Patricia Stephenson
Labour Panel · Social Democrats · Ireland
“A number of us on this side of the House have concerns around what this is opening us up to. We are concerned that we do not have the correct protections and safeguards in place to ensure that the supply will be State-owned and State-led because it is not included in the definitions in the legislation.”
“The world is literally on fire in some places. We have a forest fire in Ireland for the first time in years perhaps. I know we sometimes have them in the Mourne Mountains in the North. This is cause for concern, not just for future generations but for us today.”
“I thank the Minister for coming in. This is a really positive step. I am delighted she is pushing it forward. By and large, the oral contraceptive is incredibly safe. A lot of well-studied medicines are available. Over-the-counter oral contraception has been recommended by the WHO since 2019.”
“I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “ “emergency” means a situation where the State is experiencing a significant and protracted physical disruption of gas supply, or other catastrophic deterioration of the supply situation, and where— (a) all relevant market-based measures have been fully…”
“The Department has stated this facility "will provide the resilience required to support our energy transition" and that "the reserve will only be used in genuine emergencies", yet there is no definition in this Bill of what the Government means by an emergency and when that would apply.”
“We also have to be mindful of the burden it will place on pharmacists without the correct resourcing for pharmacies to deliver the scheme to safeguard against them withdrawing from this or any future scheme simply because they feel they do not have the resources to deliver it in a timely manner.”
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“She needs to physically recover from the birth, to look after her mental and physical health and to adjust to her status as a mother who lost a baby. How do you deal with lactation and bleeding with no baby in your arms? How do you navigate returning to the workplace to tell people that your baby died? It has been reported that many women who have stillbirths experience symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression. Returning to work too soon can severely impact on the time needed for those with these symptoms to recover. Other countries have introduced similar things such as protective workplace regulations for parents going through this trauma. This relates to Senator Ryan's previous Bill on supported pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, although I emphasise that this Bill is separate from that.”
“It is not something that can be planned for or boxed into any timeframe, with the parents' lives going on afterwards despite suffering such a horrible loss. I support any measure that provides for a more compassionate society in the workplace for parents who are experiencing the worst trauma they could imagine by allowing them some time to grieve. The Bill allows a mother to experience her maternity leave in addition to the time she deserves for the grieving process. Maternity leave exists to allow women time to physically recover from the ordeal of giving birth. It allows her to bond with her child and to focus on her own health and physical and mental well-being and on the health and development of her infant. It is a time to enjoy as a new mother. Should a mother suffer the loss of her child, she has similar but additional needs.”
“I share Senator Clonan's frustration at timed amendments. It is hard to come into the Chamber with ideas, solutions and progressive policies and legislation only for these to be delayed time and again. There will always be a reason to delay any individual Bill but as we hear this for every Opposition Bill, it is hard to take seriously any specific justification other than a desire to kick it down the road and put it on the long finger because of a lack of desire to work collaboratively on a cross-party basis to get good policies across the board. Grieving the loss of a child is serious. It is not a linear process. To reinforce the point, this stands separate from any legislation around miscarriage. We are talking about a child who has been born and who you have held in your arms.”
“It says that no matter the socioeconomic background, the ethnicity or where a woman lives, postnatal care and supports should be available to all mothers. I am delighted that there has been a commitment from the Government to pursue these specific requests. Women's health has a lot of challenges in Ireland, and the commitment the Minister laid out will be a step towards addressing some of those gaps.”
“They cannot hop out onto the street and pound the pavements with a newborn baby in the same way. They have to wrangle the child into the car to find somewhere safe to walk, for example. I acknowledge, like many other people here have done, the work of Aolish Gormley, in developing her Year of Care campaign. She has created a vision for maternal health in Ireland: a vision where a mother is not isolated after six weeks; a vision where a mother does not feel alone and does not struggle in silence; and a vision that is about meeting a mother where she is, prioritising her care both physically and emotionally to allow her to thrive and create those healthy structures, which are crucial baselines for a family. This is at the core about equity. It is at the core a women's rights issue.”
