Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have seen from the minutes of the Council meeting, from which I quoted, that Ireland has lost its voice in Europe. Do our MEPs need a Lemsip or lozenges to get their voice back? The minutes referred to every other member state but Ireland was not mentioned. What has gone wrong?

On the issue of vaccines, we have seen what is happening in regard to the contracts with AstraZeneca. I asked people in Russia about vaccines and I was the only Deputy in Ireland to do so. Other European countries were doing the same, once the Russian vaccine was cleared for use. We in this country have lost our voice and we need to get it back without delay. We need to have our voice heard in Europe. We are a good country that can hit well above its weight but we seem to have gone silent when it comes to Europe. We need to get a bit of backbone and start roaring and shouting. I heard a Minister say recently that we are not elected to this House to roar and shout. In fact, it seems that the only way the Government will listen is when we roar and shout. We need members of the Government to shout for Ireland and get us going.

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