Sinéad Gibney
Dublin Rathdown · Social Democrats · Ireland
“Unfortunately, those are still not entirely clear. Although the Windsor Framework did look to enshrine that policy of no diminution of rights and the non-divergence of rights on either side of the Border, that has not been clear in how it is going to play out.”
“I want to raise one specific sector. Within my portfolio, the culture sector is a good example of where we could see a much better offering in the joining together of the two economic activities. For example, we have a very vibrant production sector for film and television.”
“The other word that is important to bring into any economic discussion and fiscal discussion around a united Ireland is "holistic" because, unfortunately at times, I see the Government looking at the economy as a discrete part of society and neglecting things that fall outside of economic discussion, economic imperatives, and policymaking…”
“There are ways that we can see how our governance of this jurisdiction can be improved simply by the opportunities that will be presented by opening up constitutional change and the discussions that we are all going to have about how we govern ourselves right now and how we may govern an entire island of Ireland.”
“When the Minister of State referred to office roles in Brussels, was he describing roles in NATO headquarters? The international forces the Minister of State is describing are exactly like the coalition that invaded Iraq.”
“I look forward to coming back to the topic of the triple lock in a few questions' time. I have read with extreme concern the reports over the past week on the lack of support provided by the Department of Defence to Women of Honour, whose members are participating in the Defence Forces tribunal.”
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“She is thriving in a school that believes that every child belongs. The difference was not her - the difference was the school. She is now in a school with an inclusive culture led by an exceptional principal. How is inclusive education defined and measured in schools which have autism classes? What guidance is being provided to schools on peer integration, shared routines, friendship, communication, access and participation? Will the Department and the NCSE outline clear expectations for meaningful inclusion of children who are in autism classes?”
“As we are always in firefighting modes trying to meet the unmet additional needs of children in schools, we have lost sight of what inclusive education is. I want to bring that to life with stories of two constituents. One is the parent of a child who has finished eight years in primary school without a single friend or connection made. She wrote how her daughter "was enrolled in the school, walked the same corridors and was invited to whole-school events. Yet she had very little meaningful time with her mainstream peers and very few opportunities to form friendships or be known by the wider school community." That is a loss for her but also for them; they never really got to know the wonderful person she is. The second parent’s child was forced to travel but has now found a school that matches her needs.”
“How and why are we prioritising such a defence-based mechanism and defence-based priority that threatens our own military neutrality? Many of us on the Opposition benches struggled with that package of aid because it could not be divided into non-lethal military aid versus arms. This is questionable and undermines our policy of military neutrality. It is something that I would like to hear more on. My second question relates to Aughinish Alumina. There were sanctions voted on today. While I appreciate and acknowledged earlier that the Minister of State's grouping voted in support of those sanctions, we are going to need to hear as a Chamber about why on earth his coalition colleague partners - I know he cannot answer but he has to answer as a Government - abstained from that vote.”
“I mentioned in my earlier remarks this drift that I see the European Union has taken away from its origins as a peace project towards a defence union. There are multiple milestones - I will not revisit them all - such as appointing a defence Commissioner who openly talks about a European defence union. I really was surprised to hear the Taoiseach describe this as a priority for Ireland's holding of the Presidency, with the disbursement of EU military assistance and the facilitating of the integration of Ukraine into the European defence industrial base. That really is a departure from any kind of policy of military neutrality that we hold as a nation. I appreciate that the Minister of State personally does not support that policy of military neutrality but that, as a member of the Government, he does. How is that compatible?”
“We need to get back to those values and make sure that peace and the needs of our consumers and citizens are foregrounded.”
“We have opened up a window, through the passage of the digital omnibus, whereby high-risk systems will be allowed to be registered before we have the governance framework in place to respond to it. In regard to all of the issues we have seen this year around Grok and online harms that people are talking about on daily in these Houses, we are not putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to a European regulatory framework. Instead, the Government and its colleagues in Europe are pushing for the simplification agenda and harmonisation and always thinking about it from an industry lens, while failing to capture the bigger harms that are being wrought on society by the tech industry and the big players in these platforms.”
