Dáil debates
Wednesday, 7 May 2025
Europe Day: Statements
5:15 pm
Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source
We in the Social Democrats are a party of proud Europeans and active members of the European Union. We see it as our obligation not to be passive members in the Union but to question EU policy and law and what it means for us here in Ireland on an ongoing basis. European Union membership has pushed Ireland into a more progressive place over the decades. Our membership of the European Union has given us many great things as a society: better employment rights; better women's rights in workplaces and beyond; environmental protections; funding for community and regional development; broader educational opportunities through Erasmus programmes and freedom of movement; economic prosperity; and an outlook on the world that goes beyond our own small island. It is important to celebrate these things today.
It is also important to acknowledge that the positives of the European Union are not accidents. They did not just happen; we as member states made those things happen. European policy and directives do not just mysteriously appear; they are supported, pushed for and shaped by governments around our continent. We prioritised the rights of workers, the importance of clean air and water and a focus on improving the lives of our citizens. Sadly, we are now seeing member states turn away from these priorities.
During the European Union elections last year, I learned about the very different attitudes that exist towards Europe and European Union membership here in Ireland, particularly among young people. Naming these attitudes and issues does not make us anti-Europe. We must understand and represent the concerns of Irish people. If we want strong support for European Union membership, we must address European issues and represent the views of our citizens. We must not be afraid to lead, push back and discuss issues like Gaza in Brussels.
People feel disconnected from Europe, and frankly, it suits the Government for people to feel this way. If we feel disempowered and disconnected, there is no scrutiny or accountability for bad trade deals, a lack of action on the genocide in Gaza and sometimes active support for Israel. There is no responsibility taken for people drowning in the Mediterranean. Europe is not some far-off place we have no say in. Member states have trampled on the civil liberties and human rights that a few short years ago we would all have proclaimed to be at the very core of the European Union, in Germany, Hungary and Poland. We cannot have silence from our Government when we are fighting for the very soul of what the EU can be and achieve as a force for good.
Meanwhile, the EU has pivoted focus to other issues, chief among them militarisation and the rapid move away from peace and towards war. Instead of focusing on the erosion of workers' rights, environmental protections and social prosperity, which have given our citizens hope for the future, Europe has bent the fiscal rules and has its sights set on war as the key thing we are guaranteeing for future generations.
Young people across the EU have social rights, housing and climate as their top priorities. Our leadership seems to have lost interest in solving those issues in Europe. The pressure is so overwhelming that instead of standing up to it, our Government is seeking to undo the guarantees provided for in the Nice and Lisbon treaty referendums. These are the specific safeguards against EU militarisation and the specific promises that the EU is about economic and social prosperity, not another military bloc aimed at protecting its interests by any means necessary.
This is not how it has to be. We should be exerting greater pressure at European level on issues like Ukraine, climate, trade and Gaza. For Ukraine, we need a just and lasting peace and to keep Ukrainian civilians at the centre of that discussion. While Europe supplies military aid, the amount of humanitarian aid has been inadequate. Climate is the existential issue of our generation and it is worrying to see the corporate sustainability and due diligence directive under attack. This legislation, which guarantees that companies do not continue to consume fossil fuels and pollute with abandon and are accountable to the people they harm, is under attack in the name of competitiveness. Our time to act is running out and we should be going stronger, not weaker, on climate.
Regarding trade, we should be defending the high standards for the things we buy and the things we make. It is not anticompetitive to say we cannot tolerate human rights abuses and slavery in our supply chains. That is what was guaranteed at European level in the corporate sustainability and due diligence directive, which was agreed and passed last year but is now under attack.
In Gaza, since the genocide began, there have been loud calls for the EU to take action; to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement on human rights grounds; to recognise Palestinian statehood at EU level and across member states; and to stop selling weapons to Israel. Sadly, what we have seen is unequivocal support for Israel from Commissioner von der Leyen, a commission president whom Government MEPs supported as members of the EPP. EU funds are also being used to subsidise arms manufacturing which supplies Israel with its weapons of ethnic cleansing.
The European Union is not perfect but it sure is worth fighting for. The values of peace, prosperity and solidarity are what brought us together after two devastating world wars. These values tied us together and helped us to lift each other up. These principles have delivered plenty for ordinary people but as I said earlier, the good we do is not a guarantee or a coincidence; it is something we worked hard for across the continent. If we want to strengthen those bonds and keep improving people's lives, we must recommit to that work.
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