Laura Harmon (Labour)

The European project is a wonderful and impactful project that has contributed to so many progressive laws in this country in employment, human rights, women's rights and the environment. We must protect the progress that has been made and the rights that have been won and guard against any rowing back of that.

Last week I was fortunate to visit the European Parliament with some of my Labour Party colleagues. We were visiting our own MEP, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. It is very important we have representation across all groups in the European Union. We are proud of his work on the Socialists and Democrats grouping. He has also been appointed as rapporteur to the special committee on the housing crisis in the European Union. That is crucial.

The Erasmus project has been incredibly beneficial to Ireland and to students in Ireland. I commend the Government post Brexit in supporting students from the North of this island in continuing to participate in Erasmus. That is really important.

We have many challenges ahead in Europe in respect of migration from wars and climate displacement, people being displaced as a result and how we how we deal with this. I want to see a Europe that supports these people who are fleeing through no fault of their own. It was an extremely damning indictment to see how Europe handled this ten years ago, when thousands of people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea when search and rescue operations were stopped. We will face these challenges again.

I agree with Senator Murphy that we have an opportunity if there is a border poll in this country. I believe a united Ireland would strengthen our position within Europe.

As mentioned, it is exciting that we are preparing for the Presidency of the Commission in 2026. Given that our Taoiseach is from Cork, it would be great to have some events in Cork as part of that when it comes around.

It has been very worrying to see the move towards militarisation within the European Union. The purse strings are very much being opened when it comes to rearmament in Europe, but when it comes to other issues like the housing crisis across Europe and in this country, we are not seeing a similar commitment to investment. When Ireland was bailed out and when we had to apply for bailouts from the European Union, there were significant conditionalities attached to the money we had to borrow. We need to ensure there are no conditionalities on our neutrality when it comes to any investment in our defence within this country. We should be very proud of the role we played in LGBTQ rights in this country. We were the first country to pass marriage equality by popular vote, the ten-year anniversary of which is coming up. We paved the way for other European countries to follow our lead. We need to guard against any row-back of rights in this regard. It has been concerning to hear what has been happening in the UK on the issue around trans rights. We need to be proud of our record here of supporting the LGBTQ community but we also must recall that a former Senator of this House, David Norris, had to take a case against this State in the late 80s to fight for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. European laws and courts have played a huge role in shaping human rights in this country.

We need to play a leading role again, particularly when it comes to Palestine and Gaza. We need to step up further. Part of that will be enacting the occupied territories Bill. It is very worrying to see the rise of the far right in Europe. I was struck when I visited the European Parliament last week by the number of elected representatives from the ultra-right and far right. It goes against why the European Union was set up in the first place, that is, to protect democracy. We need to guard democracy at all costs. The Presidency of the Commission next year is a great opportunity for us to highlight what important to us in Ireland in Europe.