Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her opening statement. I do not know whether I have had an opportunity to wish her well since her new appointment but if not I do so now. I acknowledge that accession conferences have been held or are ongoing with Moldova, Ukraine and Montenegro. It is the right of states and the people of those states themselves to decide what the wherewithal of their ambition for membership of the EU should be. The people of these states have clearly indicated they want to be part of the European Union. There are strict criteria for membership of the EU which will have to be met and Ireland, alongside other member states and the EU itself, will have to work with the candidate states to assist them to progress their applications and to meet these criteria. Ireland will also have to ensure that the further expansion of the European Union, if and when it takes place, happens in a way in which our strategic and domestic interests are also protected.

I understand of course, and we all recognise, that Ukraine faces particular challenges and circumstances which are immediately unique and, therefore, require unique support and assistance. I welcome that Ireland attended the Ukraine peace summit earlier this month in Switzerland. I also welcome the report we received from the Ukrainian ambassador as to its successes in areas where concrete progress has been made in terms of addressing challenges endured by the Ukrainian people, particularly proposals regarding the return of children who were illegally deported from Ukraine by Russia. There is a very clear trajectory whereby Ireland can play a role in a peace process when it emerges, which we hope happens sooner rather than later.

I welcome that earlier this week the Foreign Affairs Council discussed the ongoing crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the broader Great Lakes region. The Minister of State may be familiar with the fact that I sought from the Taoiseach and his predecessor that they would add this crisis to the agenda of the European Council. An estimated 6 million people have been killed in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996 and a further 7 million have been internally displaced. It is incumbent on all of us and the world to do whatever can be done to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in the first instance and bring an end to the conflict.

In her remarks, the Minister of State said we must "ensure the EU uses its voice in support of international law" in respect of the Middle East. There is no way this sentence can be paralleled with support for Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission. I appeal to the Government to reject Ms von der Leyen's candidacy on the basis of her suitability for office or competency arising from her track record in essentially offering unconditional support for Israel when she provided Benjamin Netanyahu with political cover for the genocide to which we now bear witness. She provided political cover to a head of state who is now answering a case of genocide before the International Court of Justice. She provided political cover to a head of state for whom the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has now sought arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including wilful killing and the use of starvation as a method of war. In doing so she acted outside of her competency. I have to say she maligned her office and the European Union.

Following the commissioning of a review of the EU's financial assistance for Palestine which found existing safeguards worked well, nonetheless her Commission imposed additional red tape and bureaucracy on Palestinian NGOs at a time when their work was more desperately needed than ever. She did so as a prelude to the blocking of a review into whether Israel has breached its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, essentially preventing EU states from holding Israel to account for its war crimes. She artificially delayed funds to Palestine, and when she did so she was acting against stated Irish Government policy. She circumvented the objections of member states to her Commission's proposals to halt all funds. She entirely disparaged the Irish Government's objections to this course of action.

Even more plainly, we must set out what the Commission President thinks of Ireland and the amount of respect she has given to the Irish Government. This is a situation where a Commission President blatantly ignored and disregarded the appeal by the Taoiseach and the Spanish Prime Minister that a review be conducted into Israel's human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. She has ignored the Irish Government, and the Irish Government intends to reward her with a second term. In doing so Ireland will, therefore, become complicit in the failed EU response to what has happened in Palestine in particular. The Commission President has failed the test. The inability and unwillingness of an Irish Government to take a stand against her actions will bode very badly for our long-term reputation and position in the world, and our ability and Europe's ability to act as voices for peace and conflict resolution. I appeal again in the strongest possible terms to all Irish MEPs, and in particular to the Irish Government, to reject the candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen.

I understand security and defence are on the clár of the General Affairs Council. I put it to the Minister of State that the primary message Ireland should bring in terms of security and defence is to unequivocally inform our counterparts that Ireland will not support any move away from unanimity or towards qualified majority voting. An independent foreign policy is now more important than ever. Individual member states must be able to have a voice in the world. We have already outlined how the outgoing Commission President overstepped her remit and encroached on our sovereign domestic competencies.

Qualified majority voting on security, defence or foreign policy would undermine Ireland's independent foreign policy and neutrality and our ability to play a positive and constructive role in the world.

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