Sinéad Gibney: Suspend EU-Israel Preferential Status Now

Go raibh maith agat, Cathaoirleach. And Minister, I want to start by welcoming and commending that Ireland was one of the voices in recent days to put forward the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement. I think it is insane that it hasn't happened to date. I really think that Europe is operating in a hypocrisy in sanctioning Russia but not sanctioning Israel. And I also want to just remind this house that the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement is not sanctions. It is the revocation of a privilege. This is a preferential status that Israel enjoys in trading with Europe and to suspend it is not to imply sanctions, to apply sanctions, which is actually what we need to do. But obviously our first step to get to applying sanctions, Minister, is that we would start by dropping the preferential treatment that we currently provide to Israel. So I want to know what the government is going to continue to do. Like I say, I welcome that we were one of the countries pushing for this, but how are we going to keep that under the agenda? How are we going to make sure that the EU-Israel association agreement, in line with its human rights commitments, is fully suspended from Israel? The next thing I want to talk about is the digital omnibus, which I've raised previously, Minister. We heard a lot in the Taoiseach's contribution at the outset about the competitive elements of AI, the enterprise, the innovation space, all of which is welcome. And I also want to acknowledge that there is a place within the simplification agenda for particularly small businesses to address what are duplications in different directives that require them to meet compliance standards in multiple ways. I get that. But what nobody in the government ranks seems to want to admit is that that has been hijacked, that simplification agenda has been hijacked by big tech to push for deregulation. And the Taoiseach said those words himself in his speech. This work will reduce administrative burdens for business. It is deregulation under the guise of simplification and harmonisation. But one thing that is lacking in the Taoiseach's whole speech is anything about rights and protections. Like normally at least you give it lip service, but there's nothing at all in here about the fact that whilst we allow businesses to flourish, whilst we create the systems and the ecosystems for businesses to actually use technology to advance business and enterprise here in Europe, that we must protect the rights and the protections that citizens and consumers in the European Union enjoy. And that essentially is what the European Union is most proud of. So I would like to understand that particularly in light of those security risks and privacy concerns and the ones raised around the European digital identity wallet, what assurances can you can provide Minister that any digital omnibus package will address those vulnerabilities rather than accelerate their adoption without the adequate protections that citizens require. But finally Minister, I want to speak to the remainder of my time on something that the Taoiseach failed to mention at all. And I'm going to give you the direct quote from the conclusion from the Council meeting which is that on the basis of the lessons learned from the 2015 migration crisis and to avoid a similar situation, the EU is ready to fully mobilise its diplomatic, legal, operational and financial tools to prevent uncontrolled migratory movements to the EU and preserve security in Europe. And I want to essentially ask based on those conclusions surrounding migration at the EU Council, why has this government committed to the Chisinau process and precisely why and for what reason? And how can this government reconcile with our previously outspoken record for human rights, particularly in areas like Middle East and Ukraine alongside that? I mean we're putting ourselves forward for the UN Human Rights Council in the second half of next year. We consider ourselves as a state to punch above our weight in terms of human rights diplomacy. What this is doing and what the Irish government has committed to do in undermining the European Convention on Human Rights is to launch a full frontal assault on human rights. Because I think we'll all notice that it is not called the European Convention on Human unless you're a migrant rights. And that's essentially what this is trying to do. It's trying to say that we want the ECHR, we created this framework above member states within the European Union to which we are all accountable, indeed across the Council of Europe, which will allow us to make sure that member states build their economies and their societies within a human rights framework. But there is a sacrosanct word there and it is human. Everybody gets to enjoy those rights. So to carve out a little bit around immigration so that we can essentially drop our standards for inhumane and degrading treatment and for torture when it comes to those individuals is a precedent that I am not willing to tolerate and that everyone in this house should be enraged at. Because if you start coming out after migrants you're going to see them quite quickly after that coming out to various other groups in society. So it is not okay and I want assurances for this government, particularly as we approach the presidency, particularly as you're looking to take a seat at the UN Human Rights Council and particularly as we are in a situation of increased global conflict, that you will commit to the ECHR and remove any suggestion to follow the Chisinau process. Thank you.