“That is true of Ukraine and it is true also of Palestine. The principles and standards of international law and our values and policies should not be available to pick and choose when it suits us. On the online harms I mentioned and our responsibility as member states to protect against them, I looked at the Council website and there are announcements around the protection of girls and women online. There was also an announcement on child sexual abuse material. Meanwhile, the digital omnibus has been agreed, which essentially guts the artificial intelligence, AI, Act from within. The Minister of State's party's grouping in the European Parliament supported and championed that.”
“Moving to Aughinish Alumina and the urgency of action required on that, I welcome that the European Parliament voted today in support of a motion to ban alumina sales to Russia. I welcome that the Minister of State's grouping, the European People's Party, EPP, backed the motion. It is disappointing that Fianna Fáil MEPs indicated they would abstain on this motion and, unfortunately, it is also being reported today by the thejournal.ie that Independent Ireland voted against those sanctions. All of that needs to be examined and called out. When it comes to doing the right thing and protecting jobs, the Government needs to be decisive and proactive. We cannot feed Russia's war machine and if we want to protect people's jobs, our Government needs to accept that fact and plan for it, not simply allow complicity.”
“As for the current budgetary changes, for example, the reduction in social cohesion funding and the lowering of standards, all of that feeds authoritarianism within Europe and boosts the far right, which is such a growing and powerful force across Europe. We need to be careful and aware and we need to bring this into our language. On defence spending, it is deeply concerning that in his opening comments, the Taoiseach highlighted the advancement of European military assistance as a key point for the Irish Presidency. Military aid should not be under the remit of the EU. This should be a matter for member states and, as a militarily neutral country, we should have no part in providing weapons, either directly or through the EU.”
“Those priorities regarding our European values ring hollow when we refused to ban services in the occupied territories Bill yesterday, when the Taoiseach's party colleagues in the European Parliament are sitting on the fence on the sale of alumina to Russia and when this State refused to stand up for the rights of European citizens to be protected from harms caused by big business with regard to both environmental and online harms. The way this Government blames the EU for domestic refusal to take action on Gaza, saying it has to be done at European level to be effective, is a sentiment that is problematic for me. This should be a time when we are showcasing and fighting for a European Union that takes positive action, and one which defends democracy.”
“For me, this is crucial right now because the European Union was founded as a peace project and we are losing our way. We are spending more and more on the military, we are framing things as "security" and we are not focused on peace, which we do not mention it enough. If it had been mine choice, peace would have been one of those three pillars. Under "values", we have to make sure that peace remains high up there as a value. Unfortunately, it seems to be slipping from people's discourse again and again.”
“I welcome the opportunity to again make statements post European Council. I wanted to pick up on one of the parts of our Presidency that have been outlined. The three priorities being talked about are security, values and competitiveness. I wonder why "values" is in there. For me, "values" is a separate pillar from priorities, if the Minister of State sees what I mean. Why is peace not a priority? The Government is framing it as "security". I was interested, during the launch of the Presidency, that the Minister of State's colleague, the Tánaiste, dedicated a substantial part of his speech to peace, which I really appreciated. Unfortunately, that was not the case with the Taoiseach's contribution, which barely mentioned peace.”
“At best, we have moved towards a medical model of disability, but in many ways, we remain rooted in a charitable model of disability, which fails to recognise the fundamental rights that should be enjoyed by every person in this State, regardless of whether or not he or she has a disability. I acknowledge the families to whom I have spoken. Three mothers recently came to a clinic of mine, namely, Claire, Noreen and Nessa. I want to specifically mention the "The ID Zone Podcast" that they have put forward. That is another example of how this community is supporting each other where the State has failed them.”