“This is where huge issues around post partum can take place. Women are frequently also separated from their babies. This undermines the bonding process and can make the trauma worse at an extremely vulnerable time for women and their families. It is unfair that families are left to navigate these incredibly fragmented and inconsistent supports. That unit needs to be brought to fruition as soon as possible to improve the outcomes for mothers and their babies, to reduce long-term mental ill health and the social costs and to fulfil a promise to mothers in this country that we have had for a decade. I echo what Senator Flynn said about regionalisation and support for rural mothers and women living in rural areas. Rural living can cause isolation in general, but that is compounded for new mothers.”
“It is this crucial stage, the perinatal stage, that for some women can be extremely difficult. We need to do better. Perinatal care for women in Ireland remains underdeveloped, despite the clear need and evidence and despite previous policy commitments. Perinatal mental health difficulties can affect up to one in five women during pregnancy and the first year after birth, yet we continue to lack a fully resourced multidisciplinary mental health unit. The national maternity strategy, which was published ten years ago in 2016 explicitly promised the establishment of that unit and that we would have multidisciplinary care, yet we wait and the women of Ireland wait. The absence of this dedicated unit means that women experiencing severe mental ill health during pregnancy or post partum are often treated in general adult psychiatric settings.”
“I am sure we all have horrifying stories to tell of friends and loved ones going through incredibly traumatic birth experiences that have made recovery very difficult. It is in this period that emotional challenges can deepen. What begins as the baby blues does not always resolve and can develop into postnatal depression or anxiety if left unsupported. The National Childbirth Trust describes the post-birth period as the fourth trimester, the crucial stage of adjustment for both baby and parent. While attention naturally centres on the newborn, the needs of mothers are too often overlooked. Yet supporting mental health recovery during this period is essential, not only for women's health, which is crucial, but for the well-being of families and children in the long term.”
“Maternal care ending just six weeks after birth is archaic. Six short weeks after giving birth, as we know and as we have heard, a mother is often still physically and mentally recovering, hormone levels are fluctuating, sleep deprivation is intense and the demands of caring for newborns are relentless. At this point formal maternity support largely disappears. By then, a partner, if there is one, will have returned to work, routines resume and the expectation is that the mother is "over it", that she has had the baby and that life goes on. For many women, however, this is exactly when the difficulties begin rather than end. Physical recovery can take months, even after an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth, and complications can extend that time significantly.”
“I echo the support for Senator Cosgrove for bringing this motion forward. I am delighted we were able to use our time in the Cross-Party Group for this. Here are just a few quotes from women talking about their experiences after having their children: "I got one phone call in the six weeks after I gave birth and the one question I can recall that nurse asking me was if I loved my child", "My mental health was only important while pregnant" and "After a traumatic birth I developed anxiety disorder." For women, childbirth is the most profound and life-changing event they will ever experience, and yet the maternity infant scheme in Ireland has not been updated for 27 years. Generations and generations more of women in Ireland have experienced under-resourced services and limited provisions.”
“I would love for us to have a debate in this Chamber about strategies for stamping out sexual violence and about which strategies are working and which are not effective. We have our zero tolerance strategy but, with these figures, we cannot say we are anywhere close to achieving that.”
“To go through that process only to be told what happened to you does not mean the legal test of non-consent is devastating. Reporting last week highlighted that Ireland has a sexual offence rate 43% higher than the European average. That figure should give us all pause and cause to reflect on why Ireland has such starkly higher figures than our European counterparts. We need to have a conversation about the rates of sexual violence in Ireland. Many women still do not report it when they are assaulted. As few as one third of sexual offence cases submitted to the Garda are pursued for prosecution. That is really low. This is a bleak picture when it comes to justice for survivors.”
“If an assault by a stranger recorded by CCTV followed by immediate reporting cannot satisfy the evidential threshold of consent, we have to ask ourselves whether our system truly understands the reality of sexual violence. The 2025 sexual offences Bill is in progress. I welcome that legislation, which we hope will introduce an objective reasonable standard regarding the confirmation of consent. This reform is crucial if we want to empower survivors to seek justice. The legislation must be robust enough to deliver that justice. Survivors engaging with the system in search of justice need to have confidence that, when they come forward, the system will be capable of dealing with their case fairly. Reporting sexual violence is, in itself, traumatic.”
