Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-21
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

The Deputy is right that it is about trying to get that balance. In every decision we take we have to think of our core European values, our fundamental principles and why we do what we do. It is to make life better for all of the people that we represent, our citizens in Ireland and across the EU. We have seen a lot of backsliding in certain countries. Elections are taking place at the moment and I am concerned about some of the outcomes of the elections where we have heard very clear not just rhetoric but pronouncements from potential incoming governments, as happened previously in Hungary over the years. We are lucky that in Ireland the overall support for the EU has remained strong but there are many reasons not to be complacent.
We just talked about what is happening in Gaza and the Middle East and the fact that Europe needs to do more and be stronger. We need to make sure that those types of decisions and that type of focus remain on the agenda during our Presidency. I can assure the Deputy of that.
Coming to the final priority area of security, we also need to make sure that we are working together to respond to what are new and emerging challenges we have not seen in the many decades of our membership of the European Union. It is about our physical security and protecting citizens but also our economic security, which is essential if we want to do all the other things I have outlined.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-21