“They said they would give the HSE this home so they would know that their adult child was able to stay in that location. The HSE's response to that offer was that it would take the home but could not guarantee where the child would be placed. They offered a house, and that was the response they got. That does not spell "every effort" to me. The Before We Die campaign has been incredible in amplifying this issue and bringing it to national attention. We, as a party, are going to continue to maintain that pressure here in the Dáil Chamber and at every opportunity that we get to ensure we move from the listening mode, which the Government is clearly in, to the action that is required. This State, sadly, has still not embraced the rights-based model for disability that is espoused in the UNCRPD.”
“Like Deputy O'Callaghan, I think it is regrettable that we have only got the speech now. There was plenty I wanted to pick up on. I will pick up on one point that the Minister made towards the end of her speech. She said, "Every effort is made by the HSE to provide residential services as close to family and natural supports as possible", having regard to will and preference. Like other Deputies here, I have been fortunate enough to meet the inspiring families in my constituency who are dealing with this challenge. I want to talk about a specific story. A person approached the HSE. They were in a fortunate enough position to be able to say that they would donate to the HSE a home. They found a location where they knew the services were adequate for their child's needs.”
“I thank Deputy Quaide for all of his work on this motion. I thank Deputies Cairns and Cian O'Callaghan for regularly using their leaders' time to push this issue. I will also acknowledge one other person from our party, namely, former Councillor Dave Quinn, who is representative of this community, of families who essentially are caring for adults with intellectual disabilities, knowing that they are living in a State which now has an unwritten policy. That is what this is. After years and years of inaction, it becomes an unwritten policy that the expectation is that for adults with intellectual disabilities, their ageing parents will take care of them and if they are fortunate enough, their estate might be able to assist with their independent living after they die.”
“The citizens’ assembly, and the very heavy emphasis on consultation within this, is also a huge part of it. One of the groups that comes up a lot within those recent discussions is the unionist community in Northern Ireland. Again, I think that is done in a respectful way in this legislation, but it is absolutely central to the conversations that we are going to have. What does a united Ireland look like? What does constitutional discussion look like for people within the unionist community? All of that, to my mind, is facilitated by this legislation, which is why we will be supporting it.”
“If we want people to get behind this discussion and be a part of the dialogue, we have to translate it into what it is going to mean for their lives. Where we do have North-South co-operation, it is always of benefit to the communities that it serves. We see this in the formal ways in which those in the medical profession on both sides of the Border work together to provide critical care when people need it. We need to formalise more and more of that. We also need to help people understand that we will be so much better off if we can have these conversations, as an island. As I said at the outset, we need to do this from the bottom up. We need to make sure that we are not just coming at the population with a blueprint, but instead facilitating that dialogue from the outset. That is why the Green Paper facilitates the dialogue here.”
“While I recognise the good work of the shared island initiative and the work that is done by this Government, I do not think it is yet facilitating the kind of dialogue, the kind of debate and the kind of very clear, prescient work that is described in this legislation. As Social Democrats, what we see in this whole debate about constitutional change is the opportunity. In a lot of the discussions I have been a part of recently - Deputy Mac Lochlainn mentioned the recent SDLP conference which I attended and spoke at - there is so much excitement around that opportunity. There is a democratic opportunity for us to look at how we govern this country and see the improvements that we can make through the opportunities we are going to get through this constitutional dialogue.”
“We need to foster that dialogue, we need to have these conversations at dinner tables around this country, and we need to do it here in this Chamber as well. Self-determination is a core principle of international law. It is one that we must observe and practise on our own island. We talk about it in many other contexts in the debates in this Chamber. That is ultimately what this constitutional discussion is about. It is about self-determination. It is about saying that rooted in the Good Friday Agreement is the opportunity and the potential for these constitutional discussions and dialogue to happen and, ultimately, for us to go to the ballot at a certain point and vote about a united Ireland in a border poll. That is what we are working towards. The dialogue and the work around it need to be done.”
