Speeches

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 showed 64% of schools have unfilled vacancies, and another by the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) showed 75% of schools surveyed received no applications for teaching posts advertised. This is affecting the most vulnerable and special education disproportionately. Free school books for the junior cycle and the Public Sector Pay Agreement are very welcome, but I would encourage the Irish Government to engage with unions on disputes about incremental payments for teachers returning from abroad. Ireland performs extremely well on PISA surveys, and such engagement would be a practical recognition of that performance.

– 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. There is no doubt that there is jihadi violence; nobody denies that. However, we need to look at the deeper symptoms of it, and the deeper symptoms of it are poor governance, corruption and the absence of the rule of law. We had an election last year in Nigeria that fell very, very far short of the standards Nigeria set for itself. What has the EU done in response to the corruption that was carried out in that election? Almost nothing. We shouldn’t be surprised to find these symptoms at large in Nigeria. This resolution falls very far short of what is expected of a proper debate about the complexities of what’s happening in Nigeria.

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 expression is guaranteed in the Irish Constitution and vindicated in Irish courts. In the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, Ireland ranked second in the world. The great Irish leader, Daniel O'Connell, said almost 200 years ago, ‘I am the friend of liberty in every clime, class, colour and creed’. In 2024, almost 200 years later, it is, incredibly, even more important than ever to protect that same liberty. Last November, as buses burned in the centre of Dublin city, an individual sought out foreigners to attack. Rapid dissemination of inflammatory content online became a catalyst for real-world violence. However, I am conflicted about Ireland’s own hate speech legislation. On the one hand, Elon Musk says he will fund a legal challenge to the proposal, which in my book means it must be very good. On the other hand, our existing incitement to hatred legislation is barely enforced, and the Digital Services Act surely changes everything. So I would encourage the Irish Government to carry out an urgent review of the proposal in light of the forthcoming commencement of the Digital Services Act.

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 implementation of the policy. Secondly, I do not see how the policy is supposed to foster democracy. Only 2 of the 46 partner countries can be considered high-performance democracies. So what we are left with is the naive hope that economic growth fosters some kind of democratic spirit. We know from the histories of China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries that this is a myth. And thirdly, we have a business advisory group which has met now with 60 members, some connected with the Chinese state and none of them from the Global South. So we need – and I agree with Ms González in this regard – more transparency, we need more community development agreements, and we need stronger conditionality. Otherwise, we are vulnerable to the accusation of hypocrisy and double standards, undermining the EU’s credibility.

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 Ždanoka than the two Irish MEPs of Independents 4 Change. They have tried to brush it off as guilt by association, but they travelled with her to defend a Lithuanian diplomat convicted of spying for Russia. With only 11 other MEPs, they voted not to condemn Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. They posed for photographs and attended webinars with her. So why is it not legitimate to ask: did you have your suspicions? Or are you so naive that you didn’t have any suspicions at all? What a shame it is that Ireland elects MEPs making excuses for Kremlin aggression and Putin’s relentless campaign to undermine European elections.

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 hardly coincidentally, an intelligence assessment found that 12 UNWRA staff out of 13 000 were possibly involved in the horrors of 7 October. A US assessment found this to be ‘credible’. What did EU governments do on the finding of credible intelligence assessment? They cut off humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza at a time of maximum vulnerability. Well, I think it is both plausible and credible that these governments stand complicit in the war crime of collective punishment of the people of Gaza.

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 Europe, there has been an increase in fatal crashes since the end of COVID. A recent study by Eurostat found that road fatalities in the EU have increased by 6% after a decade of continuous decline. A new EU directive to extend driving disqualifications is very welcome. To ensure road safety and effective enforcement of road safety regulations, it is crucial that the EU takes a consistent approach to recognising and enforcing driver disqualifications across the Member States. Public awareness campaigns to inform EU citizens of mutual recognition of disqualifications is absolutely essential. Mounting fatalities on both Irish and EU roads have increased the urgency of these measures.

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 Matthew O’Toole, who will lead the Opposition in the new Northern Ireland Assembly. I would encourage the EU institutions at the earliest time to invite the new First Minister and Deputy First Minister to Brussels, particularly to focus on governance arrangements, and also to engage with their UK colleagues on a potential investment conference, so Northern Ireland can really take advantage of its dual market access to bring peace and prosperity to all of the communities in Northern Ireland.

