Chapter 1: What insights does Michael McGrath share about his transition from domestic politics?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance. I'm joined now in the studio by the EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath. Good morning to you. Good morning, Clare. You're very welcome. You're about a year and a half out of domestic politics now.
So when you see the by-elections happening, Dublin Central, Galway West, does it make you want to roll up your sleeves and get out on the canvas? No.
Look, I had 25 years in Irish politics at local and national level. I started really young. My first election in my local town council area in Passage West in Cork was at the age of 22. So I really enjoyed it.
You put in your time.
I had fantastic experience. But I'm delighted to be where I am and to have the opportunity to shape and influence policy across 27 countries, including Ireland, and 450 million. It's an extraordinary privilege. And a year and a half in, it's been a very steep learning curve. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and got to grips with the mechanics and the workings of the different EU institutions.
And finding out how to actually influence and have an impact on policy.
And we'll talk in detail about your brief, but I'm sure you keep a close eye on the headlines here and you'll have seen that Bertie Ahern has been in hot water today and yesterday, accused in the Dáil by Paul Murphy of disgusting racism. What's your view on it?
Was it that or was it a canvasser, particularly we think of Bertie in this context, telling somebody on the doorstep what they wanted to hear?
I think we all have an obligation to be very careful about what we say in the European Union. I think we can be proud of the fact overall that we do have a Charter of Fundamental Rights that applies to everybody living in the European Union.
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Chapter 2: How does EU Commissioner McGrath view the recent controversy involving Bertie Ahern?
So we need to have a mix that is right for each member state, but ultimately that we can stand on our own two feet and have homegrown, clean sources of energy.
You made the really difficult calls when you were in finance and public expenditure around what to do with taxation. And you look now at, as we come up to the budget in October, Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael seem to be at one, that there should be tax cuts in Ireland. Yes. Do you think it's the right time to do that?
Look, these are very much domestic policy decisions that the government has to make. I'm just drawing on your expertise. And it's always difficult because you have to weigh up competing demands on the taxation side and on the expenditure side.
But what I am very proud of is the initiative we brought in to set up the long-term funds because we do need to, across the European Union, get to a position where we manage funds the economy and we manage public finance through a long-term prism.
And so when I brought forward the idea of setting up the Future Ireland Fund, the infrastructure fund, I understand that by the end of this year, of the order of 25 billion will be in those funds.
Now people say there's too much money sitting there while people are really desperate, you know.
But isn't it a good thing that the government has the resources to respond and has been in a position to respond? And when I look across the European Union, without doubt, the scale of the response and the intervention by the Irish government is on the high side. And I think appropriately so, given the very high cost of energy here and the fact that government has had the resources to do so.
But that does mean that in times when you can save money and you need to be careful about money and put money away, then you should so that you have it in times when you really need it. And that's why when I was Minister for Finance, working closely with Pascal Donoghue, we took that view that there was a need for long-term planning to set up a fund.
It's not for a rainy day because if you look at the long-term costs that are coming Ireland's way around demographic costs, pension costs, care costs, they're certain...
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Chapter 3: What is the EU's stance on migration and asylum policies?
And that's why, as I've said, come the summer, midsummer, there will be a decision by the European Commission on this issue.
Do you have a view on it?
Absolutely. I will await the final report from the expert panel because they will make recommendations to us. I'm not convinced how effective or how implementable a hard ban will be. We are trying to develop the toolbox.
Well, the Australian experience is that they just get, you know, under 16, just get past it.
Yeah, let's wait and see. And we are examining that model and we have brought forward an EU age verification app that's now ready and complete. So one part of the question is, what is it that you want to do? And then the second part is, well, are you able to do it and how can you do it? So we have to make sure that we can answer the second part as well.
But it could well be that the answer is in the area of more parental control, turning off certain settings by default, dealing with issues like infinite scrolling and so on. So we're looking at all of that. But one option is an actual age restriction. But we need to be sure that we can implement it and that it will actually work in practice.
Now, this Democracy Shield approach that you've launched to tackle disinformation and election interference, just for people listening, for all of us, does that mean a faster response to deep fakes, to last minute election lies, essentially?
So we have extensive legislation in place in the EU already to deal with these issues. And we are trying to fine tune and hone that legislation. We have the DSA, that's the Digital Services Act.
We have the AI Act that will later on this year impose an obligation, again, that if there is AI generated content like deep fakes, that it's labelled because it's becoming increasingly difficult for all of us to tell the difference between what's real and what's not real. So that will come into force later on this year as well. We have the GDPR.
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Chapter 4: How does the EU support member states during energy crises?
All right. Well, Commissioner McGrath, thank you very much for coming in. That's Michael McGrath. The Clare Byrne Show. With Aviva Insurance. Weekday mornings at 9. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.