“Another thing I have noticed in the discussions we have had is there is a huge imbalance on both sides of the Border between understanding of these issues and an appetite to discuss them. I have peers, who are friends of mine I have grown up alongside who have barely been to Northern Ireland at all, or who have maybe gone to see the Titanic museum. Unless people have friends or contacts, or have reasons to go to the North, there are many in our jurisdiction who do not have an understanding of the cultural differences we have on either side of the Border, or of the history and the issues. That is something we need to address. It is something that the Government and we, as a state, need to address.”
“The first point is that language is important in this. This is something that I have learned over the course of my life. I have lived in the North and worked in a formal structure, a part of the Good Friday Agreement that set up the joint committee of the human rights commissions, of which I was chair along with my counterpart from Belfast. I have had that understanding of how some people like it to be referred to as the North but when you are in certain other settings, you have to refer to Northern Ireland. You have to respect the different ways in which people assert their own identity in this discussion. For me, language is hugely important. It is something that has to be respected. It comes through crystal clear for me in this legislation and is something that we have to acknowledge.”
“If 18 months is not appropriate, it can be dealt with in committee or extended further. It is about dialogue because that is what this does and that is what we are not getting from the Taoiseach. Fine Gael recently announced a blueprint. That is not what this is about. This is a discussion that has to come from all directions, and it is coming from all directions. It is already happening, so the fact that it is not happening in the appropriate way in this Chamber is an issue. That is what this legislation puts forward. As far as I am concerned, it does so in a way that is completely in keeping with the Good Friday Agreement and is very respectful of some of the really important features that we need to consider in this debate. Those are some of the things that I would like to speak to now.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill. I commend the Bill and am happy to say that the Social Democrats will support it. We are happy to support it because we support a united Ireland and we support the constitutional change needed to facilitate bringing about that united Ireland. What this Bill does is provide for the work and dialogue that need to happen for constitutional change. Before I speak to the Bill itself, I will pick up on the comments by both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in their contributions on the timeline. For me, that is really problematic. The Taoiseach went into quite a lot of detail about why an 18-month timeline is not appropriate for the work that is set out, but this is just another example that shows he is not willing to work with us.”
“When we do that we stop looking at them like public services and we stop looking at those who use them as people who should be guaranteed access.”
“This means that, apart from those 41, every other post office is vulnerable to business conditions, making the provision of the public service impossible for the postmasters who provide them. I welcome that this Bill seeks to support our post office network. However, without recognising that our system is broken, we will never be able to fully ensure that every community has a post office it can rely on, today, tomorrow and in ten years' time. We will continue to have people who are unable to make the community post office work or are leaving the sector because they need to do so if they are to ensure that they and their families have financial stability and security. The provision of public services should not be left up to the market.”
“It means that once these postmasters cannot make it work financially any more in the face of loss of business and limited means of increasing business, they must simply give up. It means that communities can be faced with the sudden loss of this public service simply because we do not recognise that it is a public service. If we are not employing postmasters directly, we will constantly have post offices that are under threat. We deserve to have a resourced postal network, from the person who puts the letters in your door, all the way to the person who sold you the stamps in the first place. According to the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, in March only 41 of 873 post offices were directly operated by An Post.”
“For older people in particular, that journey may be the difference between being able to go and collect their pension independently or being reliant on other people who may then have to assist them with their finances. I mentioned that the current model undermines the public interest because our postal network is under increasing pressure. I welcome that the Bill seeks to address this issue because postal services are a public service and ensuring that they are available to all, cheap and easy to use, and are protected into the future, is in the public interest. The model of insisting that postmasters are self-employed and run post offices like a business franchise is actively contributing to the collapse of our postal network.”