“Reporting by Aoife-Grace Moore in The Journal last week highlighted the disconnect between what women are advised to do following a sexual assault and how the process of getting support and justice through our legal system operates in practice. As reported, a woman was sexually assaulted by a stranger in a car park. She escaped and immediately ran back to the hotel she had just left. She reported what happened and engaged fully with An Garda Síochána. She did everything the State asks survivors to do. Despite this, the case did not proceed because the DPP said the issue of consent could not be demonstrated to the high standard of proof required for trial even though there was CCTV footage of the attack.”
“I acknowledge all of the work of local authorities across the country, in particular, in the south east, and community services and fire services. They have done incredible work over the past few weeks. We are a year on from Storm Éowyn and I have a question on whether the households have received the information booklets that were promised to them on what to do when a storm hits. That was a promise during Storm Éowyn. We are a year on and this is this at the very least is some tangible action we could see from the Department, ensuring that people know exactly what to do and how to react in these instances.”
“Crucially, natural flood management avoids the problem of simply pushing water downstream and transferring risk from one community to another, which we have seen play out in Kilkenny. Kilkenny got concrete flood protection but that has simply pushed the problem downstream. It has increased higher water flow and pushed it into Graiguenamanagh, Thomastown and Inistioge, the places that were really badly affected over the past few weeks. By storing and slowing water across entire catchments, natural flood management delivers fairer and more resilient outcomes. I would really like us to consider this. Climate change is here. Flooding is not inevitable and inaction is choice. We need early warnings that work. We need nature-based solutions that are proven economically and sustainable.”
“These natural flood management measures include restoring wetlands and flood plains; re-meandering straightened rivers; planting trees in catchments; and creating upstream water storage areas that slow the flow of water before it reaches towns and villages. We do not need to reinvent the wheel when we see what works in other countries. In the Netherlands, the "room for the river" programme has reduced flood risk by giving rivers space to expand safely. In the UK, the Pickering "slowing the flow" project combines woodland planting, leaky dams and restored wetlands to significantly reduce flooding in towns. Similar schemes in Belgium and Germany have shown that these measures are cost-effective. They improve biodiversity, enhance water quality and regenerate rural landscapes.”
“A system here could include targeted push alerts to mobile phones in high-risk areas; real-time monitoring of river and groundwater levels; and clear localised warnings to give people time to protect their homes and their livestock and to make informed decisions. These are standard practices in many European countries, yet communities in Ireland are still left relying on informal updates and word of mouth. Beyond warnings, we must also address how we manage water itself. Increasingly, European countries are moving towards natural flood management, an approach that works with nature rather than against it. We have heard Senator Noonan make interventions around this area.”
“The Senator is so diligently sharing time so that we all get more. The kind of flooding we have seen in recent weeks is not a once-off event. We cannot say we are having once-off extreme weather events. They are ordinary and are no longer extraordinary. Rain continues to fall. This has laid bare the extent to which governments have failed to take flood risk management seriously. One of the clearest failures in that regard is the absence of a modern and effective flood warning system, which other jurisdictions have and have been effective elsewhere. They have proven that such systems work.”
“Another story broke on Friday about ICE and Ireland, specifically that a plane carrying shackled-together Palestinian ICE detainees stopped over in Shannon for aircraft refuelling. Like Seamus, some of those deported have families, jobs and entire lives in the US, having lived there for years. They have now been flown to an active war zone in which Israel continues to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing. This obscenity is a violation of their human rights and it is being facilitated by Shannon Airport and, therefore, by the Irish State. There are serious questions to be answered by the Government on whether it views this as a breach of international law and the action it will take to control the situation and stop ICE deportation flights from refuelling in Shannon. I would like us to have a debate on this. It is completely unacceptable.”
