Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to speak very briefly on an important series of issues that were dealt with at the Council. I am very heartened by the degree of strength presented at the Council in relation to the actions of Hungary. The absolute fundamental raison d'êtreof the EU is human rights, and that value system must be defended. If any member state decides those shared fundamental values are not for them it is an issue. The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, asked Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary the very sensible question of whether the latter state should remain a member of the EU. We cannot simply talk around these issues. We are either a community of values or we have no values at all. We must protect the LGBTI+ community in Hungary as strongly and with the same resolution as we defend all groups in our own society on the principles of equality.

The main agenda item of the Council continues to be Covid. The EU digital green certificate for travel was progressed. I understand that despite yesterday's announcements it is the Government's intention to participate fully in that certification system and to proceed on 19 July as already announced. I would welcome a clear acknowledgement of that from the Minister of State. The other major issue on this was the enhanced resolve towards preparedness for future pandemics in the form of enhancing the EU's response capability. Its response, surveillance and all these aspects are immensely important but they need to be fleshed out and we must have details of that. It is something that the Minister of State might present to a future meeting of the EU affairs committee.

On economic recovery, there are fundamental issues we need to talk about. I can speak with some experience of the difficulties presented by the fiscal rules. They are currently set to one side because of the pandemic but my concern is they will be re-enacted in the post-pandemic period when we will really need the wherewithal to ensure the very large sums of money which must be deployed can be deployed and that we are not going to have very pressurised fiscal rules disabling proper investment. We must deal with issues in terms of our regeneration so we can invest in social and affordable housing, for example, and that we do not have either state aid rules or any other fiscal rules impacting on that.

I want to make mention of Belarus. I said on the last occasion that we cannot lose sight of the fact that Mr. Roman Protasevich and Ms Sofia Sapega were taken off a flight travelling between two EU capitals. We really need to ensure we constantly ratchet up the pressure on Belarus, incrementally, month-on-month, to ensure they and the thousands of other political prisoners are freed.

I want to mention another person as I have been asked to adopt an individual in prison in Belarus. I want to put on the record of the House the case of Mr. Siarhei Verashchahin who is serving five years in a Belarussian penal colony for allegedly shouting at police officers from the window of his apartment. He was brutally beaten on his arrest and then charged and imprisoned, as I said, for five years. The case of Mr. Verashchahin and of the cases of thousands of others who are unjustly oppressed and locked up, as well as the suppression of any opposition within Belarus to what is an illegitimate regime, must be confronted. It must be confronted now so those brave people who have taken to the streets over the last 18 months in particular do not feel abandoned by a European Union they look to as a beacon of light, leadership and liberty. We as parliamentarians in our respective rights must not only stand shoulder to shoulder with their fundamental rights but be willing to act decisively to support them.

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