What Barry spoke about.

13

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Artificial Intelligence Act (debate)

Madam President, I'm fundamentally opposed to the use of AI systems and remote biometric facial recognition. In mass surveillance, there have already been too many cases of mistaken identity, there have already been too many cases of abuses of the system to surrender the right of privacy to a technology that is developing and evolving as fast as this. AI's potential for positive transformation is …

13

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Humanitarian and environmental consequences of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam - Sustainable reconstruction and integration of Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic community (debate)

Mr President, Vice President, colleagues, I want to focus on the aspect of this debate, which is around the humanitarian response, because one of the issues that we have consistently got wrong in the overall humanitarian response is the failure to directly fund local Ukrainian humanitarian organisations. Less than 10 % of all humanitarian funding has gone directly to Ukrainian humanitarian organis…

31

May

2023

EN Speech

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Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, all companies carry out due diligence on their supply chains, but only insofar as it impacts the operations of their own company. What makes this proposal radical is that, for the first time, companies will be mandated to carry out due diligence on their supply chain as it affects the planet, as it affects human rights abuses. This has been an extremely divisive text…

31

May

2023

EN Speech

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10 year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh (statement by the President)

Madam President, dear colleagues, recently we marked the 10—year anniversary of the deadliest industrial accident in the modern era. These were 1 134 avoidable deaths, and the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh sparked an international outrage and a litany of promises by major brands to clean up their supply chains. This tragedy should have been a wake—up call for citizens, governments and companies…

10

May

2023

EN Speech

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Ukrainian cereals on the European market (debate)

Madam President, I wish to intervene as a member of the Development Committee of the Parliament and passing references have been made by previous speakers about the implications of this issue for our development partners. And I think it’s important, therefore, that we spell it out: developing countries are suffering food price inflation to a very great degree, and it has to be said that lives are …

10

May

2023

EN Speech

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Externalising asylum applications and making funding to third countries conditional on the implementation of return agreements (topical debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, the offer of EU development funding in return for cooperation on returns and readmissions is based on a myth. A myth that such funding can tackle the root causes of migration. The evidence shows that such interventions actually increase irregular population movements in the short term. Why is it controversial to come in here to this hemicycle and insist t…

9

May

2023

EN Speech

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Situation in Sudan (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, first of all, I think we need to be careful in our funding, both the EU and the Member States, that we focus on localisation. There are existing voluntary groups in Khartoum and throughout Sudan, such as resistance committees and established service committees, which are doing extraordinarily well in very, very difficult circumstances, and I think we n…

19

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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Children forcibly deported from Ukraine and the ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin (debate)

Mr President, this month, the Russian Federation has the presidency of the United Nations Security Council. The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It is surely an extraordinary indictment of the UN that its main body, the Security Council, charged with this cherished objective, is led by an alleged war criminal. That is why the ICC …

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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EU Rapid Deployment Capacity, EU Battlegroups and Article 44 TEU: the way forward (debate)

Madam President, my own country is one of a diminishing number of EU Member States that are non-aligned, and this is a popular position. However, we’re not ignorant of the vast challenges that the European Union faces, and indeed the Irish Government will host a consultative forum on Ireland’s international security policy. Bearing in mind cyber threats to Ireland, we host 40% of EU data in Irelan…

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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EU relations with Iraq (debate)

Madam President, like a number of colleagues here in the hemicycle, I was a Member of the European Parliament delegation to the EU Election Observation Mission in Iraq in 2021. And while it is true that the roots of democracy in Iraq are shallow, they are certainly growing. There was a very low turnout, which showed the high level of frustration among the young people, especially those that protes…

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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The need for European solidarity in saving lives in the Mediterranean, in particular in Italy (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, minister and colleagues, one of the central arguments that is ventilated by the far right is that NGO boats create a pull factor. So these debates can be very ideological and they can be very partisan. So let’s look at the facts. Researchers in the European University Institute in Florence in Italy looked at data going back to 2014 to examine this very question, and the…

17

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Social Climate Fund - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation (debate)

Mr President, like everybody else, I very much welcome the Fit for 55 package. It truly demonstrates the way in which the European institutions have listened to the voices of its citizens as expressed in the ballot box in the European Parliament elections in 2019. The people wanted ambition, they wanted verifiable targets and they wanted accountability. And that has been delivered. While the prima…

29

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Formal sitting - Ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

President Metsola, President Michel, President von der Leyen and colleagues, today’s ceremony is very, very welcome. Sometimes we under-sell the EU’s role in sustaining peace in Northern Ireland – a role I would argue is even more significant than that of the United States. The peace in Northern Ireland is, in my view, one of the European Union’s greatest achievements. It was the EU that provided …

