What Barry spoke about.

13 Mar

2024

GA Speech

European Semester for economic policy coordination 2024 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2024 (joint debate – European Semester)

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Mr. President, I wish everyone a warm greeting on St. Patrick's Day. It's Irish language week in Ireland and many people around the world do their best throughout the week to use our own language. First of all, I would like to thank the authors of this report. It is, in my view, a very important topic. Most importantly, European money is available to help with rising costs. There are a lot of fami…

12 Mar

2024

EN Speech

The adoption of the Special Measure in favour of Tunisia for 2023 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, and colleagues, externalisation is the current popular approach. The UK recently – this week – struck an agreement with Libya. Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Libya. It says if you are in Libya against this advice, you should seek to leave immediately by any practical means. The irony of this paradox is not lost on anybody. This advice,…

12 Mar

2024

EN Speech

State of play of the corporate sustainability due diligence directive (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, this morning I listened to a presentation on sustainable global supply chains from the SWP, a think tank in Germany, and the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation described its own government’s position on this directive as an embarrassment. At no point did the German Government or my colleagues in the FDP indicate that they intended to kill this dir…

12 Mar

2024

EN Speech

Question Time with Commissioners - Preparedness of EU governments to combat foreign interference, including from Russia

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Commissioner, I have a very specific question about media blackouts in the immediate 24 hours before elections. I think you will say that this is a matter for Member States, that it’s a national competence – and that’s probably correct. Nevertheless, I would like to hear what the Commission has to say about the vacuum that is created by the 24-hour media blackouts, the vulnerability that it create…

11 Mar

2024

EN Speech

Definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of Union restrictive measures (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, sanctions work and are working against Russia when it is estimated that it has lost greater than EUR 400 billion from its economy as a result of EU sanctions, thus restricting its capacity to pursue its imperialist and illegal war in Ukraine. This directive is aimed at circumvention and I would expect also a strong focus on the subsidiaries of EU companie…

29 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Commission recommendation on secure and resilient submarine cables (debate)

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Mr President, much of the discussion in Ireland is about naval capacity, but the recommendation we’re debating today makes no mention of naval capability, and there is no way that Ireland could – or should – survey or police subsea cables, which are for the most part not in our territorial waters, and in any case privately owned. Whether we like it or not, we will have to cooperate with partners l…

28 Feb

2024

EN Speech

The extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange and implications on freedom of the press (debate)

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Madam President, I want to add my voice of support to the campaign against the extradition of Julian Assange. I have very little faith in the quality of US justice. However, I want to focus on the second part of this debate: the implications on freedom of the press, because some of the sponsors of this debate are themselves no strangers to attacks on the press. One of the Irish parties of the left…

27 Feb

2024

EN Speech

War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, I want to talk today about evidence. There is sadly widespread evidence of starvation in Gaza, and especially in the north and especially among children. There is evidence of deliberate obstacles being put in the way of the delivery of humanitarian aid by the Israeli authorities, described yesterday by the UN rapporteur on the right to food as a war crime…

27 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Driving licences (debate)

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Madam President, already in 2024, Irish road deaths have almost exceeded the total number of deaths on the roads in 2019. The main causes are phone usage, speeding and not wearing seatbelts. The police also say that all of the success in the campaign against driving while under the influence of alcohol has been wiped out by a huge increase in driving under the influence of drugs. I have read many …

26 Feb

2024

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, the attempt by the right in this hemicycle to kill the nature restoration law is shameful. We need to work together to restore nature, which is our lifeline. There’s too much at stake tomorrow and rejection cannot be an option. We cannot kick away the biodiversity pillar of the Green Deal. We have seen and witnessed the collapse of Europe’s natural systems. More than 80 % of European…

8 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Working conditions of teachers in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, like the last speaker, I am a former schoolteacher and can personally attest to the challenging but incredibly rewarding nature of the teaching profession. However, the rising cost of living, long commutes and rising populations have led to a teacher retention crisis across the European Union. A recent survey carried out by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland sho…

7 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Recent attacks on Christmas Eve in Plateau State in Nigeria

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– Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues. First of all, we don’t know who carried out these attacks; nobody has claimed responsibility for them. If – as is suspected – it is Fulani herders, that maybe should have informed the drafting of the ECR resolution, which makes no reference whatsoever to the conflicts between herders and pastoralists in the area where these despicable attacks happened. The…

7 Feb

2024

EN Speech

The fight against hate speech and disinformation: responsibility of social platforms within the Digital Services Act (topical debate)

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Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, colleagues, the Digital Services Act will create a safer digital space in which all users are protected. And I look forward to its full commencement on 17 February. It will protect against hate speech and disinformation and protect our democracies. It will hold online platforms accountable so that our democracies can be a marketplace of ideas. Freedom of ex…

