Speeches

Mr President, colleagues, the Green Deal is under attack and we must defend it. The draft EU strategic agenda has completely dropped environmental protection and climate action from Europe’s plans for the next five years. The European Green Deal is gone – nowhere to be found in the draft plans. So right at the moment when we need more ambition on climate action and environmental protection, we are getting less. To turn away from climate action and environmental protection would be a historic mistake and undermine the future safety and security of every citizen in Europe, and around the world. So I urge every Member and every Group in this Parliament to fight to keep the Green Deal alive and on the agenda.

Madam President, when we think of forced labour and slavery, we might naturally think that these awful practices are long gone, unacceptable relics of the past with no place in the modern world. Unfortunately, we know this is not the case. It is estimated that around 50 million people around the world are living in modern slavery at any given time, and of these, over 27 million are trapped in forced labour. We may also think that these practices occur far away from us in Europe and have nothing to do with us. Unfortunately, this also isn’t the case. This forced labour often occurs in the value chains of international businesses operating in the EU. We must take strong action to put an end to these medieval practices. Those responsible must be punished and the European economy must be cleansed of goods built on misery and servitude of others. It is high time we act.

Madam President, an estimated 230 000 tonnes of plastic pellets are spilled into our oceans every year. These tiny, durable objects can end up anywhere and are increasingly found in every marine habitat. This is devastating to vulnerable ecosystems, but also to human health. As these beads make their way up the food chain to us. So we must do more to protect our marine environment and prevent this toxic pollution entering our waterways and our oceans. On this note, I welcome today the announcement by my Irish Green colleague and Government Minister, Malcolm Noonan, of the establishment of Ireland’s first marine National Park, incorporating seas off Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. So across Europe, we must take decisive action to tackle the scourge of plastic pellets, safeguard our marine ecosystems and preserve the health of our oceans for now and for future generations.

Mr President, farmers are angry, and vested interests want you to believe that the blame for the current agricultural crisis is on the Green Deal. Well, don’t let those vested interests pull the wool over your eyes. Because despite protests and controversy, what have I told you? That 2023 was a record year for agri-business in the EU. Never before has Europe exported more produce by volume or value, according to the EU Commission. The real culprit is plain to see: booming profits for agri-business while farmers get paid a pittance. Where is the equity? Cutting environmental measures vital for protecting nature and food security will not fix our broken food system. Passing the EU-Mercosur trade deal will certainly not improve farmers’ incomes. We need to pay farmers fairly to produce good food in a sustainable way. That’s the future for farming.

Mr President, I received this direct message from a father in Gaza today: ‘Here, people are experiencing a real famine. There is no healthy food, no water, and no electricity to filter the water. There are women and children humiliated under the rubble of their destroyed homes. The smell of decomposing corpses has begun to spread throughout the streets, and there is a major shortage of medical equipment. My children suffer every day because of the sounds of explosions. I have taken my children out from under the rubble twice and they need help.’ These are the words of photographer Mohammed Zaanoun. His testimony is not a result of a natural disaster or crop failure; this crisis is entirely manmade – made by the actions of Israel and the inaction of the world, watching on as Gazans cry out for help. No more inaction! We must call for an immediate ceasefire and expansion of aid to all those who need it, and real action and a commitment to peace in Gaza. (Applause)

Madam President, colleagues, extreme heat, drought, wildfires and flooding are going to get worse. Even under the most optimistic scenarios, the warnings in the European Environment Agency’s climate risk assessment report published this week are stark. The report has been described as the last wake-up call. Are we going to listen? As climate breakdown accelerates and the risks build, the political courage and resolve of many in this Parliament wilt. When we need to do more and faster, we hear constant calls to do less. We are elected to lead, and leadership requires vision and bravery: vision to see what’s coming; bravery to tell hard truths and say ‘no’ to vested interests who prioritise short-term gain over long-term common good. Let the warnings in this report be heard and heeded. Our climate is threatened. So are we. Inaction simply isn’t an option!