“Sa lá atá inniu ann, cé go bhfuil an oiread rudaí ar líne, caithfidh muid tuiscint go bhfuil tábhacht le seirbhísí fisiciúla. Tá neamhspleáchas agus sábháilteacht ag baint leo do dhaoine, go háirithe dóibh siúd atá níos sine. Many communities have faced the loss of their post office in recent years. In my constituency of Dublin-Rathdown, we have seen post office closures, including one near my home in Kilmacud. Those that remain continue to come under increasing pressure. It may not seem like a big deal to some people that instead of walking to the post office, they have to drive or get a bus. For many of my constituents, however, that is a huge barrier to accessing these vital services. The post office is a community service, one that is often accessed by the most vulnerable in our communities.”
“I am reminded of Kenmare, a town I have visited my whole life and my parents visit. My parents have two friends down there who are known locally as Eileen and John PO because they are the postmaster and postmistress. It is a part of their identity and how they are known in the town. For the older among us, the post office is where people link to their community and each other, particularly when not everyone can make it to the active retirement group or the community centre. Postal services fill a vital gap for those who cannot use, or choose not to use, online services. We act like paying our bills or doing banking online is everywhere but there are still houses that do not have broadband and many people do not have digital skills or are fearful, and increasingly so, of online scams.”
“On behalf of the Social Democrats, I welcome this legislation as a measure that will alleviate some of the issues we discussed in committee and heard about from the postmaster community. Postal services are a vital lifeline for so many of us, particularly, as others have pointed out, in rural parts of Ireland. Despite this, many communities have lost their post office. The current model undermines the public interest when it comes to ensuring that everyone has access to postal services. Until we are employing postmasters directly, we will constantly have post offices under threat. Our post offices in many communities are where people come to connect, interact and receive help from a service they trust and where people go to access public services and banking. It is how they connect outside their own homes.”
“She always said she did not care who brought it forward. It is about the actual enactment and the blocking of trade with an occupier. That is what we are trying to do. Governments have dragged their heels all the way along. All this amendment tries to do is hold the Government to it and make sure we do not enter another limbo and, while the Government gets its head around postcodes and whatever else, we end up without any action again.”
“I back this group of amendments on the basis the Government promised the enactment of the occupied territories Bill during the election. That was nearly two years ago. It has dragged its heels on every element of this debate. I agree with Deputy Coppinger that despite the Government's self-appraisal of its response to Palestine, it has not been anywhere near up to scratch. I appreciate aid is an important part of the response. I acknowledge how strong we are in the provision of aid. We get the same message at EU level. It is all very important but certainly at EU level, it does not hold water when we are also, as a European Union, arming the people committing the genocide. At domestic level, it is the case that this has been on the Statute Book since 2018. Senator Black worked with the Government to do everything she could.”
“I have been talking about the two-pronged approach for months before the Minister, Deputy McEntee, started calling it that herself but I never intended that to mean that we do one thing here and then push for the other part at a European level. We should push for it all here. We should go to the absolute edge of what we can test and then use that influence to get the same results at a European level. The Government is choosing to ping pong when it suits it between going through Europe and going it alone. There is no reason we should not be including services in this Bill.”
“The Government is essentially saying that when it suits, the way we do it must be through Europe. However, it is also willing to go it alone when it suits. That undermines our whole membership. I have said it again and again that as a member state of the European Union, we have to assert our values as a nation, which are solidarity, human rights, social justice and peace. Spain has done that. It is leading the way and showing how this can be done within the legal and regulatory frameworks and all the other frameworks at play here. However, we, as a member state of the European Union, are saying, "No".”
“I will take the baton and continue. I, too, identify those contradictions in what the Minister of State has said, and continues to say, which is similar to what various Ministers who have commented on this have said in the various Stages of discussion on this Bill. The Minister of State said the ruling does not distinguish in this regard and leaves it up to the states. It leaves it up to us. It is up to us to do it. We are the member state. We are the nation state that has to be compliant with this ruling. How we choose to do that is up to us. What I have seen, most particularly with this issue but with others as well, is the Government ping-ponging between having to be in twin step with European Union member states and colleagues versus going it alone where it thinks it appropriate. Honestly, that is genuinely sinister.”
