Ms Clare Daly:

Thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. I thank the Seanad for inviting us here.

Against a backdrop where we normally only have one minute to speak, six minutes can seem like loads of time but it is very difficult to cover the work of two years in that time. It is particularly difficult when there is a lack of knowledge of what actually goes on inside the European Parliament. Unlike the Oireachtas, a lot of our detailed work, where we can make change, takes place in committees and there is no coverage of that by the Irish media. That is unfortunate and does not happen in other member states. For this reason, it is really good that the Seanad has organised this engagement which I hope will be the first of many such engagements. It can make a positive contribution to bridging that huge gap.

We have an idea for a European Parliament television channel on which we have done detailed work. The initiative could be accommodated under the existing legislation with relatively little finance. We will bring that proposal to the Houses of the Oireachtas in the coming weeks and seek the assistance of Members with it because the lack of knowledge is stark.

As the Leas-Chathaoirleach said, I am a member of five committees. Rather than discuss them all, I will briefly address the committee that Mr. Cuffe discussed, namely, the transport committee. As an island nation, aviation is particularly important to us. The sector was decimated by Covid but we are seeing a recovery taking place. Billions of euro in public money have been pumped into the airlines and airports. This is an opportunity lost because we could have attached to that money a condition that we have a socially and environmentally responsible recovery. We have blown it a bit. Ireland was in the bold camp as it was one of the countries that not too enthusiastic about attaching a condition to those payments on protecting workers' rights and so on. That is a key area for us. This year is the European year of rail and rail is an important area for us as well.

I will now deal with the two most important committees of which I am a member. LIBE, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, is similar to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice. It deals with the bulk of legislation from the European Parliament. We have dealt with issues such as prison reform. I have a number of former prisoners working with me at the moment and members of the committee visited a lot of prisons across Europe. The committee has also dealt with huge files, which are being upgraded and will affect European citizens. For example, the European arrest warrant legislation and Europol legislation dealing with police co-operation across Europe are being updated. These are two very important files and I was the shadow on both of them.

I am on the scrutiny group of Europol. All of the member states have an oversight role on that group but Ireland has not been represented at its most recent meetings. When I was a Member of the Dáil and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin was Chair of the justice committee, Ireland was always represented at scrutiny group meetings. The current Committee on Justice may wish to address that issue because Europol has been found wanting in terms of violating civil rights and on data protection issues, which it is now retrofitting. This will have a big impact.

Data protection is a topical issue. The Data Protection Commission has come in for a lot of criticism in Europe. I think this criticism is unfounded and I am not just saying that because I am Irish. We gave the DPC a hard time when it was before Oireachtas committees but it has become a scapegoat for the deficiencies in the legislation. That lets big tech off the hook and is not productive.

Migration is also a major issue for the LIBE. I am a member of the Schengen scrutiny group. The Schengen Agreement is a jewel of Europe as it grants citizens the ability to freely move across boundaries. However, it has become the arena for some of the most appalling violations of human rights. Senators may have seen the coverage by Der Spiegel, a German media outlet, which exposed the complicity of Croatian and Greek border guards in the most appalling violence meted out to migrants on the borders there. Migrants were set out to sea on dinghies that were burst and shipped back to Turkey. On the Croatian border, roads were built to literally drive people to the border. Their possessions were burned and they were pushed across the border to Bosnia. This is all being done with EU money. The scrutiny group was very good at exposing some of this. We have worked with NGOs and citizens' groups in those countries to expose many of these activities. Finally, we now have an independent monitoring mechanism for fundamental rights. It is not great but at least it is heading in the right direction.

The rule of law is another major issue for us. We have produced a publication on the rule of law, which is timely. There will be one for everybody in the audience in the next few days. I will send copies to the House. The rule of law is a topical issue because of Poland. The way in which the EU deals with Poland is a real test now for Europe's future. Obviously, like everyone else, I was horrified at the antics of Poland, including attacks on its judiciary, women, the LGBTIQ community and so on. However, we must be careful and not hand ammunition to those who violate those rights. The Commission has implemented its mechanism in a highly partisan way. Our study highlights what has gone on in France, Spain and Bulgaria and critiques the rule of law mechanism on that basis. Colleagues will find it useful in that regard.

I do not have much time to discuss security and defence, which is unfortunate. Maybe we can discuss the issue when summing up. Historic steps are being taken to an ever-closer defence union, which is utterly frightening. Senators may have seen the comments made by President Biden backing Europe in taking a stronger military role in NATO.

We have seen the unprecedented step of €8 billion being allocated for arms expenditure in the European Defence Fund. We have PESCO, or permanent structured co-operation, the European Peace Facility, another pocket of money that allows African nations to buy European arms and destabilise their areas, the Strategic Compass, and the European Military Planning and Conduct Capability, MPCC. The list goes on. Senators will have heard the state of the Union address by Ursula von der Leyen this year. It was very strong on defence commitments, which is pretty scary to any country that says it is neutral. If Senators want the hair to stand up their heads, I suggest they tune into any meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence where they will see all of the action.

The same companies that came up with the idea of spending money from a public budget on defence are also profiting from that historic change. They are also profiting from the securitisation of the border. When those who have become refugees because of wars and destabilisation seek refuge the same companies block them. It is shocking that this has happened when no money is being spent on more important matters.