Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comments. There has been debate on this issue already and I will not extend it. A sum of €2 trillion is an eye-watering amount of money, but even that amount is not enough to entice Europe to deviate from its values. Many in the UK argued for a long time that the EU is a Common Market rather than a Union. That is an important aspect in respect of how we consider this matter. Ultimately, the EU is more than a Common Market. It is a Union and, ultimately, a peace project and at the heart of peace are key values. Freedom of the press, freedom of civic space, lack of interference with the judiciary, etc., are important values. I also believe that the way we can tackle the popular right in Europe is by tackling disadvantage and issues in our communities. We do that through budgets like this one, so I impress upon the Minister, as a representative, and on the Taoiseach the need to stand by this position.

See this speech in context