15

Mar

2023

GA Speech

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Cross-border adoptions from third countries (debate)

Mr President, I would like to thank the Commission for organising this debate. This is an important matter. When I had the role of Minister for Children in the Irish government, I spent a lot of time on this topic. In 2010, on behalf of the Irish Government, I converted the Hague Convention into Irish law. A lot of people were happy when this happened. According to many families, adoption was an i…

14

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Implementation report on the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU - The Windsor Framework (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues. First of all, congratulations to Commissioner Šefčovič and his team and to all of the interlocutors on achieving the Windsor Framework. It’s a great breakthrough. I think the next stage is patience, unfortunately, and more patience. We’ve demonstrated – well, you’ve demonstrated – towering patience, I have to say, in the face of very difficult interlocutors …

14

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Deterioration of democracy in Israel and consequences on the occupied territories (debate)

Mr President, Mr Borrell, the override clause would degrade any claim Israel might have on being a liberal democracy. I applaud the people of Israel for calling out this legislation, but the new government has asserted Jewish people’s ‘exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of Israel’. And vandalising the delicately constructed separation of powers is a precondition for expansion…

13

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, I’m proud to say that on 8 March the Irish Government confirmed that a referendum on gender equality will be held in November this year. This announcement follows the recommendations made by the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality – an excellent example of participative democracy. The proposals will be to amend the Constitution on gender equality, the definition of family and the ‘…

13

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Policy Coherence for Development (short presentation)

Mr President, policy coherence for development is the concept that binds the Sustainable Development Goals to other EU policies, and it is wonderful that Team Europe contributes 43% of all overseas aid globally. But do other policies throw a hammer into delicately constructed development gains in our partner countries? If we ignore the transformational benefits of migration by building barriers to…

16

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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An EU strategy to boost industrial competitiveness, trade and quality jobs (B9-0085/2023, B9-0086/2023, B9-0087/2023, B9-0088/2023, B9-0089/2023, B9-0090/2023, B9-0091/2023, B9-0104/2023, B9-0105/2023, RC-B9-0107/2023, B9-0107/2023, B9-0108/2023, B9-0110/2023, B9-0111/2023, B9-0115/2023) (vote)

Madam President, if I can raise a matter of great importance, my voting terminal isn’t working. So if you would have a technician. Sorry to interrupt.

15

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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Access to strategic critical raw materials (debate)

Madam President, since this issue became more prominent a few years back, a number of things have changed, quite rightly. The green and digital transition has become central to European policy, but also the geopolitical situation has become starkly more challenging, as many speakers have referred to, our Russia dependence, our China dependence ... So this is not just a moving target, but also a ta…

15

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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EUCO conclusions: the need for the speedy finalisation of the Road Map (debate)

Madam President, I am a member of the Development Committee here in the European Parliament, and I want to recall Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that the primary objective of our development cooperation policy is the eradication of poverty. The Council conclusions make reference to the use of NDICI—Global Europe funding for migration purposes. It i…

13

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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EU response to the humanitarian situation following the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria (debate)

Madam President, I also want to express my condolences to the people of Syria and Türkiye. I have to take issue with the MEPs who have characterised the slow response as being attributed to the sanctions. Repeating the Assad narrative, effectively. Yes, there has been a slow response, yes, we need to have a debate about sanctions, but the two issues are not connected. If there is a slow response, …

1

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, I spoke in the January plenary imploring NGOs to stay the course and to fight the ban on female staff working in NGOs in Afghanistan. NGOs were right to suspend programmes, and in many cases, of course, they had no choice. Now there is some progress, and I commend Martin Griffiths and Amina Mohammed of the UN for taking the time to visit Afghanistan. Clea…

19

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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The Global Gateway Initiative (debate)

Mr President, I just want to make one point. Many of the speakers this morning have characterised this initiative as a foreign policy instrument, but it is based on the use of funds that are intended for development policy. And I think that’s the big misunderstanding here. This is based on EFSD+ and the use of NDICI Global Europe funding, over which there are very clear regulatory controls, superv…

19

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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The Global Gateway Initiative (debate)

Mr President, more than a year has passed since its announcement, and no one is really sure what the real purpose of Global Gateway is. Is it an attempt to rival Belt and Road? Is it a development cooperation initiative, as many insist it is, or is it simply an investment strategy for European business? Perhaps it’s none of those things. Perhaps it’s all of those things. We should be brave enough …