Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here for this debate. I will not be using my full speaking time, but there are a few key points I would like to make. Strategic negotiations are getting under way, and I congratulate my colleague Deputy Michael McGrath, who is the Irish nominee for European Commissioner. A certain amount of negotiation will get under way on what role he will fill with the Commission. There is also a campaign to have Ursula von der Leyen re-elected as President of the Commission.

The strategic agenda which carries the European Union across the next five years is also very much up for discussion among senior politicians. In that context, it is really important to remember that we have many debates on the domestic front, in both the Dáil and Seanad, on farming, food production, food security and that needs to be front and centre of the Irish agenda over the next five years. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the population of this country is increasing, as is the world population. There are parts of this planet that never had food shortages before but that are currently experiencing them, and famine is coming quickly. Parts of the Mediterranean region are facing desertification the likes of which they have never seen before. It is becoming increasingly obvious that areas that were once arable and prime for food production are now becoming less so. In Ireland, we have our own challenges with global warming but it is manifesting itself here in a different way. We are getting more floods, freak weather events, fluctuating temperatures and so on, but Ireland is still a good place to grow things. It is a very green and arable country and the Irish position should be that we are not seeking to reduce the national herd or decrease food production but to increase such production and to play a major role across the European bloc. Things are moving very rapidly here. The last census was taken in 2020, and we have already seen a major increase in population in the intervening four years. It is going upwards. There is an expectation that there will be population of 10 million here very soon. As a country that trades within the European bloc and beyond, we need to be talking about food security, food poverty and the fact that parts of this world are facing an increased risk of famine. We can play a major role in that so rather than being backward and taking certain actions centrally from the European Commission, we should be taking a leadership role in that regard.

The next issue I want to speak about is the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, with Russia being the aggressor. While I welcome the fact that statements of condemnation were reiterated throughout the European Council meeting, it strikes me that not enough is being done by the European bloc as a whole to sanction Russia. It is very much becoming a war of attrition. There are many Russian assets tied up in this country and right throughout the European bloc. In the first eight or then weeks of the war, an aggressive approach was taken by the European Union. Now, however, the approach seems to be to fund the humanitarian response in Ukraine. There is less focus on sanctions and clamping down on Russian assets. Action that could be taken from this country relates to the fact that Ireland has a lead in terms of the registration of small jet aircraft. In terms of large ships, one will often see Nassau and the Bahamas mentioned. Most ships are registered to Caribbean countries but most aircraft registrations go through this country. It is important that where we have small, privately-owned Russian aircraft that we would sanction them, or at least look at that. Indeed, many European aircraft that were grounded in Russia as the war got underway are still grounded. They have been seized by the Russian state and something similar could or should be done, from an Irish and EU perspective.

Perhaps calculations are going on behind the scenes but it seems that not enough is being done around the possibility of a Donald Trump win in the US presidential election. That would result in a very different turn in terms of the Russia, Ukraine conflict. He certainly will not have the back of Ukraine from a humanitarian point of view and possibly even from a weapons and financing point of view, to ensure that it can actually hold its own and defend its sovereign boundaries that have been infringed repeatedly by the Russian aggressor. It will be a very different scenario if there is a Donald Trump presidency, and four years of that to follow. Security in eastern Europe within existing EU boundaries and in neighbouring Ukraine will be in for a very tumultuous period.

Finally, I will refer to the ongoing situation in Palestine. Despite what others have said, Ireland has taken a lead role in the European Union on this. I thank the Minister of State for speaking on it but much more can and should be done. In particular I would like to hear, when the Minister of State makes her closing statement, about what kind of response we are getting across the EU bloc to our insistence that there should be recognition of the Palestinian state. That is the right thing to do. To recognise the sovereignty of a Palestinian state is essential to having status for its people. Recognition of a Palestinian state is often badly and poorly misrepresented by Israeli political figures. It does not mean that one condones or supports the Hamas regime in any way. It recognises the right of the people of Gaza and Palestine to sovereignty and their right to exist as a nation. The sooner that Hamas is gone, the better for that nation because then it can get back to a more democratic process. Ireland has been leading the way in this regard and I would like to hear how that is being received across the European bloc.

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