Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-18 ============================================================ Michael McNamara On the issue of air transport, as a former TD for Clare and somebody who makes their way from Clare to Brussels, I lament the concentration of all air navigation in Dublin at the moment. The removal of the cap will be a further step in that process. All Senators and TDs, including those from the mid-west, will get to vote on that in the very near future, it seems. Even if it goes through, it will offer opportunities for other airports because the infrastructure simply is not there for Dublin to expand in the way some airline companies would like to see it expand for their own profit. It is not about the good of Ireland; it is about their profit and their profit-making ventures; they are entitled to pursue profit at the exclusion of everything else. I share the Senator's concerns about digital bullying. I think it is something most people have a concern for. A ban at EU level for under-16s would be very much against the direction of travel of this Commission. One could argue Donald Trump has had more success in implementing his agenda with regard to big tech in the Berlaymont than he has on Capitol Hill. He has tried to get a moratorium on state legislation through and has failed. Nobody really knows what was agreed with von der Leyen but the direction of travel is certainly not towards banning them. On generational renewal, I have had the opportunity to meet the current agriculture Commissioner several times. I even got to go to a mart with him once. While I think he has a profound commitment to generational renewal, some of the measures he is proposing would not find favour in Ireland around making sure European payments are to a new generation. On the India trade agreement, it is not possible to address migration from India to Ireland without resolutely condemning the orchestrated attacks on the Indian community here last summer. It is not possible to visit an Irish hospital without being struck by how reliant we are on Indian nurses. Much as we lament that we train medics in Ireland who then go abroad, imagine how they feel in Kerala, a much poorer area, that essentially is training the medics who prop up our health system because we seem to fail to do so. On the DSA, I accept there is a risk but the real issue is not what some idiot chooses to say on social media; it is that it is amplified. The central part of the DSA which is important is algorithmic transparency. As somebody who listened very carefully to the debate on repealing the eighth amendment, I voted to repeal it and I would do so again tomorrow morning. That said, one can hold that view and still lament the rise in the abortion level in Ireland. We need to address the societal reasons people feel they cannot have children and why we have this huge demographic decline in Europe. It cannot be addressed through constitutions or criminal laws. It is something society must face up to. Those who argued to repeal the eighth amendment said the Constitution was no place for provisions on abortion, Roe vs . Wade and all of that. I share their view with regard to putting it into what is a quasi-constitutional Charter of Fundamental Rights. It is not something I would support. Likewise on trans rights, there was a judgment of the Supreme Court in the UK with which I largely agree; in particular the part that these are vulnerable people who deserve to be treated with integrity, respect and dignity. It is lamentable the extent to which they can become the subject of a political football. I fundamentally support the nub of that judgment and the resolution last week Mr. Kelly referred to. That particular provision is not something I could vote for. I support the proposals of Senators Murphy and Higgins around a peace conference and for Ireland to set out its position and the case for neutrality in the world because every war is brought to an end ultimately by negotiation and discussion. There have to be players left who are not militarily aligned who can bring about that discussion. That is with the exception of the Second World War where there was an unconditional surrender, which is very unusual in history. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-18