Results 21-40 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: Yes, I heard the Deputy and we have a stronger voice. It goes without saying that what Israel is doing in Gaza is a very serious problem.

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: We specifically asked for that to be raised at the European Council and in its conclusions. We are taking this very seriously. We are on record as saying we do not agree with what is happening with this other organisation that has been started. It has to be done through the UN. We have been very much on the record on that and very much to the fore at European Union level as well to bring...

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 think we agree. The Taoiseach has made strong statements on that.

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 that last point, the Deputy is asking me to predict the outcomes of the negotiations and all I can do is set out our priorities. We want to see the budget that is there maintained. We do not want to see cuts but the Deputy is right when he says there are competing pressures from various sources, not just eastern Europe but in general. On the new sources of revenue, we are not totally...

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: At Brú Ború maybe.

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 thank the Deputy. I was checking my diary and he will be glad to hear I will meet the president of the Normandy region. We do meet regional leaders as well as national governments. It is really important. It is an important focus for me and other Ministers do as well. I thank the Deputy for his work on the European Committee of the Regions. I totally endorse what he is saying in terms...

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 Deputy can send it to me.

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 just missed the last point.

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: In terms of democratic resilience, I would have to leave the specific point about Coimisiún na Meán to the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport. I met him yesterday and one of the issues he raised with the digital industries or social media companies was the fact that he is going to work with France on age verification. The French minister may well have been over. They...

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: No, it is in the context of social media.

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: Criminal offences can be created by us implementing EU law but generally speaking, we would not have an EU criminal offence. The Senator would have to ask the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, about that. I think it would come under his area or perhaps the remit of the Minister for justice. It does not come under my remit. I was speaking about age verification in the context of Deputy Hayes's...

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: Yes, I will say that to the Ministers, Deputies O'Donovan and O'Callaghan.

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: Making sure our grid capacity is improved is certainly a priority for us. I am not totally familiar with how Spain is going with regard to renewables. There is a lot of solar power there. Spain invested a lot in liquified petroleum gas, LPG, in the past number of years, particularly around the time of Covid and the invasion of Ukraine.

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 Government's priority is to ensure our system is resilient. We support further interconnection. We have an interconnector under way with France. If we could get an interconnector with Spain, that could be advantageous. I cannot say that will happen but it would be advantageous. There is very little interconnection between France and Spain. That is part of the problem also, so we see...

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 is a great question. President Macron gave a speech - I think it was at the Sorbonne in 2017 - where he came up with this concept of "strategic autonomy".

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: We want Europe to be able to fend for itself but there are a number of member states, not just Ireland, which put a nuance on that. In fact, in the conclusions it is generally written as "open strategic autonomy". We want to make sure we are open to the world and to trade. That is critically important for Ireland because we are a small trading economy that trades with the world but we...

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 think so. Open strategic autonomy is generally what people would say and this has been discussed over the past number of years. To be fair to President Macron, when he said this first people probably said we were grand, but there have been so many geopolitical changes since then that there is a lot to be said for making sure Europe can do things on its own. Ireland does not 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: That is another really good question. If the committee had time, it would be great for its voice to be heard on this issue also. First, we should encourage people to apply to work in the European institutions. That is very important. The Department gives a lot of support to people so if the Senator knows of people who want to work in the European institutions, they can contact 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: We do not know if they all got through or if they all had the language skills or passed the tests. We put a huge effort into encouraging people to apply for that and 92 did. I should say we have had a strategy since I was last in the job. It was one of my priorities the last time to try to encourage more people and we have seen an uptick in the number of people going into the system but it...

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: Yes, they do. Sometimes people can get into the institutions as interpreters, translators or linguists and then go to other areas. I am not happy with the way the European Personnel Selection Office, EPSO, the body within the institutions that runs the competitions for admissions, has handled some of the competitions recently.