“ICE has been executing US citizens in the streets so we can only wonder about the conditions that Irish citizens could be held in behind gates and locked doors in ICE facilities. Has the Department been proactively reaching out to at-risk Irish communities in the US to provide legal advice in advance of potential detentions? Is the Department updating its travel advisory for the US to highlight the risk of detention? If not, why not? I would like to have an urgent debate about the safety of Irish citizens overseas, particularly in the US. It is not good enough to say that because they are overseas, we cannot do anything for them. We have a duty to protect Irish citizens wherever they may be.”
“This week, we learned of the horrific plight of Seamus Culleton, a Kilkenny man who has been held in deplorable conditions by ICE agents for nearly five months. Seamus's sister Caroline and his wife Tiffany have been living through a complete nightmare and are deeply concerned for his physical and mental well-being. His family have not received regular contact from the Department of foreign affairs on his case. As a core pillar of work for the Department is consular support, I am incredibly frustrated to hear that Irish citizens and their families are not receiving the proper support while in detention overseas. There are questions to be answered about this gap, particularly in light of ICE raids and detentions in the US in the past year.”
“In the past week or so, it has been incredibly fast flowing. This has not caused serious damage in Kilkenny because concrete flood defences were put in but places downstream such as Bennettsbridge, Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh have felt the impact of the flood defences being located in Kilkenny. We are literally pushing the problem downstream. The Social Democrats have been calling for an interdepartmental review of the State's preparedness for Storm Chandra, including in the context of the mitigation actions that were taken in advance. We cannot have another round of lessons learned. We need some credible analysis of what was done to prepare for the flooding and where the gaps were. I appreciate that we will be having a debate on this matter soon. I hope there will be an opportunity to discuss it in more detail.”
“Unfortunately, severe weather events are only going to become more common. This is not news. The impact of climate change is not new. We have been discussing it, as I said, for many years. This gives rise to big questions as to why we have not prepared. It has been a year since Storm Éowyn, but households still have not received the information booklets about what to do when a storm hits that were promised. We need better analysis of what the right solutions are for floods and whether they are being used. Concrete flood defences simply move the problem downstream. We need upstream flood protection, with natural solutions to allow excess water to rapidly drain away. We need natural forests and flood plains to allow this to happen. For example, the River Nore in Kilkenny city is usually very quiet.”
“What we are asking for is long-promised flood defence schemes to be delivered. We have been discussing climate change for years so why is the Government totally unable to put proper mitigations in place? We hear promises again and again about flood relief schemes. They have been discussed for years. Many of the areas that were badly affected last week, including Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh, have long been promised flood relief schemes. I wonder why those schemes have not been put in place. We cannot pass the buck any more on this issue. People have been abandoned by the State. They do not even have the most basic flood warning systems. Why was the rainfall monitoring system not publicly provided, for example? Flood warning data should be public and easily accessible.”
“I will repeat a lot of what Senator Ryan already said on the question of flooding. We have seen the most horrendous floods. There is still high risk of flooding this week. We have serious questions to ask about the lack of a public flood warning system. The Minister for housing was pointing blame at Met Éireann last week, utterly shifting responsibility as if Met Éireann does not fall under the line division of his own Department. I find this Government to be quite effective at pointing out blame for serious Government failures to State agencies without any self-awareness that their own Departments line manage those agencies. It seems to suggest it is evading responsibility. The Taoiseach said last week the Government cannot wave a magic wand when it comes to improving flood defences. No one is asking for that.”
“I appreciate that these hospitals might fall, under a certain amount of criteria from British medical guidance, but clinicians here are not sure if they will take Irish patients or if these are hospitals of renown. There is confusion among clinicians about how to refer and when to refer and on the quality of the hospitals. I recognise that there have been study abroad opportunities to build up that expertise. I think that is incredibly positive and thank the Minister.”
