcome the publication of the work programme for 2026. I also welcome many of the aspects that are included from the Renew Group. You speak about competitiveness, cost of living, jobs, growth and investment, and research and innovation. Of course, the most fundamental issue that we need to address is the harmonisation and the deepening of the single market, coupled w…

21 Oct

2025

EN Speech

Recent peace agreement in the Middle East and the role of the EU (debate)

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Madam President, I welcome the recent ceasefire. Calling it a peace process may be very ambitious, but we must welcome the fact that the massive attacks on Gaza have stopped. But we also have to expect that humanitarian aid has to flow immediately unhindered into Gaza. We also need to see an international observation and international peacekeeping force deployed rapidly to ensure that there are no…

8 Oct

2025

EN Speech

The role of simple tax rules and tax fragmentation in European competitiveness (debate)

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Mr President, firstly, I would like to thank the author of the report, Michalis Hadjipantela, personally and professionally and his office as well, and I really appreciate the work he's put into this. We keep saying that to make Europe more competitive, we need to re-energize our European companies in the single market. But the companies I speak to in my constituency have boundless energy. However…

7 Oct

2025

EN Speech

The EU’s role in supporting the recent peace efforts for Gaza and a two-state solution (debate)

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Madam President, on the anniversary of 7 October, we must remember the 1 200 people killed, the 251 hostages taken by Hamas, a terrorist organisation. We now need a ceasefire, a release of all hostages and humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. And we need to support a two-state solution and a peace plan. But let us be under no illusions. This conflict did not start in the last number of years. This …

10 Jul

2025

EN Speech

Endometriosis: Europe’s wake-up call on the gender health gap (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Lahbib, gender inequality in our health system is systemic. It permeates from research through to diagnosis, from treatment to prognosis. There is a lot of research now which identifies the causes, both societal and medical. It is now for us as policymakers to address the root causes of these problems. The topic at hand today is endometriosis, a painful, progressive cond…

8 Jul

2025

EN Speech

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Danish Presidency (debate)

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Madam President, first of all, I want to wish you, Prime Minister, and the Danish Presidency success over the next six months. Of course, you're taking over at a very strategic time in Europe's destiny in terms of the uncertainty of international challenges, geopolitical challenges and, of course, the continuous threat of security and defence from Russia in Ukraine and our eastern borders. So, I d…

8 Jul

2025

EN Speech

Preparation for the 2025 EU–China Summit - Tackling China's critical raw materials export restrictions

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Madam President, I welcome the EU-China summit that's happening in the near future, because we do need a reset of relationships between the European Union and China. We need to have reciprocity. We need to have mutual respect and fairness. We need to have access to the Chinese market for European companies. We need to ensure that we wean our dependency off China in certain areas of raw materials a…

18 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Digital Markets, Digital Euro, Digital Identities: economical stimuli or trends toward dystopia (topical debate)

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Mr President, I must say, it's weird that the far right have requested this debate and are attempting to portray attempts to digitise the European economy as dystopian. Perhaps they don't actually know what 'dystopian' really means. 'Dystopian' is defined as 'relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice'. Within the world of film and literature, …

18 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Electricity grids: the backbone of the EU energy system (debate)

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Madam President, we need to invest in the transnationalisation of our grid. We need a seamless transmission of electricity across the entire continent. The cost of electricity and energy is a significant threat to our collective competitiveness. At times, in certain parts of this European Union, we dump surplus electricity, rather than being able to use it in some other part of the continent. So w…

18 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Stopping the genocide in Gaza: time for EU sanctions (topical debate)

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Madam President, 50 000 people dead in Gaza, hospitals targeted by bombs, schools attacked, the West Bank killings, displacements, illegal settlements, International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court rulings, fundamental breaches of international law, genocide in Gaza, using food and aid as a weapon of war – as a weapon of war. Israel acts with impunity because we have granted it i…

17 Jun

2025

EN Speech

European Ocean Pact (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner Kadis, I would like to thank you for visiting Ireland recently, and meeting with stakeholders and particularly fishers in the west of Ireland and Castletownbere. I appreciate it and I know they appreciate the engagement as well. At the outset, the lawless exploitation and abuse of our oceans has to stop, and I hope that the European Ocean Pact is a policy that will br…

21 May

2025

EN Speech

Single Market Strategy (debate)

