European Union
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

I will not be baited by the needless false comparison from Deputy Gibney in somehow bringing the triple lock and neutrality into this really serious debate. She asked who the stakeholders are before, without any evidence, telling me they are just businesses. In fact, stakeholders include civil society, work organisations, the trade union movement and citizens as a whole. There is a clearly enshrined EU consultative process. This is a really serious issue and I accept the bona fides of both Deputies in raising concerns. I do not dismiss their concerns for an instant. I may disagree with some of their points, which is allowed in this House, but I do not need to start making false assertions.
Deputy O'Rourke makes a very fair point in terms of what assessments are being carried out on an internal basis. Each assessment is done, depending on the policy area, by the relevant line Department. Regarding the initial assessment in relation to GDPR and citizens' rights, overall assessments, although not necessarily as specific as the Deputy outlined, are carried out by each Department, including the Department of justice, which is the relevant one. It is our responsibility in the Department of foreign affairs to co-ordinate those assessments and provide unified responses when we come to discuss this at a Council meeting or between officials at COREPER level.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05