“It would be great if the Minister could answer some of my other questions, particularly that important piece about fertility. I am delighted to hear that there is a time limit for introducing this scheme. Best efforts are being made but with the reality of training and building up expertise, will we get there in two years? I suppose that is why the feedback from patients has been to ask for the scheme to work as well as possible for patients while it exists. I recognise that it is a bridge until the end goals of the framework can be put in place. About 20 hospitals in the UK are on the scheme but I have spoken to clinicians who say that these are not particularly renowned hospitals.”
“Will endometriosis patients be allowed to freeze their eggs through the HSE? Will the Minister include Greece in the approved list of countries under the scheme? Will she make obstetrics and gynaecology training mandatory for all GPs? Will she consider the inclusion of Ryeqo to the drugs payment scheme?”
“For the women who get surgery abroad and finally get some relief from the agony, there is the impossible cost of medicine to keep them pain free. Ryeqo is prescribed to women who have had endometriosis treatment to reduce the growth of internal lesions. It is expensive. It costs about €140 per month and is not available on the drugs repayment scheme. There is a similar drug that is used in the treatment of prostate cancer; it is available. It is really hard for women to trust the system when similar drugs for a particular condition are refundable but those relating to endometriosis involve a significant cost. The optics of the disparity in this regard are incredibly jarring. Will the Minister commit to expanding referral options to include GP's under the treatment abroad interim scheme?”
“I recently heard from one woman who went to the emergency room with a burst cyst and who was given paracetamol by means of a drip. I also have serious concerns about fertility options for endometriosis patients. Under HSE guidelines, only cancer patients qualify for egg freezing. While endometriosis patients can get IVF, they have to immediately get pregnant, and this is despite the fact that endometriosis is the most common reason for infertility. I have met patients as young as 15 who are being recommended chemical menopause and women in their late teens and early 20s who have had hysterectomies. Unless they are ready to have a baby immediately, they cannot have their eggs frozen. This is devastating for them. They have to choose between living with excruciating pain and being a mother.”
“It has been reported to me that the locations of the hospitals for the surgery abroad interim scheme seem to have been randomly selected. There is no detail on whether the hospitals selected for the scheme are fit for treating stage 4 endometriosis, for example. Patient advocates have been asking for the inclusion of countries like Greece, which is known for its high-quality endometriosis treatment. Why has Greece been omitted from the list? Patients are frustrated by the lack of understanding around endometriosis. It is still being treated like a gynaecological issue when we know it is a whole-body disease affecting the bladder, bowel and pelvis. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are still being suggested for use as pain management.”
“I recognise there may be concerns about GPs referring due to a lack of expertise, but can GP referrals be considered in the short-term with targeted training to upskill them? This would greatly reduce waiting times for women suffering from debilitating pain who must often wait years to see consultants. I was deeply disheartened to find out that obstetrics and gynaecology are optional training for GP's despite the fact that women make up 50% of the population. This training should, of course, be mandatory. Women are being forced to go private and pay thousands of euro to travel overseas simply to get a diagnosis. It can take many months to get a scan while they are living with unbearable pain. That is after years of waiting to see a consultant in the first place.”
“Women report being scared to go abroad and cannot afford the upfront payments. The administrative burden of filling out the forms is a barrier for many women. I spoke to a woman named Helen who spent €8,700 on surgery in Germany and is still waiting for her reimbursement. Referral for treatment abroad remains a serious concern. Under the scheme, only consultants can refer but, as the Minister is well aware, gynaecologists have huge waiting lists and diagnostic laparoscopies cannot always be fulfilled due to the long lists. There is uncertainty for clinicians about what is required under the scheme. For example, are scans required for referrals? Do clinicians need confirmation of stage 3 or stage 4 endometriosis before referring?”
“I thank the Minister for coming in. I really appreciate her spending the time on this issue. I know it is an issue she cares about. I am raising it today because I have received significant feedback from many women suffering from endometriosis about the continued challenges they face. I know we have the endometriosis framework and that the endometriosis surgery abroad interim scheme is temporary. However, I fear that, given the state of endometriosis care in Ireland, it is likely to be in place for several years. Patient advocates have expressed specific concerns about the operation of the scheme. I heard from one woman who was refused surgery in Cork due to fear of poor surgery outcome as the clinicians could not sufficiently answer her questions about follow-up care. She was then considered ineligible for the surgery abroad scheme.”
