What Seán spoke about.

17

Sep

2024

EN Speech

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State of the Energy union (debate)

A Uachtaráin, apologies for missing my time earlier, but I was at a heads of delegation meeting, and thanks for taking me now. So despite an extraordinarily challenging few years, we've made significant strides forward in our energy strategy. In the first half of 2024, half of our electricity was sourced from renewables. This is a monumental achievement for Europe. We have also made remarkable pro…

17

Sep

2024

EN Speech

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Continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States (debate)

A Uachtaráin, as President von der Leyen has emphasised, our goal must be to secure a peace that restores Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. I wholeheartedly welcome Taoiseach Simon Harris's recent bilateral meeting with President Zelenskyy and his reaffirmation of Ireland's support for Ukraine's journey towards EU membership. This summer marked a historic milestone as Ukraine formal…

25

Apr

2024

GA Speech

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Framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net Zero Industry Act) (debate)

Mr President, I want to add my full support to this proposal, the Net-Zero Industry Act. The purpose of this Act is to promote investment in product manufacturing that is key to achieving the Union’s climate neutrality goals, and to reduce Europe’s strategic dependencies. It will strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the net-zero technology industry in Europe and help develop new techno…

24

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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The sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive - Anti-Money Laundering Regulation - Establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (joint debate - Anti-money laundering)

A Uachtaráin, money laundering is a terrible crime because, it has been said, it finances the worst people in the world – criminals of all sorts, Russians, people smugglers, drug barons, you name it – and using legitimate businesses to so do. So, if we did nothing else in this mandate, we will be doing a great service to our citizens in Europe if we could at least limit hugely the opportunity for …

24

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches, and environmental, social and governance risks - Amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as regards requirements for credit risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, operational risk, market risk and the output floor (joint debate - Banking Union)

Tá sé níos deise as Gaeilge: cic sa tóin. It’s nicer in Irish: cic sa tóin!

24

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches, and environmental, social and governance risks - Amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as regards requirements for credit risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, operational risk, market risk and the output floor (joint debate - Banking Union)

Mr President, during the economic crisis, we heard phrases like ‘banks too big to fail’, and they did fail and they failed everybody. But thankfully, as a result of the measures taken here at European Parliament level and Commission, we don’t hear that anymore. We now have more resilient banks, and thankfully they’re not going bust, and people aren’t going bust as a result. We have made progress, …

24

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches, and environmental, social and governance risks - Amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as regards requirements for credit risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, operational risk, market risk and the output floor (joint debate - Banking Union)

Mr President, (start of speech off mic) ... blue cards and catch-the-eye in this debate.

23

Apr

2024

GA Speech

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Prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market (A9-0306/2023 - Samira Rafaela, Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques)

Mr President, I voted in favour of prohibiting products made with forced labour on the EU market. The ILO estimates that around 27.6 million people worldwide are in the case of forced labour. There is no place for goods made with forced labour in the EU single market and I am pleased to support the EU Regulation that continues to make progress in tackling human rights violations worldwide. This ap…

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Common rules promoting the repair of goods (A9-0316/2023 - René Repasi)

A Uachtaráin, I voted in favour of the right to repair as it will result in savings for consumers, boost the circular economy and support the objectives of sustainable consumption and of the European Green Deal by reducing waste. Many of us want to consume more responsibly, but we are not being enabled or empowered to do so. Directives like these are a step forward in changing the culture around h…

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution (A9-0148/2024 - João Albuquerque)

A Uachtaráin, tiny plastic pellets have the power to cause huge destruction. Some 230 000 tonnes of plastic pellets fall into the ocean every year. We speak of microplastics, but this is no micro-level environmental destruction. These pellets are ending up in our oceans, in our soil and in our food. This proposed regulation strikes a good regulatory balance. It places obligations on EU and non-EU …

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Production and marketing of plant reproductive material - Production and marketing of forest reproductive material (joint debate - Plant and forest reproductive material)

A Uachtaráin, the proposed replacement of directives governing the production and marketing of plant and forest reproductive material is an important step towards enhancing agro biodiversity and restoring our forest ecosystems. Allowing for greater diversity of plant material available on the market will bolster agro-biodiversity and promote sustainable agriculture. A notable inclusion is provisio…

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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EU’s response to the repeated killing of humanitarian aid workers, journalists and civilians by the Israel Defence Forces in the Gaza Strip (debate)

A Uachtaráin, while the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s vicious terrorist attack in Israel, the situation in Gaza has now reached a critical juncture, and it is glaringly obvious that the principles of humanitarian law are being flagrantly disregarded. The disproportionate response by the Israeli authorities has led to the destruction of Gaza and the loss of countless of innocent lives, includi…

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Effective coordination of economic policies and multilateral budgetary surveillance - Speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure – amending Regulation - Requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States – amending Directive (joint debate – Economic governance)

A Uachtaráin, my late dear mother used to say to me: ‘Seán,’ she’d say, ‘money isn’t everything. But without it you have nothing.’ And thus, she’s right, we have rich countries, poor countries, rich people, poor people. But when you have money, you must use it prudently – and if you don’t, you lose it. And we found that in our country, many others, during the recession: we over borrowed and went b…