Mr President, the Irish Constitution puts the Irish woman’s place in society in the home. It warns women against the neglect of their duties. Ireland has often been a hostile place for women who did not fit this mould. Women were told they were wayward and they were hidden away in laundries and institutions. But Irish women have never accepted the mould of conservative society. Women like Grace O’Malley, the pirate queen; public health activist and suffragette doctor Mary Strangman; Eileen Flynn, our first senator from the traveller community; Cork’s LGBT trailblazer, Orla Egan, and indeed our president, Mary Robinson. These women did not neglect their duties, as the Constitution says, they did their duty to Ireland. This 8 March, Ireland votes to change our Constitution to reflect the Ireland shaped by women who knew that their place was wherever they wanted it to be.

Mr President, this, my friends, is an oil spill by another name: the spilling of millions of plastic pellets into the sea off Galicia is a crime. It should be considered as serious as the oil tanker Prestige spill off the coast of Galicia in 2002, or the many other hundreds of environmental disasters we have become familiar with in this plastic age. Unlike the transport of materials like crude oil, which is classified as a hazard to transport, there is still no such regulation for the transport of crude plastics. This must change. The petrochemical plastic industries cannot be defended. We should act like the people of Skibbereen in my constituency in Ireland South, who, when a large multinational tried to build a plastic-pellet factory in their beautiful, scenic town, they said loud and clear, ‘We will not support the plague of plastic’. And I agree.

Mr President, millions have taken to the streets in Ireland and all over the world in solidarity with the people of Gaza, but here, in the European Parliament and across the EU, we see nothing but hypocrisy. We are supposed to stand for human dignity, but where is the dignity in allowing strike after strike on innocent children? We debate European values of peace and democracy, while European countries are still sending weapons to Israel. The EU dares to speak as an authority on international justice, while supporting an Israeli government that says ‘No one will stop us, not even The Hague’. It is time for sanctions. It is time that the EU's agreements with Israel are considered, and to stop the bloodshed that has taken 30 000 human lives so far, and to demand a permanent ceasefire in the name of humanity and dignity.

Mr President, colleagues, global warming is accelerating at speed. The ocean heatwave in the Atlantic this summer saw seawater temperatures five degrees hotter than usual. When I sailed into Antarctica in the 1980s, the great glaciers were already receding. We knew climate change was coming, and the dinosaurs in the oil companies knew too. Meanwhile, over in Dubai, those same dinosaurs are keen to squeeze every last drop of oil out of this planet while they still can. They took the biggest titles at COP 28 and they let their buddies – in Shell, BP, Exxon and more – in the back door. The petrol-pushers are trying to convince us that they are environmentalists. Well, colleagues, one thing is crystal clear: the end of fossil fuel age has come, and it’ll take the dinosaurs with it.

Mr President, this Christmas it seems there is no room at the inn for the meek, the hungry or the persecuted. The EU’s border force, Frontex, has made sure of it. Just this week we heard that Frontex is working directly with militia in Libya to keep refugees in the Mediterranean out of Europe and out of safety. With taxpayers’ funding, Frontex is complicit in unthinkable violence. Frontex’s role in these crimes is not new. It was clear when I was in Lesbos earlier this year, where Frontex was complicit in illegal pushbacks and the persecution of humanitarians like Seán Binder and Sarah Mardini. So while bombs fall not far from the little town of Bethlehem this year, Frontex has made sure that there is no room in the inn.

Mr President, people all over the world are asking, ‘What can we do to stop a war that has taken 5 000 children from their mothers, and has left an entire generation traumatised, while the families of hostages now hold their breath to hear if loved ones will be released?’ EU leaders have entirely failed to give an answer to that question, ‘What can we do?’ You have failed to call for a ceasefire. You have failed to react to breaches of international law. Gaza is in ruins while settlements in the West Bank continue to expand. Netanyahu and his far-right Government are emboldened by your silence. So others must provide the answers where you have failed. Here’s what you can do. Demand a permanent ceasefire now. End trade with settlements now. Recognise the Palestinian State now. The EU must be courageous, not complicit.

Madam President, colleagues, it shouldn’t be a surprise to you that the junk food barons are not a reliable source of environmental advice, that lobbyists for plastic corporations are not authorities on sustainability. Yet, here we are, debating whether we should or should not tackle the mountain of packaging waste piling up in our towns and cities, all because of the corporate embrace of throwaway single-use culture. Despite what those men in nice suits tell you, we cannot recycle our way out of this mess. If your single-use plastic cup is recycled into a single-use plastic bag, it is not sustainable. If your plastic junk is swapped for cardboard junk, it is not sustainable. If we continue to generate levels of waste at current rates, that is, by definition, unsustainable. So, colleagues, we have to pull the brakes on our throwaway society, the empty cardboard shipping boxes, the single-serving shampoo bottle for your single-serving hotel experience, the plastic wrapping for a single piece of fruit. All this plastic is cheap. This cardboard is cheap. This packaging is cheap. But the price for our future is very, very high indeed.

