Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I speak today as a committed European. I deplore what is being said in our name, as a woman, a mother and an Independent TD. I have just looked at the report of the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly. She tells us about soft corruption and the revolving door of officials going out and then becoming lobbyists. What really struck me in addition to this was her comment on the tragedy last year of the Adriana, when 600 people died in the Mediterranean. She spoke about a shrug of the shoulder being the reaction of Europe. This is from the European Ombudsman. It is like immigrants live in a different realm.

EU migration policy has shifted to the point where there are now no proactive maritime search and rescue operations in place. If you choose to attempt to cross the Mediterranean, you are on your own. The reaction to 600 people dying was a shrug of the shoulder. This is in addition to the 29,587 people who have died in the Mediterranean since 2014.

The High Commissioner tells us that Europe is a garden. We have built a garden, he said, and everything outside is a jungle. We are here today for a Europe that put more emphasis on a strategic compass and lost the whole idea of what is a moral compass. They have no idea what morality is. I see a statement in our name from our ambassador, joining in with the other European ambassadors in a joint statement which reiterates what von der Leyen said on 13 October, 2023. They reiterate that rather than learning from it, "We stand in solidarity with Israel." That statement utterly fails to mention the genocidal violence, the starvation. Today, the UN confirmed it is officially famine. There are restrictions on aid, three entrances closed, one reopened today somewhere else. There is targeted killing of journalists, aid workers and almost 40,000 dead, men, women, and children. We stand here today and listen to the Government telling us this is a peace - the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have repeatedly told us it is a peace process. Watching genocide take place in our name, watching another assault by Israel in our name and we are doing nothing, absolutely nothing other than sweet words.

There are many things we could do. The least of what we could do is recognise Palestine. The second thing is to stop the EU trade agreement. The third is to call to stop the arms now, not wait for Europe. Europe is showing no leadership; it is standing in solidarity with Israel. We must stop the arms going to Israel from Europe. They are making a fortune, profit out of the slaughter and genocide of people. Already Deputy Mairéad Farrell referred to the Horizon project. We are blurring all boundaries. From now on, research in the industrial and military sector will be merged with the civilian sector. The officials are fully aware of all of this. We are getting a narrative and a complete blurring of boundaries between war and peace, between research for civilian and research for the military industrial complex.

Then we are told about disinformation from countries. The best way to deal with disinformation from the so-called people on the right is for the Governments to be trustworthy so we can believe them. Let language mean something. That is one of the best ways to deal with disinformation.

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