Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Uí Bhroin. As Chair, one of the pros and cons is that I come in last. A lot has been said. I hope the committee will indulge me because this is a particular area for me. I wanted it on our discussion because of my previous ministerial role within it. There are so many areas that are important to comment on. The discussion we had today indicates that yin and yang between despair and hopefulness all the time. When you do the job day to day, as you do and I did for a period, it is what you live with. You have both of those, sometimes multiple times a day, because there does not seem to be a simple path.

There are a couple of overall things I want to comment on, if people will bear with me. As a country, we play a disproportionately effective and strong role in this area. As a small sovereign State, within our colleagues in the European Union and UN, the actual agenda which Ireland works towards consistently, which I did as a Minister of State in this area, is one of the most progressive. You can always advocate it should be more, but I say that within the context of what we see emerging in Europe, and I am very disappointed by what I see in Europe because there is a lot of cause for concern. I find it a little simplistic when people talk about the drift to the right. I caution against that. It is a cheap mantra. It is not a drift to the right. It is drift to politics that comes off the left, right and centre that has moved unbelievably in a short few years.

If we are not willing to continue to fight for the SDGs and to put every single effort into the importance of them, we will lose the argument. Somebody who is a much better expert on this than me once said to me there is no way the SDGs would be negotiated today. Think of that as an implication or starting point. That is why I agree so much with what Mr. Donoghue has said. Optimistically, the rollover point is where we are at. No one is talking about a rollover and a restatement for another few years because the dysfunctionality of the UN Security Council at this moment leaves us with a global leadership that is effectively dysfunctional in almost every way, whether it is coming from China, which is on the left, from countries on the extreme right, or from American administrations as they change or move forward or back. It is incredibly worrying.

To take up on Ms Uí Bhroin's point, whether you want to come at this from a point of view of fear or optimism, the one point I consistently tried to make to my European colleagues, at a cliché level, is "you ain't seen nothing yet". If we think migration is a problem and we do not deal with the climate issue or global poverty issue, then what we will face a decade from now will make what we are facing now look like the good old days. No matter what side of the argument you are on, that is a terrifying prospect. When trying to prioritise initiatives and we look at the Horn of Africa and the impact of what is happening on a climate basis across the whole global south, we are looking at a catastrophe which we are sleepwalking into. For European security and for Europe to be at its heart, the new Commission coming in, and strategically it really is on a Commission and governmental level - it will be the next Commission whereas, on a European election level, it is the next 30 days for electing MEPs - the new Commission must focus the effort now.

Strategically, the better thing is to pick key ones. If we look at where Ireland is on two things that are crucial, and perhaps Ms McGrath mentioned them, first is climate finance and the leveraging of it. We are a global leader in it, but we need to do more, push more and we need to bring along other member states which either do not get it or have to be dragged, screaming and kicking. Unfortunately, I will be very honest, and I am very rarely as blunt as this about it, but COP is turning into a cop-out. There is no point in holding COP after COP if there is no implementation in the ten to 11 months after COP. It becomes a point where people will see that and it will lose its relevance. On climate finance, and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, has led on it, while we can disagree on certain things, we have done a huge amount to move that agenda on from the Glasgow COP which really kicked it off.

Regarding focusing, for Ireland, education is at the heart of it. We have always put a priority on education, particularly the education of young women and girls as a priority and a game changer to shift out of poverty. That is based on a particular approach which is the community initiative, which does not just focus on how money is ploughed into direct education but how to bring societal change to do that.

These are the areas we need to focus on. What I would say to the witnesses, and this is almost to go back to Deputy Howlin's point at the start, is that they are pushing an open door with a lot of people still in Ireland, thankfully. However, we need, myself included, to be conscious as advocates of the SDG that we show to people why they matter and how and why we should support them. We cannot just tell people we need to support them. In all honesty, outside of this room, the majority of people will look at us and ask us what this is, and we will have to start from scratch. Actually, it is a great thing for getting a conversation going. That is the one thing I will say, whoever came up with it, that it is a great thing for getting a conversation going. It gives you a chance to talk about the SDGs. It is important we bring people with us and Deputy Howlin's point is crucial. I hope we can all do it together because that willingness is there. I know from the side of looking into Government, into a parliament or at Europe and saying we should be doing more, believe me, the forces allied against us are growing and it is how we progressively win that argument with the middle and with people who, whether they want to do it through altruism or through pure self-service, realise this is the only game in town.

It is great to hear what the witnesses have been saying today and I appreciate them taking the time. I do not know whether anyone wants to respond to me.