“Rather than looking at, for example, the Spanish language as a barrier or the European-level services gambit as a proposal or a way forward, why are we not starting from this point? How will we develop legislation that is compliant with international law and then work backwards from that? That is what I do not get. It seems to me that the Government is just throwing more and more barriers up to us accepting the reality that we are obliged constitutionally, morally and legally to comply with international law and we are about to pass legislation that will not do that. It is not compliant with international law. How has Article 29.3 factored in the Government's discussions, if it has? How can the Government stand over the passage of this legislation without making it compliant with international law?”
“His Department has stated that a commitment to the rule of international law is enshrined in the Constitution of Ireland and is one of the core principles of Irish foreign policy. Indeed, under that article, Ireland commits to accepting the principles of international law "as its rule of conduct in its relations with other States". Here is a clear opportunity for us to comply with international law as per the ruling of the ICJ in July 2024. Two years on from that ruling, this is our first legislative attempt to comply. The legislation was on the books already and could have been dealt with much more quickly. We have all expressed our frustration with all of that. Nonetheless, we are here at this point where we have a measure to do that.”
“We have heard about the Government's objective and proposal that the remaining compliance vacuum left by the legislation will be met at European level, which is a stronger way to do it. We all agree it is stronger. We also all recognise the complexity and delay that come with trying to agree anything at European level. The reality is that the passage of this Bill means we will not be compliant with the ICJ ruling. That is the simple reality. Until there is a European solution, if there is one, to fill the services gap, we will not be compliant. The Minister, if not fully conceding that, did at least acknowledge it. I draw the Minister of State's attention to Article 29.3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann.”
“I will build on the discussions we had on this on Committee Stage. The Minister seemed to rely quite heavily on the argument around the Spanish language as a rebuttal to the Opposition stance that Spain has done it and, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire said, the sky has not fallen in and there have been no infringement proceedings. If the Minister of State has any other information in that regard, I look forward to hearing it. The Minister did not quite concede this as the reality of the situation but she went some way to agreeing that the passage of this legislation will not make us compliant with the ICJ ruling. I understand the Government's position is that it will bring us towards compliance and that we still have a way to go.”
“The definition in the amendment will do exactly that. The Minister of State mentioned Spain, where the legislation covers Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory and a link to the EU postcode list. I appreciate that the Netherlands and Belgium are not as far advanced with their legislation but, as it stands, their approach is to do it that way. We all want to make sure we do not in any way penalise Palestinian people through the passage of this legislation. That is all we are trying to do. This really was an issue on which I thought we, Government and Opposition, could easily work together. However, once again, unfortunately, the Government has not shown willing to take it up.”
“At the outset I would like to comment on how much I object to having a severely guillotined debate on such a key Bill. Many Bills are being guillotined and rammed through, but this one in particular, having been a promise to the people, is one that deserved more time at every stage. Speaking specifically to the amendment, like Deputy Murphy, I have no doubt about the intentions. However, members of the Government talk a lot about unintended consequences. That is all we are trying to catch with this. Multiple amendments were put in that would address the issue. The Minister of State has talked about the percentages, including that 90% is clear. That is the whole point. We know the postcode system will largely work; we are looking for a definition that will catch that small additional percentage that is not clear.”
“Despite Palestine fading somewhat from the headlines, the UN independent international commission of inquiry has found that Israel continues to commit genocide in Gaza by targeting children. All states have a positive duty to act to prevent and stop genocide, so what is the Department doing in reaction to this report and its findings?”
