Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is unclear to me, because I did not have time to check, and this is why I am posing the question, whether the Deputy voted for or against the budget in which we gave not just another tax cut to working families but the third successive tax cut. Cumulatively, these lifted 220,000 working people out of the upper tax bracket. Perhaps, then, if we extend the measure this year we will be able to be confident of the Deputy's support for the budget and yet another tax decrease for working families.

The Deputy should not be so divisive. He should not use Europe Day, which is such an important day, to be so transparently divisive. Europe Day is an important day for Ireland. We joined Europe 50 years ago and we have benefited from it enormously. Yes, there are difficulties and challenges, but Ireland has done extremely well out of its membership of the European Union. We are very proud of our membership and we punch very much above our weight. The Deputy may not have been at all of the different briefings provided by MEPs, but I certainly was at them over time. It has been Irish voices who have shaped Europe in so many different ways historically. These have included Emily O'Reilly, whom Deputy Connolly rightly referred to as a strong advocate for human rights, as well as others.

We had a wide-ranging discussion today and diverse viewpoints were shared. It is important to take the time to reflect on our position in Europe. Frankly, Europe is now facing challenges it has never faced before. I might start with the concept of Europe as a peace project, which many Deputies raised. Deputy Berry highlighted that at no point have two European countries gone to war. He is, of course, right. Today marks 80 years since Victory in Europe Day. The European Union was established as a peace project. We recognise, of course, the tragedy in Yugoslavia, which was a war on this Continent. Deputy Berry is quite right to point out the current very difficult and significant threat to our eastern countries. He also pointed out that Europe is having to have a very different conversation on security and defence.

Deputy Ó Murchú, the Sinn Féin Deputy from County Louth, pointed out the important role Europe played and the support it provided in establishing and supporting the peace process on this island. The Union played an extremely important role in this regard. It is difficult, however, to listen to Deputies from Sinn Féin, including Deputies Mairéad Farrell and McDonald, talk about how Europe is prioritising militarisation over peace and there being a road to militarisation, when that party had a very difficult background coming up to the peace process. I refer to nonsense about running roughshod over Ireland's neutrality when Sinn Féin has had to delete a back catalogue of press releases supporting the Russians and the ongoing collaboration between the Sinn Féin leadership in Belfast and the Nicaraguan Government. These are just ridiculous positions and it is wrong to suggest that Ireland is on a path to militarisation.

Ireland is a neutral country. We are very proud of our military neutrality but we have never been politically neutral. Being militarily neutral does not mean being in a position where we cannot defend ourselves. It is very important that we make changes to the triple lock now. Doing so does not change Ireland's policy of military neutrality. Our current triple lock policy, though, means that Russia and others have a veto over Ireland's sovereignty. I am a very proud European, but first and foremost I am a very proud Irish person. I will not give sovereignty over decisions about the defence of this State to anybody else and I think that is the context in which the triple lock decisions are being made.

The security and defence changes occurring at the moment are a response to the changed facts, namely, the changed geopolitical and security situation the European Union and our colleagues and fellow member states face. It is entirely understandable that security and defence has become one of the top three issues, along with climate and digital, at the top of the EU's political agenda. The European Union is committed to increasing overall defence readiness and capabilities in the context of genuinely rising threats and security challenges. As I said, Ireland is militarily neutral but not politically neutral. We have no plans to alter our policy of military neutrality. The global security context, however, obliges us to take our own security and responsibility towards our like-minded partners much more seriously than we have done in the past. This is reflected in defence spending. Defence remains a national competence, however.

The European Union is actively considering how to bolster our security while at the same time providing more assistance to Ukraine. This includes the recent proposal from the European Commission for a European defence industrial strategy. It aims to stimulate production and joint procurement to allow the EU and Ukraine to further develop their capabilities. From Ireland's perspective, it is important that we engage constructively in these discussions. Our policy of military neutrality does not remove us from the global security environment and neither does it mean we should not work closely with our fellow EU member states to deal with these challenges in the most effective way we can for Ireland.

On Wednesday, 1 May, we marked the 20th anniversary of the Day of Welcomes. This was the day in 2004 when the EU and the then Irish Presidency welcomed ten new member states. We continue to support enlargement. We firmly support enlargement where the countries concerned come towards the values of the European Union rather than risk the values being offered by Russia. We should not forget that the countries that joined in 2004 did so very shortly after their transition to democracy. The European project is a democratic one and we are firmly supportive of further enlargement to bring countries closer to the values of human rights and democracy.

The European Parliament elections, now less than a month away, come at a pivotal moment and in an unprecedented year of elections when half of the world's population will be eligible to vote in electoral contests. This is a very different situation to that pertaining to the previous elections. Those in 2019 came post-Brexit and after the Donald Trump Presidency. Now, these elections come before the election of an American President. The context of these elections, therefore, is very different. For that reason, they take on an unusual significance this year. It is crucially important that there is an honest conversation in Ireland and not one where misinformation and disinformation are disseminated by Deputies here and candidates elsewhere. It is wrong to suggest, as Deputy Carthy did, that the European Union is taking over matters of national competence, such as taxation, public services and foreign and security policy, for example. We will continue to firmly resist this change. It is simply not the case that the EU is taking over these competencies. These are national competencies and remain so. That is at the core of the European project.

We know that certain foreign governments, including Russia, have deliberatively and strategically targeted European societies with false and manipulated information. The objective of this activity, much of it online, is to generate confusion, sow division and fear and undermine trust in government and democratic institutions. It is so important that we do not contribute to furthering this endeavour. Several important initiatives are under way at EU level to combat that activity, including through the new EU toolboxes on hybrid threats and foreign information manipulation and interference, FIMI.

Many Deputies raised the issue of Palestine and Israel. It is extremely important to respond in this regard. Deputy Bríd Smith raised the question of disinvestment. I highlight to her that on 5 April, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, confirmed the divestment of ISIF funds from investments in certain companies. The divestment decision related to shareholdings with a total value of €2.95 million in six companies. This is an important development. It is also important to say that Ireland's position has been the strongest in Europe in respect of Israel and the recognition of a state of Palestine. The European position has come to the Irish one. Initially, the Irish position was an outlier, in that we were calling for an immediate ceasefire and the provision of humanitarian assistance to be an absolute priority. As we have been saying, we are the people who have been advocating for the recognition of a state of Palestine. It is so important because if we are going to have a two-state solution, then we need to recognise two states.

It is also the Irish position that the trade agreement be reviewed and it was the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, who wrote to the European Commission back in February to advocate that this be done. We have not had a response to this initiative. The Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, raised the matter again at a meeting of the European Council in April. This came in addition to his support for the state of Palestine more broadly and trying to work for this recognition collectively with other countries. It is the Irish position that there be an urgent review of whether Israel is complying with the obligations under the trade association agreement. It is the Irish position that is being advanced with regard to the state of Palestine. We really are the furthest ahead in this regard. This stance derives entirely from a humanitarian and peace project perspective. This State wishes there to be a peace project in the Middle East in the same way as we have successfully had one on this island. We want to have a humanitarian approach to all questions, as we try to do here at all times. It is not correct to say that Ireland is not advocating in this way or that the Government is somehow behind in this regard. The Government is leading on this issue. I say this out of respect for all the Deputies who have raised this significant and important issue. I also highlight to Deputies that we fully support Palestinian membership of the UN. The General Assembly of the UN will consider this position on 10 May and we expect a large majority of member states to take this position with us.

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