Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Connolly. The agenda for the European Council meeting includes Covid-19, economic recovery, migration and external relations, including relations with Turkey and Russia. Will the leaders also discuss the TRIPS waiver issue and the lack of equity in regard to vaccine distribution and the epidemiological situation pertaining to Covid-19? "None of us is safe until everyone is safe" is the mantra we keep hearing, but what about the question of what is the morally right thing to do? We cannot just continue to vaccinate ourselves and say "to hell with everybody else". That is why migration is such an important issue. The EU and the wealthy north continue to enjoy that wealth at the expense of the south, and then we wring our hands when people from the south try to get here.

This is a topic on the Council's agenda, namely, the migration situation on the various routes. Will the leaders examine which route has resulted in the most deaths? Are some routes safer for children and babies or is there a data-deficit because bodies have not yet washed up on shores? That may sound callous and facetious, but the EU's migration policies are callous, cruel and inhumane. No doubt, the leaders will examine which routes can be easily closed.

The EU leaders will discuss the implementation of Next Generation EU and recommendations on the economic policy of the eurozone area. They will talk about the impact of Covid-19 on our economies and the challenges we face, and review progress made on the banking union and the capital markets union. Will that discussion involve how to make policy more responsive to citizens than to banks and capital markets?

On 25 March 2021, the Council issued a statement about discussions on relations with Turkey, while at the end of May 2021, it was decided that relations with Russia would be discussed again. Is it not remarkable that an EU member state that has been a member for 17 years could introduce legislation that discriminates against the LGBTQI+ community? Just last week, Hungary voted for regressive measures for members of that community who under the age of 18. Similarly, Poland has also been a member state since 2004 and has been allowed to flout common decency and human rights legislation by having designated LGBT-free zones. The Hungarian Government has stated that anything that “promotes deviation from gender identity, gender reassignment and homosexuality shall not be made available to persons under the age of 18.” A Hungarian LGBT+ group, the Háttér Society, surveyed about 2,000 people and found that 42% had thought about suicide and 30% had attempted it. The survey found that 64% of the respondents who had thought about suicide were teenagers. That is shocking and it should be discussed at EU level.

This month is Pride month, and people ask why Pride is still needed. Pride is a protest, and Irish EU leaders must make a stand at this month's Council against these dangerous, outdated and disgusting laws.

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