What Michael spoke about.

8 Oct

2026

EN Speech

EU strategies for islands, coastal communities and outermost regions (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, I welcome this report and the Commission's first ever strategy for islands and coastal communities. But a strategy without funding is not a strategy; it's just a brochure. So it's important to secure funding. Based on your previous attempts to get funding and withstand von der Leyen's attempts to emasculate the outer regions, I would have confidence in you, and I wis…

7 Oct

2026

EN Speech

The cases of Ali Karimli, Anar Mammadli and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan

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Mr President, this is not the first resolution of the European Parliament concerning Anar Mammadli – that was in December 2024, when this Parliament criticised his detention on bogus charges. And at that point he had already been in detention since April. He remained in detention until his recent conviction for illegal entrepreneurship and sentence of 13 years. In the meantime, the European Union …

16 Sep

2026

EN Speech

Post-electoral repression in Zambia and the killing of Mutotwe Kafwaya

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Madam President, I would like to thank colleagues for putting forward this very important motion on what is transpiring in Zambia. I spent much of this summer in Zambia, where I had the honour to be the Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission. There, I learned of Zambia's very proud tradition of democracy. The rule of law was entrenched and the importance of independence …

15 Sep

2026

EN Speech

Findings and recommendations of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, this report worries me. It rightly condemns American sanctions on a former commissioner for a lack of any process and punishing him for merely doing his job. It rightly condemns Russia's blacklist of MEPs, officials and others as arbitrary and a breach of mutual respect between our jurisdictions. But it also goes on to ask us to sanction EU politicians and lobbyists wh…

14 Sep

2026

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, if the last couple of years have taught us anything, it's the necessity to plan for energy shocks. Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe that currently does not have emergency gas storage, although the government is to be commended on moving in the right direction – a new floating gas terminal is to be commissioned in the Shannon Estuary. However, it will only take enough …

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

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

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Mr. President, this day is a personal achievement for you, Mr. President. I wish you all the best and I wish you all the best. The success of the Irish Presidency will be built on long hours by countless Irish civil servants far from today's limelight and that of recent days, and I think we should remember their work and wish them success as well in their important tasks. As we assume leadership o…

6 Jul

2026

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, as Ireland assumes the presidency of the European Union, I think it begs questions about what education system is required to be European and to serve that. It seems to me that two things are essential. The first is that we start teaching children European languages as early as possible in their education. The other is, of course, that we maintain an education system whereby Irish pe…

15 Jun

2026

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, to mark the fact that Ireland will commence the implementation of the migration pact this week, but by saying that considerable efforts will be required to meet the obligations contained therein. The migration pact requires the decisions made in respect of asylum applications to be made very quickly, with six months for the standard procedure, three months for accelerated and bord…

15 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI) (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, we have heard a wide variety of views here tonight, which is perhaps unsurprising on AI – from those who believe there should be no regulation whatsoever to those who believe that the Trump administration is the cause of all of our problems, with regard to the huge gulf between where we stand in Europe and where the Americans stand with regard to the d…

15 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI) (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, let me be direct – I have never been comfortable with the Omnibus approach. My strong preference, and I would argue the preference of many in this Parliament, is that when we need to amend the legislation, we need to do so properly with full parliamentary scrutiny, with a proper impact assessment, with full, considered committee hearings. In other words, to do the job …

20 May

2026

EN Speech

Repression and execution of protesters, dissidents, political prisoners and religious minorities in Iran

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Mr President, Amnesty International recorded 2 707 executions in Iran in 2025, an increase of 78 % from the previous year, 2024. I join colleagues in unequivocally condemning the death penalty – it has no place in a civilised society, be it Iran, one of the oldest civilisations in the world, China or the United States. 47 of those executed last year were for politically motivated charges, accordin…

20 May

2026

EN Speech

Financing EU priorities in a sustainable, predictable and resilient way through a new EU own resource from the online gambling and betting services sector (debate)

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Madam President, I very much welcome this debate. Ireland, part of which I represent in this House, already has a gambling tax – a 2 % levy on all bets laid in Ireland and a 2 % levy equally on online bets in Ireland. I have no problem with increasing that tax. Gambling is clearly a major issue, it's an issue that is destroying particularly young lives, as we see more and more young people becomin…

20 May

2026

EN Speech

Rights, support and protection of victims of crime (debate)

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Madam President, I very much welcome this debate on the rights, supports and protection of victims of crime. And I want to focus on one group of victims of crime in particular, and that is victims of drug debt, intimidation and drug-debt enforcement. They are a group that are increasingly prevalent, unfortunately, in the constituency which I represent ‑ Ireland South ‑ and they are increasingly pr…

