Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The 100th anniversary of the armistice ending the First World War was an important moment for remembering a war that still has much to teach us. In the significant amount of scholarship published in recent years, the consensus points to it being a war that was far from inevitable. It followed an extended period of peace and growth in Europe and there was no compelling reason for war, even in terms of the values of the time. Ultimately, what was seen was a lack of strong rules-based organisations that could ensure trust and co-operation between countries. This remains a powerful lesson for today, one that, unfortunately, some parts of the English political class have chosen to ignore. It is an interesting fact of history that those who fought in the two world wars were the biggest enthusiasts for what we now call the European Union. Given the success of the commemorative programme of recent years and the significant level of public engagement, can the Taoiseach assure us that the commemoration's budget will remain intact? Given the central role of our academic historians not only in researching the period but also in opening up scholarship to the public, will the Taoiseach reconsider the recent policy of that has seen a steady downgrading of the role of humanities research in the State's research strategy and, of greater significance, funding for postgraduate doctorates in the humanities? A mechanism is available to facilitate greater scholarship in that area. I established it in the late 1990s.

In respect of the Taoiseach's meetings in Finland, we welcome bilateral meetings with countries such as Finland that have always had very constructive relations with Ireland. The trip had the added benefit for the Taoiseach of combining an official trip to Helsinki with the congress of the European People's Party, EPP, which happened to be held at the same time in the same city.

Following his bilateral meeting with his EPP colleague, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, earlier this year, the Taoiseach told the House that we should be understanding of Prime Minister Orbán's belief that he is protecting Hungary. Does the Taoiseach still believe this? He will have seen yesterday that a highly rated university has been driven out of Hungary because of the Orbán Government's analysis and hysterical campaign against anything funded by George Soros. The undertones of scapegoating, fearmongering and anti-Semitism are obvious. Orbán has also launched a campaign against the few pieces of the free media that are left and all non-governmental organisations, NGOs, that are not supportive of him. He has even enacted legislation to ban state funding of gender studies in universities. Is the Taoiseach aware of any more obvious violations of agreed EU values and rules? Does he believe that enough is being done to face down Orbánism?

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