6 Feb

2024

EN Speech

State of play of the implementation of the Global Gateway and its governance two years after its launch (debate)

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Mr President, the Commission cites democratic values as the first core principle of the Global Gateway policy. But I am struggling to see how this initiative is democratic. Firstly, it was not conceived in a democratic way, with the European Parliament frozen out of the implementation of the policy, and the responsible Commissioner has never appeared in this Parliament to account for the implement…

6 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Russiagate: allegations of Russian interference in the democratic processes of the European Union (debate)

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Madam President, listening to the debate it is clear that the allegations against MEP Ždanoka that she provided far-ranging assistance to Russian intelligence services came as no surprise to anyone in this Hemicycle and, of course, there is multiple evidence of Russian interference throughout this European Parliament, and it is set out in multiple reports. Yet no one has been more aligned to MEP Ž…

5 Feb

2024

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, two words: plausible and credible. Not much difference, you would think. By an overwhelming majority, the judges of the International Court of Justice found that South Africa’s claim that Israel had breached certain articles of the Genocide Convention to be ‘plausible’. So what did European governments do on the finding of plausible genocide acts? Nothing. The following day, and hard…

5 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, despite it only being five weeks into 2024, 18 people have already lost their lives on Irish roads this year. 2023 had the highest fatality rate in nearly a decade in Ireland, made worse by a substantial increase in the number of deaths of young people. The Road Safety Authority in Ireland has noted that this isn’t just an Irish phenomenon. All over Europ…

5 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the formation of a new government in Northern Ireland at the weekend. This was a very historic occasion. Michelle O’Neill was elected to be the first nationalist leader of Northern Ireland in its 100-year history. I’d like to also congratulate our former MEP colleague Naomi Long, who resumes her duties as Minister for Justice, and M…

17 Jan

2024

EN Speech

Gender aspects of the rising cost of living and the impact of the energy crisis (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, I want to commend the report of the rapporteur. I wasn't a shadow, but I was very struck by your comments earlier, and the way in which chaos can lead to populism, destitution can lead to populism. I think, if anything, the very thoughtful recommendations contained in this report should really make the Commission sit up straight, and I very much hope t…

16 Jan

2024

EN Speech

Humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to reach a ceasefire and the risks of regional escalation (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues. We should never tire of condemning Hamas and the way in which they have conducted this war with no regard whatsoever for the civilians in Gaza. However, I want to focus on the humanitarian situation. Israel has blamed variously the United Nations, the Egyptian authorities, NGOs and Gazans themselves for the failure to deliver humanitarian aid, blaming – a…

16 Jan

2024

EN Speech

Transparency and accountability of non-governmental organisations funded from the EU budget (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, I had the honour to run two NGOs in Ireland over the course of my career. I just wanted to introduce a note of reality to this debate. The amount of compliance, governance and regulatory scrutiny that NGOs have to undergo throughout any EU funding project is well beyond anything that I’ve heard referenced in this debate. In addition, the work of monitorin…

16 Jan

2024

EN Speech

Empowering consumers for the green transition (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, happy new year. We can’t have a green transition without consumers being fully empowered. As the effects of climate change become more real and deadly, consumers are demanding to make empowered choices. Green products, sustainable practices and ethical sourcing are what a new generation of consumers want, and yet we actually make it more difficult for con…

13 Dec

2023

EN Speech

EU strategy to assist young people facing the housing and cost of living crisis (topical debate)

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Vice President, Commissioner and colleagues, there’s no doubt that young people are worse off than previous generations and struggling to meet their basic needs. Addressing the housing and cost-of-living crisis is immensely complex, but one angle that is often overlooked is that of vacancy. In Ireland particularly, commercial property vacancy is at an all-time high and yet we are struggling to mee…

13 Dec

2023

EN Speech

Role of EU development policy in transforming the extractive industries for sustainable development in developing countries (A9-0322/2023 - Barry Andrews) (vote)

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Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, they say that cobalt is the new oil. And depending on where you lie in the political spectrum, you may react differently to this statement. For some people, this is good news. It means the green transition is well underway. For others, it is an unwelcome sign of change. I think of what this means for Africa and it makes me uneasy. The vast majority of the…

12 Dec

2023

EN Speech

Need to release all hostages, to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire and prospect of the two-state solution (debate)

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Mr President, High Representative/Vice-President, in the early 2000s, I was a member of the board of the Holocaust Education Trust in Ireland, dedicated to the fight against antisemitism and learning the lessons of the past. Since then, it’s a source of enormous sadness for me to see Israel drift away from the principles that underpin the Oslo Accords, to see Israel drift away from the path toward…