Madam President, in accordance with Rule 154 and the President’s right to convene Parliament, I move that it is incumbent on the President to call upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to address this House in relation to the recent bombing of Gaza and his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East.

Madam President. This month, my team and I were looking towards something very special – a photo exhibition showing the powerful connection between a community and the sea. This is something that resonates deeply with the Irish people. We set out to find photographers who could capture this – children playing on the beach, fishermen heading out to sea, mothers preparing for the holidays. However, in the last days, something has changed. No one plays on that beach anymore. The fishing boats stay in the port. Mothers prepare funerals for their children, and there is nothing left for our photographers to capture except rubble and carnage. As long as they continue to value one human life over another, soon there will be nothing left of Gaza to see at all. We must do better, and we must, in the EU, call for peace now.

Madam President, good evening colleagues, and firstly, congratulations to Madam Rapporteur Clara Aguilera, for her diplomacy and her leadership in getting this fisheries control over the line. So this summer we had an unheard of marine heatwave off the coast of Europe. Plastic pollution in the ocean is getting worse and worse. Meanwhile, overfishing remains so rife that almost half of Atlantic species and over 80% of Mediterranean species are overfished to this day. The EU committed to ending overfishing by 2020, and we have utterly failed to do that. Put simply, the oceans are still under many threats from many angles, all due to our inability to live within planetary boundaries, our inability to respect the sea. At the centre of this nightmare, our fishing communities are struggling to survive. Our rules for fishers are not only not fit for purpose, but they are not implemented at all. Over the past five years, we have worked night and day on what may be the biggest overhaul of fishing rules of this decade. This has taken us five EU presidencies, 11 written procedures, 12 political trilogues, 23 shadow meetings, 80 technical trilogues and 90 technical meetings. In the end, we have modernised an ageing system of paper logbooks and poor safety measures, we have improved a monitoring and tracking system to crack down on illegal and unreported fishing, and we have fought off the worst efforts by the industrial fishing industry to deregulate the sector entirely. My philosophy throughout these negotiations has been fairness and sustainability, fairness for small-scale fishers and coastal communities, sustainability for the ocean that feeds us. Today, I believe we have struck that balance.

Madam President, colleagues, you have been poisoned. According to the science, anywhere from 25 to 80% of us has the weedkiller Roundup in our bodies, without our knowledge and without our consent. Study after study has described Monsanto and Bayer’s weedkiller as chronically toxic, probably carcinogenic, linked to liver cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and likely to kill 93% of endangered species. Even the report that the Commission uses to justify its continued use says that Roundup carries a high, long-term risk to mammals. That means us. We have one chance now to get this crap off our shelves. Zero tolerance. We must kill Roundup before it kills nature and takes us along with it.

Madam President, it wasn’t long ago that in Cork City you would often see thick layers of dirty smog settling down on the river Lee. We recognised the need to end burning of fossil fuels to protect our health. Poor air quality is a health problem. It is a climate problem, but it is also a problem of inequality. The poorest neighbourhoods suffer the worst air pollution, though they pollute the least. Air pollution, especially from traffic, will result in the death of over 2500 Irish people in the next year. Greens in Ireland put forward the first ever clean-air strategy. Now in Europe we are settling for a better and stricter air quality standards for an entire continent. So this is what a just transition looks like.

Madam President, colleagues, there has never been a more significant moment for this House. Today we approved a historic Nature Restoration Law and, with this law, we can protect our oceans, restore our peatlands, and we can make our towns and cities more liveable and healthy places for people and for nature. In the meantime, we must reflect on the campaign that has been waged in this House against the Nature Restoration Law. The leader of the largest political group in the European Parliament has brought his group to the far right. He has overseen a mass campaign of disinformation. And he has lost the respect of this House. It is time for him to reconsider his leadership position. But for now, let’s celebrate a victory for nature restoration, for climate justice, and for honest politics.