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Mr President, firstly, I welcome the strategy, Commissioner. Just to say at the outset: anything that takes burdens away from small and medium-sized businesses in terms of developing the growth trajectories is very welcome. So this particular strategy must be coupled with real action now. I know that a lot of us will have difficulties in Member States trying to protect national competences, and th…

7 May

2025

EN Speech

The fine against TikTok and the need to strengthen the protection of citizens’ rights on social media platforms (debate)

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Madam President, just to remind my colleagues over there: I wouldn't hold up China as a bastion of free speech or protection of civil liberties. I certainly wouldn't trust them with my data. So certainly, from that point of view, we should be very conscious of the need for democratic oversight to ensure that the data of European citizens is protected. The Irish Data Protection Commissioner did tak…

7 May

2025

EN Speech

Banking Union – annual report 2024 (debate)

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Madam President, for the last ten years, the interest rates on an Irish mortgage have been continuously higher than the EU average and at some times double the average. Likewise, an SME seeking a loan in Ireland has to pay considerably more than an SME on the continent. Commissioner, there are a few significant barriers that are of national competence, but equally also with regard to the risk weig…

7 May

2025

EN Speech

The role of gas storage for securing gas supplies ahead of the winter season (debate)

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Madam President, having sufficient energy storage is not just a wise energy policy, it's also an issue of national security and European security. And we were sadly exposed when Russia invaded Ukraine and then decided to blackmail Europe in the context of using energy as a weapon. But Europe did react very, very positively in terms of bringing forward floating storage and regasification units and …

5 May

2025

EN Speech

Preparation of the EU-UK summit (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. I do really welcome the reset of EU-UK relations, and I do look forward to a positive outcome in the summit. And there's just a few points I want to allude to, Commissioner, in terms of the important issues: one being the issue of the Erasmus programme. It has been spoken about a lot, but it really is hugely fundamental to the concept of young people being abl…

5 May

2025

EN Speech

Passing of Pope Francis – Statement by the President

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Madam President, sadly, Pope Francis's death did not come as a shock to most of us. Unfortunately, his health had been waning, and while we had all hoped for the best, it was clear that his time was coming to an end. His time, however, as supreme pontiff was different, to say the very least. His recommitment to the church being a 'church of the poor' was profound and real. And while he could not m…

3 Apr

2025

EN Speech

Health care related tourism: protecting EU patients abroad (debate)

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Mr President, healthcare is getting more and more expensive and it is getting difficult to access in some countries across Europe, so it's only reasonable to expect that some of our citizens will travel to wherever they can to get the best value and a timely service for their money. For example, in Ireland, a dental implant with a crown will cost about EUR 2 200, but this can easily rise to over E…

3 Apr

2025

EN Speech

Establishment of a European Day of the Righteous (debate)

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Mr President, I am privileged to be able to take part in this debate. The establishment of a European Day of the Righteous is not only a wonderful idea, it is also long overdue and very necessary to honour, but also to remember and to remind us, and to make sure it reminds us never to repeat the horrors of the past. This is an idea that has been long in gestation, and we must now deliver. The righ…

3 Apr

2025

EN Speech

European Action Plan on Rare Diseases (debate)

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Mr President, the issue of rare diseases and how we, as a society, support people living with them should be a priority for us all. Fragmentation of services and supports results in one thing: poor outcomes for people with rare diseases and the families supporting them. We need to come together as a Union and address the bottlenecks in terms of developing new medicines and treatments, improving di…

1 Apr

2025

EN Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20 March 2025 (debate)

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Madam President, President von der Leyen said that the EU had the strength to negotiate and the power to push back. And those are the two things that we must do. We must negotiate and continue to have dialogue. But equally, the European Union is obligated to ensure that it acts strategically in terms of potential tariffs that may be placed on European goods tomorrow, which is called 'Liberation Da…

13 Mar

2025

EN Speech

European Schools Alliance: potential to achieve the European education area by driving innovation, enhancing mobility and championing inclusivity (debate)

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Mr President, I am very excited about this European Schools Alliance, and I really do welcome it, and I hope that it is supported across the entirety of the European Union. This is not about integration. It's about a celebration of diversity, broadening horizons and deepening understanding, learning about each other and learning from each other. And if we can get to that principle in terms of educ…