Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I was not able to listen to the Minister of State's earlier contribution so I am not sure what was said. However, I did read through the points that were made in relation to the meeting, and I have taken some notes. The key focuses were on Ukraine, the so-called Middle East peace process, defence readiness, competitiveness, the energy transition, digital sovereignty, migration and the ongoing enlargement process. I have a couple of comments to make on those.

On the Ukraine issue, it is heartening that member states again gave support, both from a military and a humanitarian assistance perspective. I welcome that an exchange of views took place with President Zelenskyy. As I said last night, he is very welcome and we are looking forward to his visit in December. I suggested last night that there is no long-term tangible commitment that would replace the wavering US support. Ukraine is in a very tenuous position. A lot of platitudes have been given to it from an EU perspective. Aside from some of the Baltic states and the other states on the border, we are not seeing the commitments that are required, although I welcome France's recent announcement.

In the Middle East, to use the Hebrew phrase, yada yada, it is the same old story. The EU, for historic reasons within various member states, is not willing to collectively call out the Israeli genocide. There were meaningful, worthy references to the peace process and to EU missions, and a call for Israel to release withheld revenues, but nothing that is going to force Israel to do anything meaningful. Collectively, the countries that have shown a little bravery such as Ireland, Norway, Belgium and Spain will have to do more in a co-ordinated way on this issue.

On defence and security, I will head to a meeting of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs shortly. I want to know how the roadmap for defence readiness 2030 ties in with our military neutrality. I will read the Minister of State's speech later. Obviously, we have to develop our defensive capabilities, especially with regard to Russian threats off our coast. We should be able to report that we are increasing spending on our defences without it being part of a collective EU pact.

I also want to get further information on the energy self-sufficiency angle that Europe is pursuing. I would still see that we are not putting in the long-term investment in our own infrastructure. In that regard, I would like the Minister of State to focus on that sector, in particular the decarbonisation of Europe. There have been threats to the environmental aspect in other parts of European affairs. Does he believe the commitment to decarbonisation is continuing?

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