Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-05 ============================================================ Rónán Mullen (IND), National University of Ireland Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Mr. Hanniffy is also welcome. I wish all the very best for Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. I do not believe anybody doubts but that we have a very talented and dedicated team working not just for the country's best interest in ensuring that we have a successful Presidency but also doing the best for the European Union at what is an increasingly challenging time. There is limited time and there are many issues one could reference. From my own personal perspective, as somebody who has always seen myself in the Christian democratic tradition, I see all the good things, as the Minister of State himself mentioned, that our European Union membership brought. He picked probably the best example, namely, equal pay for women and the role of our former President, Dr. Patrick Hillery in his capacity as Commissioner at the time. At the same time, I always have been one of those who worried and have been concerned about a certain competence creep from the European Union. This of course was prominent in the days when Ireland had pro-life laws and the whole Maastricht protocol for example was about ensuring that European Union laws and the application of them, would not prevent Ireland from going its own way and having a pro-life position in its laws, particularly securing the eighth amendment that we had in our Constitution. I regret that we have lost something in our country around the protection of human dignity without preconditions as to the stage of a person's life. To some degree, that hobbles us in our ability to project a badly-needed message about European values. The EU stands in a world where the international rules-based order has broken down. It is a case of, as Senator Higgins and others have said, might is right. There is much to frighten and concern. The Minister of State used the phrase "human dignity". That has to be the touchstone and fundamental principle driving all good political values. Ireland is chairing the meeting so we cannot just drive an Irish agenda through the Presidency but there is the quiet influence that goes with being the one to chair. There are issues that I would like to see Ireland always lean in on, which include a respect for national competence, advocating for the freedom of expression and freedom of conscience with regard to European policies and practically speaking, ensuring the EU's agenda does not negatively impact Irish rural communities, that it supports farmers and that we continue to have strong agricultural policies. In the midst of all of that is, Quo vadis EU? What does the EU stand for? I saw last week, for example, the European Commission's formal response to the my voice, my choice initiative, basically looking for member states effectively to fund and provide access to abortions to people from member states where the rules are more restricted. It was somewhat welcome that the Commission decided not to submit a proposal to the European Parliament or to the Council for a legal Act establishing a funding programme for cross-border abortions. However, it is bad enough nonetheless that the EU said that existing EU funding instruments could be mobilised by member states to support access to abortion for people from other countries. That redirects the European Social Fund plus financial resources from their original purpose, which was to promote social inclusion, to support employment and to prevent families from falling into poverty. That is what genuine support for women involves. The European Union and the Commission, by facilitating, enabling and clarifying that one country can basically fund people to access abortions from other countries, really show that the European Union has lost its way. Ireland also has lost its way. One problem that emerges from that is that the people who would be and should be most enthusiastic about the European Union and its potential for standing up for human dignity in a world where it is disrespected in far too many places, far too often, lose enthusiasm for the European project as a result. It saps the energy. When people talk about European values, many of us question: what are these values? Are they actually values that are truly in line with human dignity? There is a lot more that could be said but I would like the Irish Government to take that point on board as well as it goes forward and represents Ireland and Europe and promotes Irish and European values. --- 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/2026-03-05/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-05