“I would love to sit down with the Minister of State because we have already sleepwalked into a crisis and if we do not oppose this omnibus proposal, we are going to see a much worse future when it comes to AI regulation across Europe.”
“We have all talked about the benefits like climate disaster mitigation and forecasting and enhanced diagnosis in the healthcare space but if we do not properly regulate AI, we are in for a horrifying future. The Minister of State mentioned the digital omnibus but it is going to bring a dilution of data protection rights. It is going to weaken oversight of AI. AI systems will be able to process personal data with fewer safeguards and it may even lead to increased levels of digital surveillance of us as a public, and a reduction of the GDPR guidelines. Big tech has been heavily lobbying on this omnibus and I urge the Minister of State to look at this in detail. She said it is not deregulation but that is not how digital rights experts see it. It is a roll-back of hard-won digital rights protections.”
“An AI girlfriend is programmed to be pliant and subservient, which contributes to harmful gender norms. She will flirt with you, she will chat and she will send nudes and sexually explicit videos. That is accessible to anyone who goes online. The harm this is doing to children and young people as well as vulnerable adults is completely immeasurable. We have sleepwalked into a crisis that looms large in every home and classroom. It is a crisis of online sexual abuse and harmful gender norms being reinforced by AI. Without strong regulatory enforcement and critical digital literary skills being embedded in the curriculum, we risk a generation of young people being irreparably harmed.”
“The use of AI chatbots can lead to emotional manipulation of the most vulnerable users, who can be adults as well as young people. The line between human and machine has been utterly blurred. What is worse is these chatbots are increasingly embedded in social media platforms such that people do not even know who they are speaking to - especially young people. A report from an online safety group, Internet Matters, found that one third of children feel as though speaking to AI is like speaking to a friend. Given the case of Adam Raine and many others, that should put chills down all our spines. Yesterday we heard from CyberSafeKids in the audiovisual room. The representatives spoke about the rise of AI girlfriends and how easy it is for young people to access them.”
“Under the Digital Services Act, there is the ability for Coimisiún na Mean to seek a judicial order to block access to X and the Government must put in place necessary steps to call for an all-out ban on X operating in Ireland if it does not immediately cease offering the facility to produce these deepfake images of women and children. We all know the danger goes beyond any one platform. AI chatbots have encouraged people to take their own lives, such as in the high-profile and devastating case of Adam Raine, whose parents have begun a lawsuit against OpenAI. In Adam’s case, the AI chatbot effectively pushed him over the edge. Rather than encouraging him to seek support, it isolated him and called him brave for considering taking his own life.”
“I find it extraordinary that we are not holding these companies legally responsible when they have broken our laws, especially when we think about all the money they are making off us. X has made money out of the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Social media companies make money off us every day. With every single advertising click, they profit off all our outrage their algorithms generate and the harm happening in our communities. Their entire business model has been to exploit users’ data and make money. Then they can say “Oopsies, sorry, we’re bad” when they have produced a bot, programmed it and made it available on their platform.”
“We have been told it is difficult to regulate, that these things are unexpected and that we are in this position of catching up, but when we have legislation in place relating to non-consensual sharing of intimate images and we still cannot manage to hold X criminally responsible for the development and distribution of child sexual abuse material in flagrant breach of domestic legislation, it is really hard to have faith the Government is going to be able credibly deal with all the other challenges in the AI space, of which this is just one piece. Nothing has been done in light of the Grok scandal. The Minister of State has had lots of meetings but with a simple VPN, those images can still be created in Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I really appreciate her passion about this area and especially online safety, but for a lot of us and much of the public watching, there is no faith in the Government's ability - I am not talking about the Minister of State specifically - to address these issues.”
