Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am talking about a common European defence infrastructure. When are we going to initiate the debate on exactly what our role will be in the EU's strong policy to take responsibility for its own security and cybersecurity?

I also raise the issue of the US Inflation Reduction Act, which has the unfortunate acronym IRA. It has been described by many as a serious threat to European competitiveness. I looked at the statistics relating to the relaxation of state aid rules from March 2022. Overwhelmingly, the greatest state aid came in two states, namely, Germany and France. That is distorting competition within our Single Market. We need to have a clear policy to ensure our competitiveness is not reduced because of the ability of some states to massively support their own industry.

I also raise the southern neighbourhood and Palestine. I am more profoundly concerned about the situation in Palestine than I have ever been. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is going to be shocking in what it does. Mr. Netanyahu was bad the last time and it will be worse this time. The two-state solution seems to be disappearing. It is now an objective only sometimes to be talked about. We do not have time to do it now but perhaps we could have a debate on that matter in the House to allow us all to bring our collective thoughts to bear on what is a potential point of conflagration in the Middle East.

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