On a 13th century site in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny, stands one of the last remaining textile mills, run by a family since 1778, the Cushendale Woollen Mills. It was successful in the procurement process to provide a corporate gift of a scarf for those who will participate in the EU Presidency. I mention this because it is of significance to how a family-owned Irish company can benefit from a procurement process that will now bring its product to the attention of countries within the European Union. It is proud of the fact that it goes from fleece to fabric. It is a wonderful family and I am delighted to have the opportunity to mention it in this House. I wish it well in the markets it will engage with through trade within the European Union and beyond. Like other speakers, I acknowledge the very positive role that was played within the European Union, the positive benefits to Ireland from that participation, and how we have successfully managed to develop as a country within that European Union, but when that Union started out, it was about more than trade. It was about the importance of the European citizen within that Union. An effort was to be made to ensure that the citizens of Europe would be better off as part of that membership. That, in my mind, has faded away to an extent. For example, why is it that within the European Union, you can get a very cheap mortgage, but you cannot get it here? It is a simple question but it is fundamental to the rights of Irish citizens to be able to get what citizens in other parts of Europe can get, which is a cheap mortgage. Why is it that the insurance industry within Europe is not open to the citizens of Ireland for them to benefit from cheaper premiums? Why is it that Sparkassen banks in Germany cannot be part of the banking system here? These are questions that need to be asked by the Government during the time of this Presidency. I listened to the Minister, who referred to simplifying rules, which is a good statement, but it is not what is happening in the European Union. The bureaucracy of the European Union has run away with itself and it has become more important than European states, and it has put the citizen in a second-class place. That has to be corrected and that is what I hope will happen during the Irish EU Presidency. The Minister referred to eliminating barriers. There are barriers to Irish farmers farming. That barrier is bureaucracy and red tape. It is putting farms as we would know them, small farms that make up the bulk of the country's farming families, to the pin of their collar to make money and to make a profit. It is only that profit that is going to keep them there. They are saying that they will be given a grant, and then tying so much red tape around that grant that it is not worthwhile for them to get it, but still they want to farm. It is making it difficult for them to protect the environment, in which they acknowledge the role that they play in that protection, and making the grant system impossible for them again. That has to be simplified. We talk about enterprise then. I am trying to highlight the imbalances that are there in Europe, some of the positions taken, the hypocrisy of them and, simply, the fact that maybe it is Ireland's fault that we do not stand up within our European Union and do what other countries do. For example, Taiwan has a population of 21 million people. It is a massive market. We have no place in that market, yet 16 individual European states have trade offices in Taiwan. Ireland does not have one. It did have one. It closed it down. It cost the State €50,000 a year, but we closed it down back in the downturn in the economy. It should be reopened. It is not interfering with our One China policy. It is doing what 17 entities from Europe and 16 member states are doing in Taiwan. They are trading and using that as an access point to China and Asia, yet we hide behind what is historically an outdated policy statement from China. We are not going to offend them. The other 16 countries that are out there do not offend them. Members of this House have travelled out there. Members of the Government have travelled out there when they were in opposition, but there are different standards now because they are in government. Yet, the European Union is leading the way in terms of the numbers that are out there. I want to see that changed. I want to see a student exchange, which the UK benefited from when it was in the European Union, between Taiwan and Ireland. I want Irish students who want to go out and see how the semiconductors are made to do so. I want to allow them the opportunity to be able to educate themselves on that issue, on AI and on technology. Taiwan is the leading producer of semiconductors. In fact, it opened and invested in Germany. It built a factory out there. Why is it that Ireland could not be at the table fighting for that investment, the same as every other country? These are the issues that I see in terms of enterprise. Social justice and the rights of people are a big thing. There was a group of whistleblowers in the Gallery a few weeks ago on World Whistleblower Day, some of whom went to try to have their rights vindicated within the European Union. The European Union fines us for not doing stuff, yet when it does not do stuff like protecting the rights of those whistleblowers, everything goes silent. Julie Grace, Noel McGree and Lorraine Morris and so on were out there. I want to see the European Union take on the role of defending those who had to go out there to vindicate their rights and perhaps to tell Ireland it should start doing its business at home rather than what it has turned a blind eye to, ending up in Europe to be sorted out. There is a mishmash here of all sorts of things happening in Europe that happen in Ireland where we do not fulfil the rights of individuals. Dan Brennan is another one I can think of. I want to see the citizens of this State being placed in the centre of any policy that is being developed or any action that is being developed whereby the citizen can benefit - not big corporations, vulture funds, banks or anyone like that. By the way, in relation to the banks, we were short-changed in a big way by the European Central Bank during the crash. That was never really addressed. We had big issues in terms of Covid and we want to investigate that. That was not addressed. Surely one rule for one country within the European Union should be the same in every other member state. The EU provides grant aid for all sorts of projects in Ireland. Essentially, what is happening with that funding is every city, town and village is starting to look the same. They have the same big cycle tracks, the same narrow roads, the same lights and the same everything. We should tell the European Union that everyone is not the same; we are different, and that should be celebrated.

Sentiment score: 0.17