Results 781-800 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: On the question of exports, and without naming any companies, we know that arms exports from Germany to Israel have increased since last year from €30 million to over €300 million. That is a tenfold increase in the number of arms being exported from Germany. I believe German companies are among those that will potentially benefit from the arms and ammunition schemes. We do not...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: With regard to the transit of weapons, which is a separate issue that we definitely do not have time to discuss today, the Civil Engagement Group is bringing our arms embargo Bill through the Seanad next week. It is explicitly on the question of the transfer of weapons and the need to look at stopping the practice of exemptions for weaponry, which we have at present, and ensure we have...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: On the Act.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I will put the question directly to the Commission. As I understand it, there was a qualified majority vote. There are two elements. There is Article 42.1 of the treaty potentially being breached by the very point the Act very clearly has military or defence implications. Ammunition manufacture has military and defence implications. Even if it were legal under EU law, which is very...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: And our neutrality, of course.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: A large number of academics, their representative organisations and others made submissions in respect of the Horizon proposals in the context of being explicitly clear that they support the retention of a civil focus.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank everyone for those answers. Cluster munitions are one thing; nuclear non-proliferation is also relevant, as is the general question of arms manufacture. I do not know if Mr. Fairmichael was there at the time, but I think Mr. Murray was. Will Mr. Murray comment on the treaty negotiation and the particular role Ireland was able to play? That gives the context for the cluster...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I cannot speak for everyone. We will have a private session afterwards, during which we will discuss everything. I can highlight that these hearings come in the context of a communication that came to us. The money had already been allocated. I understand contracts are going to be signed in respect of the €500 million. I have a breakdown showing a figure of €124 million for...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I think it is really important to pull back a piece that we are not engaging in individual, different conflicts and assessment. We know there are significant diplomatic means that have been exercised. I have supported many of the diplomatic measures to apply pressure on Russia regarding its illegal invasion of Ukraine and there are sanctions and so forth. There are diplomatic measures...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: To follow up on a couple of these pieces, the cluster-munitions Act explicitly states that Ireland bans direct or indirect investment of public moneys in companies which produce "munitions". To clarify, I thought it was just companies which produced "cluster munitions". It is not limited to munitions companies which produce cluster bombs. It is part of Ireland's very proud record in...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: This is one of the issues we signalled and would have expected answers to. It is a concern in itself if decisions relating to spending public money - €12 million may seem a small sum to Mr. Ryan but it is quite significant to a lot of people - in a way that goes against our own national law. In that context, and I am going back to Article 41.1, why was an evaluation not made, for...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: That seems to be something of an oversight when we are looking at the situation. The then Taoiseach was very clear that Ireland would only be providing non-lethal support for military action in Ukraine. It should be pointed out that it seems that this funding is going directly to industry. This is not the same as when individual countries may have chosen to transfer arms and so forth....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: To go back to the European legal basis, I might go to Mr. Ryan first and then ask the Commission its understanding of the legal basis.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: What is the legal basis?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I might ask the Commission-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Article 42.2 of TFEU explicitly states that the Union budget cannot be deployed for operations, which have military or defence implications.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Ryan has explicitly stated that the purpose has been to supply arms to a conflict.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Effectively, if we have an increase in the arms that are being manufactured, that has military and defence implications, surely.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: It has military or defence implications in which case it is in breach of Article 41.2. It is not the case that anything which is an industry can get money. I would like if the representatives of the Commission could elaborate on how this measure is compatible with Article 41.2, if it is coming from the general budget?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Proposals (22 May 2024)
Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not a matter of picking a single article and saying we are manufacturing under this. It must be tested against the legality in terms of other articles. Is Ms Filipkova suggesting that the manufacture of explosives, shells and missiles does not have military or defence implications?