“These practices, where lives are being destroyed and people are being treated as disposable, and attitudes we are allowing to take hold and grow exponentially across Europe have a real impact. The migration pact, championed by Fine Gael's party colleagues in the European People's Party, EPP, was also welcomed by the far right of the same chamber with chants of "Send them back", a chilling moment for our European Parliament. When we refuse to stand up unashamedly for decency and for the humanity of every single person on our shores, this is the Europe we create. We in the Social Democrats believe we can create a better Europe, but only if those in power stand up for a better Europe, a decent Europe. Ireland must lead that fight during this EU Presidency.”
“We need a Europe that is based on decency and shared humanity and Ireland now has a responsibility to champion that. Instead of dealing with refugees as human beings, the European Union plans to pour billions of euro into our own version of ICE. The Commission has proposed to spend nearly €12 billion on Frontex in the next multi-annual financial framework. We know Fortress Europe policies push people into the arms of traffickers, push people into boats in the Mediterranean and push people to their deaths by drowning, while Europe then tries to imprison people doing search and rescue in EU waters, like our own Seán Binder. This is coming at a time when MEPs are being refused access to see conditions in migrant centres run by EU member states in third countries, like in Albania, where six people have attempted suicide since mid-May.”
“The words of our treaties, the promises made to our citizens and international law mean nothing if we do not see those things enforced. In the words of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking earlier today in Dublin Castle, "it's so important to keep promises". These are not optional extras. They are not a gift or an act of charity. These are our legal and moral obligation to act, and Europe has utterly failed in that legal and moral obligation towards the people of Palestine, instead continuing to be complicit in occupation and genocide. The refusal from this Government to ban services in the occupied territories Bill was blamed on Europe. Now is the chance to lead. If the Minister means what she said about pushing for action at EU level, we need to see that urgently and completely.”
“We in the Social Democrats argue that our best defence against interference and propaganda from foreign powers is a strong and socially cohesive Union of democracies. Courage means leading the way. It means not allowing inaction in the face of genocide and aggression. So many people in Ireland feel let down by the refusal of the EU to act on Israel's genocide in Gaza. They are angry that in the face of blatant violations of the human rights clauses of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, we have seen no action. I welcome that we took decisive action against Russia for its illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. We need those values to be upheld consistently, no matter the perpetrator. We need companies and people who support and fund wars of aggression and genocide sanctioned and held accountable.”
“Instead, the State approach to this EU Presidency seems to be about prioritising deregulation and collapsing social cohesion spending, while building war machines across our Continent with taxpayer money. We cannot and should not sacrifice Europe’s social values in the name of competitiveness and simplification. These buzzwords will not deliver the positive change our citizens need. The multi-annual financial framework has expanded both cohesion and competitiveness funding to include military spending and defence industry support, respectively. This will have the effect of benefiting our most developed member states, which are home to the arms factories where this funding will be funnelled. This is all while small businesses operating outside the military space will find it harder and harder to access supports.”
“We are an influential voice within a group of 27 nations and we need to stand by those values when others seek to turn their backs on them. As António Costa said earlier today, Ireland is not just at the heart of Europe, but a decisive actor. When we refuse to call out the abandoning of those values and when we view constructive and valid criticism of EU actions as taboo, we feed anti-EU sentiment and the erosion of our democracies, here and abroad. Ní mhothaíonn formhór na ndaoine nasctha leis an méid a tharlaíonn sa Bhruiséil. People in this country do not see Ireland meaningfully defending environmental regulation at EU level. They do not see Ireland fighting for better digital protections at EU level. They do not see their Government defending their rights.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak today. Well done to the team involved on a very successful launch in Dublin Castle today. I genuinely wish the Government all the best in the EU Presidency. I know it is a big undertaking. However, I also urge it to listen to what is being said today from the Opposition benches. I believe there are a lot of insights that could be well used by Government during these coming six months. Being a proud European means being an active voice, and we in the Social Democrats are proud Europeans. However, that pride is not based on blind loyalty. It is based on a commitment to the values that are supposed to form the bedrock of the European Union - peace, social justice, solidarity and human rights.”