19 May

2026

EN Speech

Opportunities and challenges presented by a comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy for EU trade (debate)

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Mr President, colleagues, the Benifei report is very clear about what's at stake. The EU's strategic dependencies in semiconductors and cloud infrastructure and critical minerals are not just abstract risks; they hinder our ability to be relevant in the AI economy, and we need to address them, or fall behind. We need to be relevant in this age, as we have been in previous ages, but we also need to…

26 Mar

2026

EN Speech

Simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI) (A10-0073/2026 - Arba Kokalari, Michael McNamara) (vote)

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Madam President, colleagues, this resolution brings clarity and simplification to the law applicable to AI systems across Europe – for the benefit of all, but particularly our start-ups and mid-caps. One very simple clarification is that AIs that create non-consensual intimate imagery will be prohibited. This has been a priority not only for my colleagues in the review group, but across this House…

10 Mar

2026

EN Question

Housing crisis in the European Union with the aim of proposing solutions for decent, sustainable and affordable housing (debate)

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(start of speech off mic) ... many of which were beyond the control of Member States and, indeed, perhaps even the European Union. But do you think that any of the causes of the housing crisis in Ireland lie with the government of which you were a minister, with collective cabinet responsibility? Not all, but any of them?…

9 Mar

2026

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, I see Commissioner McGrath here and I wish to recall the debate which occurred in the Irish Parliament, in which he and I were both members, around the cost of fuel in Ireland in 2022. I think there's going to be a very similar debate coming up very soon in the Irish Parliament, as there will be in national parliaments and indeed this Parliament, given the tragic, horrible and illega…

21 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Online piracy of sports and other live events: urgent need to address unsolved issues (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, of course we need to combat piracy in sports coverage. But equally I think we need to be cognisant of what's driving it and we need to be vigilant about the tendency to put all live sports behind a paywall and we need to be vigilant about unscrupulous operators. For example, Sky recently argued in an Irish court that they were under no obligation to tell their consumers…

16 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Presentation of the European Affordable Housing Plan (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, I say again, Commissioner, I welcome you and very much welcome your presentation of the European affordable housing plan and what it contains: a loosening of the rules around State aid to allow for more national funding and additional EU funding, as well as the discouragement of speculative investment. All of that is very welcome. Again, Commissioner, I welcome your balanced appro…

16 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Grids package and tackling raising energy prices through robust infrastructure (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Jørgensen, I wish to commend you for the very balanced approach that you've taken to this. In your opening presentation, I heard you say two things that I would consider to be of considerable import. One is that we need to continue to protect our environment while we advance these grids, which are absolutely necessary. I think nobody doubts that. The second thing is that…

15 Dec

2025

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, this afternoon, the Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was quoted as saying that Europe would lose face if we do not continue with the Mercosur deal. Colleagues, I say Europe will lose faith if we do continue with the Mercosur deal. We will lose face with those who have believed for 40 years now, that it is possible to farm in a way that is compatible with the environment, we will l…

15 Dec

2025

EN Answer

Breeders' protests following a lumpy-skin-disease outbreak in France: implications of the EU approach on sanitary and on animal health (debate)

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You well know that there isn't unanimity on how we deal with many issues in many groups, including the Renew Group, including your own. The one thing I suppose, that we have absolute unanimity on in your group is a complete failure to ever take power in any country and ever be responsible for the decisions required. But do I agree with some of the decisions that have been made in France, frankly? …

15 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Breeders' protests following a lumpy-skin-disease outbreak in France: implications of the EU approach on sanitary and on animal health (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, I have to say, I've listened with some scepticism to your plans to eradicate this disease. And that scepticism is informed by my experience of TB eradication in Ireland. TB eradication programs were underway in Ireland 20 years before Ireland joined the European Union. Compulsory for ten years before they did. And yes, TB is far from eradicated. The government spendi…

25 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Digital Package (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Vice-President, I welcome your stated aim of this digital simplification omnibus. Who could argue against simplification? We all want to reduce the regulatory burden. We all want to reduce overlapping and duplicative reporting requirements. We all want to increase regulatory uncertainty. I particularly welcome your statement this evening that this was not about undermining our …

22 Oct

2025

EN Speech

The need for a united support to Ukraine and for a just and durable peace concluded on Ukraine's terms, with Europeans and without surrendering to Vladimir Putin's conditions ahead of the foreseen Budapest summit (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, on Friday, it will be three years and eight months since Putin's illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. It is an act that is to be entirely condemned without any reservation. But equally, it is now three years since I was told by an Irish Army officer in the Irish Parliament that the defeat of the conventional Russian forces was nigh. That hasn't happened. I…