Madam President, 38 years ago, French Secret Service agents bombed the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior. An explosion ripped through the hull of our ship while it was moored in New Zealand, ahead of a protest against nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. It was an act of terror, which killed my friend Fernando Pereira. The series of events that the French state set in motion with the bombing of Rainbow Warrior led me to this Chamber today, 38 years later. Our activism continues despite their intimidation. And that’s why today I am calling on President Macron for a full apology for the crew of Rainbow Warrior, for the family of Fernando Pereira and for the deadly precedent the French state set, legitimising violence against activists and civil societies. In 1985, we said, ‘you can’t sink a rainbow’. Tonight, I say here in the European Parliament, ‘you cannot sink a rainbow’.

Madam President, colleagues, this could be the most significant week in our time as political leaders. We decide whether to pursue sustainable development and nature restoration or continue down the path of exploiting nature without considering the consequences for food safety, for climate, for biodiversity, for our health and well-being. This report on the Sustainable Development Goals that we discussed today clearly states that continued biodiversity loss will undermine progress on 80 % of all Sustainable Development Goal targets. Nature is the foundation of our wellbeing. This report calls for action, now. Citizens are calling for action, now. Businesses are calling for action, now. To implement nature restoration and halt biodiversity loss once and for all. In doing so, we make progress on 80 % of all other issues we face as a society and a parliament. Well, this week we have the legislation on the table to do that. The Nature Restoration Law is a unique opportunity for the European Parliament to show leadership and ambition, and stop once and for all the disastrous decline of our natural world. In doing so, we give ourselves a chance not just to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, but to change our relationship with nature for the better.

Mr President, today I will talk about disabilities and travel. Last week, Carolyn Akintola travelled from Ireland to Brussels to campaign on behalf of people with disabilities. Despite pre-booking and notifying Ryanair of her needs, her wheelchair was taken from her. Carolyn was subjected to a degrading search, and when this caused a delay, the captain of the flight told over 100 passengers it was due to people in wheelchairs holding up the flight. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary is here in Brussels today. He is asking the Commission for special treatment to circumvent striking workers. Well, first and foremost, the Commission must ensure the rights of people with disabilities. We must uphold the UN convention for their rights, and airlines must clean up their act in more ways than one.

Mr President, Commissioner Sinkevičius, colleagues, Ireland’s Marine Institute this month released a report on ocean climate. The findings of this report should jolt MEPs into immediate climate action. More than 90% of the excess heat we humans create is soaked up by the oceans. We have reached the limit of how much the oceans can take. Every piece of plastic produced and discarded, every carbon-rich seabed bottom trawled, the ocean takes the hit and we are seeing the impacts. Sea surface temperatures increased by 0.5 degrees in just ten years. The heat is accumulating, penetrating deeper and deeper into the oceans, accelerating climate change. In the last elections, politicians here made promise after promise to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change. Well, the Nature Restoration Law is here. The action plan is here. So I’m asking you MEPs not to go back on your promises. We need the Nature Restoration Law. We need the action plan. This is climate action. So please remember your promises and support the plans that are on the table and the European Green Deal.

Mr President, colleagues, the ability to spin in this room is astounding. So this morning we’ve heard a stream of political leaders taking the stand, all calling for urgent action on climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet in the Agricultural Committee basic legislation to cut pesticide use and save pollinators is blocked at every turn, in the Fisheries Committee there’s pushback against the idea of ending bottom trawling in marine—protected areas, and even in the Environment Committee there’s pushback against the corporations who are using plastic and plastic packaging all around the place and are not cleaning up their mess. So the nature restoration law is a huge opportunity for us to be the first continent to give back more to nature than we destroy, for the benefit of all. So this House must stop the spin and genuinely speed up urgent climate and biodiversity action.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, plastic has become so cheap to produce, it has invaded every part of our lives, our seas, our soils, our environment. We now have a plastic waste problem so massive that everyone except those responsible for it has to pay to clean it up. Similarly, when so-called PFAS chemicals were discovered, industry started using them in absolutely everything. It does not matter that these toxic hazardous chemicals do not break down, but instead remain in our environment and even in our blood forever. Again, people suffer the consequence as industry giants like DuPont and Bayer face lawsuits and court challenges. Industry continues to lobby hard to resist an EU ban on these toxic, polluting chemicals. We cannot wait for industry to regulate itself. The market will not correct this so the EU and our Member States must act, must step in right now.