Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It was indeed a very comprehensive opening statement from the Taoiseach. It was nine pages long. The most eye-catching part of it was what was missing, namely, any mention of Poland. I accept the Government parties have referenced it but it was not in the statement. One of the most important aspects of the EU, its cohesion and its values will concern the issue of Poland. We need to put that front and centre in our statements and I was surprised it was not. When we talk about what has just occurred in Poland, and the Polish challenge to the supremacy of EU law, we should put words to what that actually means, that is, what it means for genuine Polish people on the ground. I am also conscious that in my constituency of Dublin Central, and in all our constituencies around the country, we represent people who came here from Poland, who have contributed massively to our country and who are very conscious of what is happening in their homeland. We represent them and they want us to be advocating for them.

I will detail what the reality is on the ground in Poland at the minute. We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal decision, which essentially banned legal abortions. It led to the largest public protests in Poland for decades, which were led by women and human rights defenders. Abortion Without Borders, which aids women in European countries where abortion is illegal or access is highly restricted, reported that 17,000 women in Poland contacted the organisation in the six months after the ruling looking for help to access an abortion. The organisation continues to receive 800 calls a months. The Polish Government has also undermined efforts to combat gender-based violence, including by initiating Poland's withdrawal from the landmark European convention on violence against women, the Istanbul Convention, which we ourselves were quite late in signing up to. Last August, a 2019 study commissioned by the government, which was not made available to the public but was leaked to the press, found 63% of Polish women had experienced domestic violence during their lives. The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, GREVIO, highlighted the need for Poland to change the definition of rape from a forced-based definition to one covering all non-consensual sexual acts.

The suppression of the LGBTQI+ community in Poland is something that has raised eyebrows but needs substantial action. While the highly controversial LGBT-free zones in 100 Polish towns have been defended as largely symbolic and unenforceable, how does that make them any less significant to members of the LGBTQI+ community in those towns? Earlier this year, the regional assembly of Swietokrzyskie became the first region to abandon the declaration of an LGBT-free town on foot of threats of losing its EU funding. This shows the importance of what we can do as EU members. According to the ILGA-Europe 2021 report, the status of LGBTQI+ rights in Poland is the worst among EU countries.

We have recourse to action. It is important we discuss all three options when we go to the European Council meeting. Option 1 is infringement, which is being discussed. This involves the Commission legally challenging the Polish court's judgment and this could, and hopefully will, lead to fines. Option 2 concerns conditionality of funds. Poland received €23.9 billion in grants and €12.1 billion in cheap loans it has applied for as part of the EU's recovery fund. The Irish people are, proudly in my view, net payers to the European Union project, having benefited massively when we joined. I do not think we want to see taxpayers here and in the rest of Europe paying for LGBTQI+ exclusion zones and the suppression of fundamental rights. Option 3 is the application of Article 7 of the EU Treaty. It states the rights of member states, including the right to vote on EU decisions, can be suspended. I am conscious that when we joined in 1973, and right up to recently, Ireland ways in many ways a conservative country. I am also conscious we changed our own Constitution in 1972 to remove the special place of the Catholic Church in advance of our own membership.

A union based on peace cannot only be about peace when it comes to conflict on a macro scale. It must be peace when it comes to how people live within that union. It is absolutely fundamental that peace is extended to women, minority groups and LGBTQI+ people. When we go there this week, we should go there with the message we will not accept anything less because to be part of a union is to recognise we stand not only for Irish people but for Polish people or for any person in the European Union. That must be what we go there with the intention of doing.

See this speech in context