10

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Union code relating to medicinal products for human use - Union procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human use and rules governing the European Medicines Agency (joint debate - Pharmaceutical package)

A Uachtaráin, I’m coming from Ireland South, an awful lot of our jobs are farmer jobs, and they invest hugely in the economy. And for that reason, I was delighted that the original proposal by the Commission to reduce market protection from eight to six years was not accepted because it would have driven a lot of the research out of Europe. For every research project that’s successful, there are n…

10

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Screening of third country nationals at the external borders - European Criminal Records Information System - Third Country Nationals - Common procedure for international protection in the Union - Establishing a return border procedure, and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1148 - Asylum and migration management - Addressing situations of crisis and force majeure - Establishment of 'Eurodac' for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013, for identifying an illegally staying third-country national or stateless person and on requests for the comparison with Eurodac data by Member States' law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes (recast) - Union Resettlement Framework - Standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection - Standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast) (joint debate - Migration and Asylum package)

A Uachtaráin, I think most people in Europe are sympathetic to the plight of migrants and asylum seekers and they welcome them. But they expect it to be done in a fair and equitable manner. Up until now, that was impossible because we had different systems across Europe. So I welcome this package. I think it will bring coordination in line with our obligations under the international treaties and …

14

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Healthy lifestyle and active ageing in the EU (debate)

A Uachtaráin, in the blue zone of Okinawa in Japan, once known as ‘the land of immortals’, they have a term ‘ikigai’, which defines older people’s sense of purpose and their feeling of being needed well into their hundreds. The European population is ageing rapidly. The number of Europeans aged over 65 will double in the next 50 years, and the number over 80 years will treble. With a shrinking lab…

14

Mar

2024

GA Speech

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Deterioration of living conditions in the EU (debate)

Mr President, in Ireland, having been a member of the European Union since 1973 has profoundly changed the standard of living and our economy. This was due to a changing fund, a structural fund and in particular, the Single Market, which has helped us a lot, to develop our infrastructure and grow our diverse, small, medium and large businesses. Because of this progress, we are now paying into the …

14

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Return of Romanian national treasure illegally appropriated by Russia (debate)

A Uachtaráin, I agree completely with this resolution, and it reminds me of possibly the first copyright dispute in the world. In Ireland, almost a thousand years ago, there was a dispute over the ownership of a manuscript. We had judges at that time known as druids, and the druid, in his summary, said, ‘do gach bó a lao, do gach leabhar a údar,’ – ‘to every cow its calf, to every book its author’…

14

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Promised revision of the EU animal welfare legislation and the animal welfare-related European citizens’ initiatives (debate)

A Uachtaráin, we are in politics because we like politics. Farmers farm because they like farming, and above all they love animals and they go to great efforts to protect them, getting up in the middle of the night to oversee cows calving, sheep lambing, paying big veterinary bills to ensure they’re as healthy as possible. And for that reason we shouldn’t be putting limits on what they can do, par…

13

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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The repressive environment in Afghanistan, including public executions and violence against women

, the situation in Afghanistan is alarming, with human rights violations occurring daily, including arrests, detentions, abductions, tortures and killings. Since the Taliban takeover, there has been a complete lack of accountability for these atrocities. Women and girls, in particular, have faced escalating restrictions on their fundamental rights, such as limited access to education, mobility and…

13

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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The immediate risk of mass starvation in Gaza and the attacks on humanitarian aid deliveries

A Uachtaráin, in my 15 years in the European Parliament, this is the longest list I’ve ever seen for an urgency debate. Not surprising, because I think all right-minded people were absolutely appalled at Hamas’s brutal, evil attack on innocent Israelis on 7 October. But many of those right-minded people are now equally appalled at Netanyahu’s over-the-top reaction. The slaughter of the innocent, e…

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive) (A9-0056/2024 - Cyrus Engerer, Andrus Ansip)

A Uachtaráin, for far too long, consumers who are trying to make environmentally conscious and informed decisions have had to attempt to find truth in a market awash with greenwashing and lies. With high climate targets, we must enable and empower consumers to make responsible choices. So I welcome this new Green Claims Directive. However, while on one side we have companies who work hard at decei…

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (A9-0253/2023 - Nicola Danti)

A Uachtaráin, by the close of this decade hundreds of billions of products will be connected to the internet. We live in an age of AI and smart technologies. These technologies have become indispensable in our lives, which simultaneously makes them targets of attack. Irish people know this all too well – we are still reeling from a cyberattack on our National Health Service. However, this is not a…

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Energy performance of buildings (recast) (A9-0033/2023 - Ciarán Cuffe)

A Uachtaráin, as rapporteur for the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, I think it is a significant step towards decarbonising buildings across the European Union, reducing the EU’s emissions and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The proposal on the table now is a balanced and practical agreement that gives Member States a very high degree of flexibility to take into account local circu…

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Need to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the EU and to ensure stability of EU agricultural production (debate)

A Uachtaráin, I would like to reiterate the position I have maintained for the entirety of this conflict. The European Union must stand united against Russia and its allies, and this absolutely extends to trade in agricultural products. That we would allow the Russian war machine to be funded by the EU single market, while at the same time disadvantaging our own farmers is frankly outlandish. I we…