Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central I thank all the Deputies for their comments. At the outset, I congratulate Spain on an emphatic win last evening against France, our nearest neighbour in the European Union. I attended the French Embassy last evening and wished them the best. Thankfully there was not a Spanish function afterwards but they did spectacularly well and we eagerly look forward to the final. Deputy Daly raised the issue of the memorandum of understanding on the electricity interconnector. In my discussions with Prime Minister Sánchez, we discussed this. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, earlier had discussions with his counterpart. The first interconnector between France and Ireland should land next year and that will be a significant factor in helping our energy situation. Ultimately, given the very strong penetration of renewables in Spain, it makes sense that we would have a connection there. It will cost a lot and there is a lot of work to be done in teasing it out. Part of our European Presidency is to get approval for the European grids package that has been approved by the Commission. Interconnection across the European Union is absolutely key in reducing dependency on fossil fuels and avoiding the kinds of crises that we have repeatedly seen if there is a war in a given part of the world which then leads to massive inflationary pressures as well as security-of-supply issues. This is something we are taking seriously and we want to progress with Spain. The Deputy is correct that the economic relationship is very strong and Spain is growing economically as well. In response to Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil, the joint action plan will be comprehensive, covering all aspects of our bilateral relations, including trade, energy, cultural and people-to-people relationships. We have an extraordinary historic relationship with Spain, particularly because back in earlier centuries we were Catholic countries and Spain came to our assistance when our neighbours invaded and put their governments in charge, etc. When I was there last, I was struck by the tip of the iceberg that we can explore in terms of that cultural and historic relationship. There is a lot more we can mine in respect of that, and particularly archives and so on that we could access and enable people in Ireland to access more generally. The action plan will be very comprehensive and similar to ones that we have with other countries. I think Deputy Hayes was being a bit petty, if that is the word I am looking for, in what he said about Spain. Well, using the word "petty" might be a bit uncharitable today. It is more a Spain is more vociferous than us kind of thing. We have worked very well together on the Middle East. It is a very serious issue. I have worked well with Pedro Sánchez. He is a very constructive leader and he is a strong leader at the European Union table as well. He does not pull back from advancing his views across the board. Spain has military bases that the US has used; not in this war but the one prior to it. We have to bear that in mind. Spain is a member of NATO. We are not members of NATO, and I do not think anyone is asking that we would follow Spain or learn lessons from Spain in that regard. I do not think that is what Deputy Hayes meant. --- 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/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-15