I thank the Aire Stáit. I commend him on staying in the House for the debate. It is important that Ministers who represent the country abroad hear the differing voices in the House. Statements on the European Council are always a very valuable exercise to allow us to put on the record our views and influence our Ministers when they are representing us abroad. The change of government in Hungary is welcome. I saw a photograph earlier this week of the Irish Council of State meeting and thought it perfectly captured how strong our republican constitutional democracy is. I am referring to the idea of an elected President using her powers, as outlined in the Constitution, to consider a Bill passed in this House, along with representatives appointed by her and representatives of both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Constitution dates back to 1937. Sometimes we take for granted how strong our Constitution is. We can see, from places like Hungary, how easily a European country's constitution can be eroded by an authoritarian regime. We have to be very careful of that within the European project. In this regard, Michael McGrath is doing significant work on the rule of law in the EU. This morning, I was canvassing in Beaumont. While European Council statements might not have been not high on the agenda, international affairs were. Many people I spoke to were incredibly concerned about the impacts and costs of what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East more generally. Whether it is a matter of the price of home heating oil or that of petrol or diesel, they are seeing the real impact of war on economies. War has devastating impacts on those who live in war zones and on global economic growth. What is very clear – I heard the Taoiseach piece this together – is that Europe is now dealing with the impact of two very significant wars within its geopolitical sphere. The war in Ukraine has had an incredible impact on gas prices. This had a corresponding impact on global supply chains and food costs. Now we see the impact on the cost of oil. As we look to the coming months, we need to be careful about how we proceed as a country, and the economic bloc of Europe must also be careful. There is no doubt that the increase in oil prices has a significant impact on economic growth. I hate to use the "R" word, but recession is always possible. We need to be very careful about how we proceed. People on the doors are talking about costs. I distinguish between those who were protesting and those who were blockading. Many who were protesting were among those affected by cost increases. I acknowledge the measures the Government introduced, the first being worth €250 million and the second €750 million. They are essentially tax cuts to try to support people in meeting their costs. However, we should not forget that this also means income forgone that could be used for public services. As we proceed as a country, we also need to be cautious about what we can do sustainably over the long period of time while always making sure that the strong economic model we have here benefits those people on the ground. I think Europe has been very strong at times in terms of acting as a bloc. We saw that during Covid and so on. At times when we are divided, the response is very poor. A number of speakers have mentioned the European response to what happened in Gaza. I would always cite that as a time when I was not proud to be European. I was very disappointed in the European response. There are two elements in terms of how we proceed on this issue. One involves the short-term measures Europe can take. When the package was being put together, we saw how so much of that package was affected by European regulations and rules. We have to look at how we can make European countries agile, nimble and able to respond to what could be an ever-increasing cost of oil. That is the first thing. The European Union needs to treat it as an emergency and needs to empower European nation states to respond to protect their citizens. It is a very obvious but sometimes disputed concept but we do have to transition away from carbon fuels. We are doing a significant amount in this country. What we are doing in terms of retrofitting is incredibly significant. Again, I come back to Beaumont. Every third or fourth door I came across, I found retrofitting that had been done. This often involved older people who would not otherwise have been able to avail of it but who did because of the changes this Government made in terms of the fuel allowance. As a result, these older people were able to access the warmer homes scheme. We need to do more but the European Union needs to support countries to do so. When one speaks to many people who are experiencing those costs, one sees how much it impacts them but when one speaks to people who have made that change to an EV - and it is not always easy although it is much more possible now with second-hand cars - one can see that they are not feeling that same pain in terms of their transport costs. There is a lesson there, which is that when we help people transition, it has a direct impact in the short term and the long term. While the European Green Deal has in some ways fallen off at the agenda and there is a big focus on deregulation, and I do not necessarily think that deregulation or simplification as it is often called is necessarily a bad thing, we have to stick to our long-term commitment to climate change measures and the environmental impacts of carbon fuel. The carbon tax can be very controversial. For those who I would describe as being at the populist end of the spectrum, it is very easy to say that we should pay less tax but the reality is tax allows us as a country do certain things. Whether that is investing in the retrofitting programme or supporting farmers, the carbon tax funds that transition and we have to make that transition in the longer term. Europe needs to help us do that and I would like to see the European bloc do more. Two wars are ongoing. We have been strongly supportive of Ukraine and rightly so but what is happening in the Straits of Hormuz and the Middle East is having a direct impact and I want to see the European bloc now step up and be part of the global conversation about what happens and about trying to bring an end to a war that is having massive economic impact on all of us here in Ireland and elsewhere.

Sentiment score: 0.04

Two of my colleagues spoke about the European Single Market. While there have been benefits for industry from the Single Market, consumers in Ireland have not been able to get the full benefit in the areas of industry and financial products. Under our Presidency, what do we intend to do to progress that?

Sentiment score: 0.37