Results 1-20 of 9,893 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach, leis na Teachtaí agus leis na Seanadóirí. Tá áthas orm a bheith anseo an athuair mar Aire Stáit le freagracht as gnóthaí Eorpacha agus cúrsaí cosanta. Is é seo ár gcéad chruinniú ó ceapadh mé i mí Eanáir. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an gCathaoirleach...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: The Senator asked about diplomats. I will include in that Irish citizens. My hat goes off to them. We have diplomats in Tehran, Ramallah and Tel Aviv. We have a small number of citizens, in the dozens, in Iran and some more in Israel. In these situations, we always find there are more than we had expected. The advice is very clear: do not travel or go to Israel or Iran at the moment....

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: One of the things that Albania has to do to join the European Union is to comply with the norms and standards that are expected of member states. The authorities are doing a lot of work to try to change things in Albania. They are more advanced than other countries. There is a lot of work to do. There is no doubt about that but that work is happening. We are quite satisfied with the...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: On Israel and Iran, I said what I said at the start. There will be conclusions from the European Council next week. One of our priorities is to make sure the focus is not left off Gaza. The one thing we will be making sure is that Gaza is not forgotten in all of this at European level. We are negotiating conclusions for the European Council next week on Israel and they are pretty strong...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I already said that one of the markers of an independent country is that it can protect itself. The fundamental function of an independent country is exactly what the Senator said, namely, to protect our independent security. That is our top priority. We are going to do that. We have committed to significantly increasing spending on national defence over the next few years. This allows...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: It is because every document on defence that the Commission publishes and every conclusion that the European Council reaches on concern defence talks about specific characteristics of certain member states needing to be respected. That means our neutrality and that of Austria, which spends a lot more on defence than we do. Fundamentally, defence is a member state competence. There is no...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: It is not. It would be really helpful for the committee to talk to colleagues of all political persuasions in other parliaments. I do not know if Sinn Féin has a sister party in Finland but, almost certainly if it does, that party will be looking to increase defence spending in Finland. Ursula von der Leyen is not telling the Finns to do it. Likewise, I do not know if Sinn Féin...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Sorry, I have not read Billy Kelleher's article but that is on a separate issue.

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: That was on a separate point. The Senator asked me about European defence-----

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: -----and, quite frankly, it is dreamland really because it is not the reality. The reality is that the member states, including Ireland, totally separately, are looking to increase defence spending. There is no one telling the Irish Government that it must spend more on defence. We are doing it anyway. We are doing it because of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended it to the...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: The Senator cannot ask me if I agree with statements, generally. He needs to give me a few sentences and I will tell him what I think.

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: It is up to the Senator to accept this or not but my point is that this is coming from member states. If the committee does video calls or visits other member states and the other member states get to choose the agenda, for most member states, particularly in eastern and southern Europe, this will be the number one item on that agenda. I called to my friend and colleague, the former Europe...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: What is the Senator asking about?

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I was scratching my head with the Danish Presidency because I did not know the priorities. The reason I do not know them is because they have not been published yet. That was a good reason not to know them. The Danish Presidency starts on 1 July. Our priorities will be published sometime in June 2026. We will do a public consultation. Individual Departments and I will do it. I have...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: On our response to the Letta and Draghi reports, what we want to see first and foremost is the strengthening of the Single Market. We have a Single Market for goods. It is working pretty well but services are not. We support rigorous competition policy and state aid rules, which is a challenge for us because we are moving into an era when state aid is seen as a good thing, particularly...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: President von der Leyen is someone we work very closely with, and we particularly did so during Brexit and she was extremely helpful to us. The delineation of European foreign policy is in the Treaty on European Union. The High Representative, which is Ms Kaja Kallas, is the person who conducts the Union's foreign policy. She represents the Union on the Common Foreign and Security Policy....

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: UNIFIL, in particular, is of huge concern. The Deputy has heard the Taoiseach and Tánaiste speak about this regularly. It is absolutely of top concern. As I am Minister of State for defence, I have only just met the Secretary General of the Department of Defence to go through some issues. UNIFIL is one of the most important issues the Department of Defence keeps an eye on. It is one...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I do not sit on the Foreign Affairs Council but I have no doubt this was discussed because we are not the only country there. It is not acceptable. I do not sit at that meeting so I cannot say definitely but I have no doubt it was discussed. I would discuss it with anybody as well because it is so important for us and the people of Lebanon. Our soldiers have the protections of...