23/06/2023 | 12:14:07 Thank you, Madam President. Can I firstly compliment the rapporteur for this very comprehensive report. I know that in the report it says that there have been numerous resolutions in this area, and despite this, and at a time of massive acceleration to the digital world, 3.6 billion people continued to have no access to the internet, and half of the rural European Union has no access to broadband. That digital divide is based on geography, it is based on a generational divide, social-economic... 21/06/2023 | 19:16:58 Dear Colleagues, While the European Court of Human Rights is the penultimate body to ensure human rights are exonerated, the principle of subsidiarity exists. That is, human rights should be secured by domestic mechanisms rather than through the Court. Point 6 of the draft resolution points to the current operation of Human Rights Act in the UK as an excellent example of an effective domestic mechanism for ensuring rights are respected and fully implemented at a national level. Why then is... 25/04/2023 | 19:06:42 Dear colleagues, I think with anything in life – whether it be business, social or political – it is always important to take stock, to reflect and assess how relationships or partnerships are working. What's working well, what can be improved and indeed if there's something that needs to be discontinued. I thank the rapporteur for doing just that with an initiative which was introduced 13 years ago, Partner for Democracy. This status aims at developing cooperation with parliaments of non... 25/04/2023 | 16:29:44 Thank you, Mister President. As we approach the fourth summit in our 73-year history and the first in 18 years, many have asked questions as to are these frequent enough to ensure, as a body, we remain fit for purpose and relevant to the citizens we are elected to serve and relevant to address the challenges of today? I think what is more important now is to ensure that this summit is a success and we are very proud of the role the Irish have played in ensuring this summit happened and... 25/01/2023 | 19:12:52 Thank you. Dear colleagues, Can I start by adding my voice of thanks and gratitude to the rapporteurs for the work that they have done. If you'll forgive me for signalling out one in particular, my Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe colleague Ms Petra STIENEN, who I know from my time as serving on the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination with her from 2016 to 2020, has been an extremely strong voice on this important issue. The eradication of gender-based violence is a key... 24/01/2023 | 19:00:10 Madam Vice President, Distinguished Colleagues, Firstly, can I thank Ms Fiona O'LOUGHLIN for her work as rapporteur on this report and compliment her on producing such a comprehensive report which has received such strong support across all political groupings. We, in Ireland and in our party in Ireland, are very proud of the work that my friend and colleague has completed. I think the length of this debate and a huge interest and a number of contributions, to my mind, demonstrates the... 02/10/2019 | 16:46:34 Thank you, Mr Vice-President. I want to compliment the rapporteur and, in reading the report, I can't help but think if more of our global financial institutions had acted even with some of the ethical values of the Council of Europe Development Bank, then the global crisis that we are just coming out of may not have been as severe. Regulatory failure, corporate greed, and failure by policymakers have ensured that the Bank established in 1956 is needed now as much — if not more — than any... 01/10/2019 | 10:20:01 Thank you Madam President. I'm very happy to speak in favour of this very timely and important report on improving the protection of whistle-blowers. Whistle-blowers play an essential role in any open and transparent democracy. Whistle-blowing is acknowledged as one of the most effective ways to stop wrongdoing. Wrongdoing which ultimately stems from greed, a sense of entitlement and a mentality of superiority and belief that self-interest trumps all else. Both these behaviours and attitudes... 26/06/2019 | 11:29:50 Mental health historically has been covered in a shroud of darkness because of the stigma attached to it. People who suffered from mental health have been marginalised, shunned and demonised throughout history. Sent away, locked up in institutions, never to see the light of day. Families do not dare to speak due to the huge source of embarrassment. While undoubtedly over the last decade or so much better awareness of the challenges of mental health and how it can affect anyone of us at... 25/06/2019 | 16:39:25 I will start off by complimenting both Rapporteurs on the report. Obviously, both reports are very independent, given that violence against women is a form of gender-based discrimination and a manifestation of deeply rooted inequality between men and women. The horrendous figures which indicate that one in three women in the EU report being a victim of gender-based violence at least once since the age of 15. This potentially could be any of our sisters, mothers, aunts, nieces, people who we...