“However, I would like to see Irish funds within this facility being ring-fenced for non-lethal humanitarian aid so that Ireland's neutrality is not quietly being eroded, which we have seen systematically with this Government. It is shocking that the Government has allowed this funding model to move ahead without any consideration for our military neutrality. It would have been easy for the Government to say that the Irish contribution should only be spent on specific things. It is not restricted, ring-fenced funding. It is common practice. We do it all the time. The Government's failure to do this demonstrates its total lack of concern for our position on neutrality. I urge the Government to reconsider the amendments around ring-fencing our funding and our contribution to neutrality.”
“As we have heard already, Ireland has a unique role to play, given our experience in peace making at a high, track-one level, in peace building at a grassroots level, and in political dialogue. However, if we are seen to be undermining our neutrality, it puts that position into question. A few questions have to be asked about what exactly is Ireland's financial exposure under the loan facility. Is the liability capped at all? I believe that Ireland should continue to assist Ukraine through humanitarian aid, diplomatic efforts and peace-building efforts. I welcome this loan facility because without it I recognise that Ukraine simply does not have the ability to raise funds.”
“Trump's intentions for the future of Ukraine must be questioned. In Gaza, his new so-called Board of Peace has demonstrated his complete disregard for existing international organisations like the UN. His invitation to Putin to be on the Board of Peace is another complete insult to the people of Ukraine. His stipulation fee of $1 billion to join the Board of Peace is more of a billionaire's club interested in land acquisition than any meaningful peacemaking body. The ever-evolving and unpredictable nature of US foreign policy demonstrates why the EU's involvement in future peace talks is essential when it comes to Ukraine. I know attempts have been made by the EU to engage, but it has been very difficult with the US acting as a completely unpredictable interlocutor.”
“It is utterly inconceivable that peace talks about Ukraine may happen without the involvement of Ukraine. What utter nonsense. It is only last week that the first trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US actually took place. I find it hard to imagine Putin's sincerity in any of these peace talks, because after the talks, the Russian military launched an airstrike on Ukraine, leading to one person being killed and 35 injured. This attack can only be seen as a complete insult to the peace process that they claim to be engaging in. Trump has strong-armed Ukraine into a disadvantageous mineral deal and openly stated his desires for the natural wealth of nations such as Venezuela and Greenland. It appears that the current US Administration has a greater focus on economic imperialism than peace.”
“At the negotiating stage, the Government had the opportunity to ring-fence Irish funds to be exclusively used for non-lethal aid, humanitarian support and reconstruction funding. The Government's failure to do so is an example of the significant mission creep we are seeing around our neutrality more broadly, demonstrated most notably with the legislation to abolish the triple lock being brought to Cabinet today. For peace to prevail, we need to place a greater focus on political dialogue and diplomacy and multilateralism, not pull away from the institutions of multilateralism. Ireland being a neutral actor allows us to hold a unique position globally. Over the past year, Trump has hosted numerous peace talks and negotiations to end the war - absurdly, without any Ukrainian involvement.”
“Within that framework, Ireland's tradition of neutrality puts us in a unique position to call out injustices and push for peace. Our history leaves us with a moral responsibility to take actions against atrocities across the world, including in Ukraine. Ireland has already provided important support to the Ukrainian people, providing non-lethal aid, humanitarian support and demining support. Since the start of the war, Ireland has welcomed more than 100,000 Ukrainians. Ukrainians now make up 1% of the Irish population. The people of Ireland can take pride in the support we have given and continue to give to the people of Ukraine. However, we can and must provide support that aligns with our position of neutrality. That is why I am gladly supporting the Sinn Féin amendment this evening.”
“When international law has been repeatedly breached in Gaza and the West Bank, the EU has consistently ignored that question. When Trump forced his will upon Venezuela, the EU issued pandering statements that failed to recognise the audacious breach of international law that took place. It is concerning that, for many leaders within the EU, international law only appears to apply when it suits and when it is politically expedient. How can the principles of international law be taken seriously when the EU takes a piecemeal approach to their application? Picking and choosing when international law applies and to whom is extremely dangerous, especially in a world where Trump is hell-bent on smashing international law to pieces.”