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 that it takes the findings of this report very seriously. The cost of living crisis that is currently occurring is not one of equal opportunity. A recent survey in Ireland found that the cost of living crisis is having a disproportionate effect on women, who account for 6 in 10 of those with the lowest quality of life. The same survey found that 46% of women in Ireland are less happy with their financial situation, compared to 54% of men. So why is there a gender aspect to the rising cost of living? Women are highly represented in precarious jobs. They have lower incomes and wealth due to the gender pay, pension and participation gaps, and are still bearing a disproportionate burden of unpaid work. The cost of living crisis has a female face, as the rapporteur has said, and the European Union needs to deliver on its promise to leave no one behind.

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 – and I quote – ‘the capability of the international organisations inside Gaza to receive this aid’. The facts on the ground do not bear this out. Israel operates a dual-use list that it has not published, and no humanitarian organisation has had sight of. Trucks previously cleared for entry can be turned back arbitrarily if a single item is rejected. For example, absurdly, a tent pole in an Irish aid consignment, the entire consignment has to go back and be unloaded and reloaded. There are those who say, ‘let’s talk positively’, ‘what are the positive proposals’? But Israel has repeatedly rejected calls to internationalise the inspection process. It is therefore impossible not to conclude that Israel is deliberately frustrating the distribution of humanitarian aid. We need a ceasefire immediately.

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 monitoring and evaluation to ensure that funds are applied to the correct beneficiaries is also extraordinary. There is also extensive work on impact assessment in order to show a critical component of all logic frameworks that NGOs in receipt of EU funding operate. So yes, we have to really, properly scrutinise the question of sham NGOs that have been subject to influence operations. But we could end up undermining, not restoring, public trust in NGOs. NGOs have the unique ability to articulate society’s conscience, to bring to light issues that would not otherwise attract public attention, and to speak for those without a voice.

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 consumers to make these types of informed choices. Greenwashing and its consequences are a scourge. For too long, manufacturers have been able to claim that their product is sustainable or ethically sourced without requiring proof. This new legislation is a clear sign of action that the EU is prepared to give consumers proper information. Now consumers can rely on clear labelling. Generic environmental labels such as ‘biodegradable’, ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘climate neutral’ will be prohibited. Consumers will now have to be informed which products are more durable and reparable, and real consequences for traders and companies which do not abide by these laws. To achieve a truly sustainable economy, we must empower consumers.

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 meet housing needs. The impacts of vacancy go beyond housing. Firstly, the more derelict sites we have, the fewer spaces are dedicated as cultural venues, as marketplaces, meeting points or independent businesses. Secondly, converting vacancy to occupancy means less carbon emissions than new builds. And thirdly, as we have seen in Dublin recently, crime is closely related with vacancy due to the absence of footfall and the activities of daily life. I believe we have not yet realised the extent of vacancy and Europe can lead. First, we need an EU common methodology for collecting data on vacancy. Second, the EU could also lead in rethinking office spaces: 60% of Dublin’s vacant buildings are commercial. Tackling vacancy would be one of the most efficient ways of providing alternative and greener sources of accommodation, of revitalising our communities and of making our cities safer for young and old.

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 world’s critical raw materials are concentrated in Africa. As is widely known, the Democratic Republic of Congo produces 70% of the world’s cobalt. Of course, this abundance is a huge opportunity for these developing countries, a chance to take a huge leap forward. But have we Europeans learned the lessons of history from Europe’s colonial past and the moral implications of fostering resource dependency? I am afraid we have forgotten all about the resource curse, the paradox of an abundance of natural resources delivering little by way of prosperity for local and indigenous people. This morning’s agreement at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels underlines the urgency to provide safeguards for the next phase of extractive industry. What is to stop cobalt from becoming the new oil? What is to stop the EU from facilitating this as we try to get ahead in the critical raw materials race? This time we must do things differently. We must carry out real and effective due diligence. I want to thank the shadows for their work in this opinion, and I’m sure they won’t mind me paying particular tribute to the late Michèle Rivasi, who brought her usual passion and straight talking to this file. My sincere sympathies to her family and friends.

