EU Budgets
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Sinéad Gibney (SD), Dublin Rathdown

The letter states, "The funding should be focused on common investment in security and defence, competitiveness, innovation and the fight against irregular migration". While I appreciate the Minister of State's description of the process he is engaged in, I would like to understand how he is representing the interests of Irish people.
I am extremely concerned with the development of the next MFF based on the direction of travel at EU level. The EU cohesion funding, horizon funding, the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and other key supports that are vital to many people across Irish society are under serious threat. These are also things that protect our democracies and societies from outside interference and ensure we have just and open societies and that children do not grow up in poverty and into adulthood in a world of fires and food shortages. This is the opportunity cost when the sole priorities of the EU are competitiveness and spending on the defence industry. Nothing the Minister of State has said has assured me he is pushing back against that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01