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 towards a two-state solution, and to see Israel contribute to the erosion of its own constitutional balance, with protests on the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The events of 7 October of course deserve utter and unambiguous condemnation, including sexual violence. But we have arrived at a situation where Israel’s need has become a moral code, separate and distinct from international humanitarian law and the rules of conflict. The Irish Government has been absolutely clear that there must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. I fully support this call. If the EU will not lead, Member States must.

Madam President, Commissioners and colleagues, I think, as we all know, we are living through a democratic recession. According to Freedom House, less than 7% of people live in full democracies across the world, which is an astonishing figure in 2023. And 2024 is a crossroads, with 4 billion people entitled to vote in elections, and that will be a record. As both Commissioners pointed out, there is no single solution to the erosion of our democratic standards. My own country, Ireland, is considered one of the strongest democracies in the world. However, we have seen recent outbreaks of violence on our streets, fuelled by disinformation. The violence I’m referring to triggered the first ever Member State alert to the Commission under the Digital Services Act, and therefore, the Digital Services Act will play a critical role in bolstering our democracy in 2024. The second area is journalism. All of the great investigations that have taken place recently – whether it’s the Pandora Papers, the Panama Papers, the Cyprus files – they’ve all come from long form journalism, from investigations that are very expensive. We need to support our journalism to support our democracy.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, Sellafield is a nuclear waste and storage site on the west coast of England, less than 100 miles from the east coast of Ireland. It stores 140 tonnes of plutonium, but it has been described as a bottomless pit of hell, money and despair. After a year-long investigation, The Guardian newspaper revealed last week that there are very serious dangers at the site. First of all, it found that 2.3 cubic metres of radioactive sludge is being leaked into the ground in the region every single day. A European Parliament report in 2003 said that an accident there could be worse than Chernobyl. Secondly, the investigation found that there is serious cyber attacks and vulnerability at the site, with sleeper malware embedded in its networks. Thirdly, it also found a toxic management culture. There is an agreement between the EU and the UK post-Brexit on nuclear energy, and I would call on you, Commissioner, to use your office to raise these very serious findings of this investigation with your UK counterparts.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, it is truly astonishing to me to meet other MEPs who know that they will be in the next Parliament because of how high they are on their party lists. They know they’re going to be in the next mandate, and it should be obvious to all of us that this disincentivises those candidates from investing time and energy into the process. Those of us who will seek direct elections, without lists, will work intensely to engage with voters, will debate the issues and raise the profile of these elections. Lists put candidates at a remove from the people. Lists empower party officials and they enable processes that are not transparent. It should come as no surprise that Ireland is one of the Member States that is most positive towards EU Membership, so I respect the right of Member States to design their own electoral systems. I very much welcome this report and the work of the rapporteurs, but I think that we have an awful lot to learn from each other, from the way that we elect our MEPs.

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the murder of Ashling Murphy in January 2022 forced a collective reckoning with violence against women that is anything but random. Over one year on from Ashling’s death and ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we must ask ourselves what has changed for the women of Ireland? According to Women’s Aid, 244 women have died violently in Ireland since 1996. The National Women’s Council recently warned that violence against women is at epidemic levels in Ireland. Late night safety is a serious issue, with fear and harassment a reality for many women. Today serves as a stark reminder of the need for practical and impactful initiatives to combat gender-based violence. Vienna, for example, has been committed to gender mainstreaming since 2000. High-quality public lighting and improved safety measures in underground car parks have been implemented. As well as this, tougher sentencing needs to be imposed for those who commit gender-based violence. Judges cannot impose minimum sentence terms in Ireland, while in the UK they can. In fact, the judge presiding over Ashling Murphy’s case lamented that he did not have the power to do so, given that the case was so far up the scale of gravity.

Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, Intellexa is registered in Ireland. This is the company that has been blacklisted by the US Government. The Irish Government says there is no evidence of export and no export certification under the Dual-use Regulation. Yet Intellexa posted revenues of EUR 36 million last year in the Irish Companies Registration Office. Perhaps there is something wrong with the Dual-use Regulation. How easy is it to monitor the export of code? How easy is it to monitor the export of software? The reality is that the EU is a permissive regulatory environment that has allowed these toxic products to undermine democracy and freedom everywhere. Next year, 4 billion people will vote in elections – a record. Think of the amount of surveillance of journalists, of activists and of candidates by these products that carry the veneer of EU regulation, that carry the EU stamp. What a shame it is that MEPs don’t have the power to initiate legislation.

Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, it hasn’t been mentioned in this debate, but the very first enlargement of the European Union was 50 years ago, in 1973, when Ireland, the UK and Denmark joined the EEC. Had the criteria applied in 1973, there’s no way that Ireland would have been able to join the EEC at that time, not only because of the conflict that was raging on the island of Ireland at that time, but also because we didn’t really have a functioning social market economy. But, like so many accession stories, Ireland joining has been an unambiguously positive story. The criteria is the way we will build our European home, but we mustn’t allow Putin, in particular, to get away with weaponising the Copenhagen criteria through the seeding of conflict in neighbours and the enragement and inflaming of minority sentiment. That is why I fully endorse the decision to provide a clear pathway to membership for both Ukraine and Moldova.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, people often ask about crisis fatigue, and whether we get a little bit tired of the vast number of crises that seem to pile on top of each other, but you never hear anybody asking about trivia fatigue. The New Humanitarian pointed out that 100 times more online articles concerned Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars than was the case of the then-current crisis in Malawi. Some NGOs, like Concern Worldwide, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE, have attempted to shine a light on some of these forgotten crises. Right now, of course, Ukraine and Gaza get and deserve our full attention. But think about Syria. For a long time, Syria was the subject of endless debates in this House. Last month, the UN Security Council heard that the worst escalation of violence since 2019 occurred in north-west Syria. From 5 to 18 October more than 120 000 people were displaced. So I very much thank Carlos Zorrinho for his excellent report.

Mr President, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue published a report today, the third in a series of three reports on disinformation and misinformation in Ireland. This third report focused on narratives. Unsurprisingly, the report concludes that the pandemic supercharged online disinformation and misinformation. The exercise by countries and Member States of extraordinary powers and the rollout of vaccines fed into pre-existing conspiracy theories. Unsurprisingly, also, it finds that the narratives are immigration, LGBT rights and the war in Ukraine. The conclusion, also unsurprising, was that online platforms are failing to discharge their statutory obligations or any of their own community guidelines. The disinformation epidemic triggered by the war in Gaza is unprecedented, according to EU DisinfoLab. Haaretz describes disinformation as a deadly new front in the war. Disinformation exaggerates differences, causing spikes in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Disinformation erodes democracy because that is what it is for. The Digital Services Act took enormous political effort from all EU institutions. The urgency of implementation has never been more apparent.

Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, 28 years on from the first Conference of the Parties, some progress has been made. Last week, the OECD noted that developed countries had transferred USD 89 billion to developing countries in climate finance in 2021, and that we are on track to achieve USD 100 billion by the end of this year. Also, we should take some comfort from the unstoppable growth in green technologies. However, our climate is reaching a tipping point and so is our democracy. 2024 is the biggest election year in history, with more than 4 billion citizens voting. In an effort to pacify the far right, many of our moderate politicians are watering down their climate policies. One colleague advised me that I should avoid the use of the hashtag ‘COP28’, considering it toxic, effectively surrendering the ground to the most strident voices. There is now a real risk of the European Green Deal unravelling. Defeating climate change must be the priority of all politicians across the spectrum. We need a true coalition for climate.

Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, on World Children’s Day, I want to focus on two issues. Firstly, foster care is part of the European Child Guarantee and it is, of course, a recommended intervention for the most vulnerable children, preferred over residential care. However, foster care is delivered in a very incoherent way across Member States. There are no common standards for the delivery of foster care or for training of foster parents. We recently adopted a position on aspects of cross-border adoptions, and we should do the same regarding foster care and the Brussels Convention in particular. Secondly, as Minister for Children in Ireland, I introduced a scheme that delivered early childhood care and education. The intention was that this would lead to the increased professionalisation of workers in this sector, so that they could diagnose early developmental delays in children and design appropriate interventions, and I hope that that’s where it goes. Finally, it is impossible on World Children’s Day not to repeat what the WHO’s Dr Mike Ryan said: the best medicine for the children of Gaza is a ceasefire.