IIEA Talks

Keynote Address by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister for Health followed by a fireside chat with Audrey Carville.

"Driving Innovation for Patients"

This panel examines how sustained commitment to research, innovation and health system modernisation can accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation therapies across Europe. It also looks at how public policy, private investment and multi-stakeholder collaboration can improve patient outcomes while supporting a thriving life sciences ecosystem.

Panellists include:

Rainer Becker, Director of Medical Products & Innovation, DG SANTE, European Commission
Vytenis Andriukaitis MEP, Biotech Act Rapporteur for SANT Committee, European Parliament, and former European Commissioner for Health & Food Safety
Claire Skentelbery, Director General, EuropaBio
Avril Daly, President of EURORDIS - Rare Diseases Europe
Muiris O’Connor, Assistant Secretary at Department of Health, Head of Research & Development and Health Analytics.

"Sharpening Europe’s Competitive Edge"

This panel explores the policies and conditions needed to strengthen Europe’s position as a global leader in life sciences research, development and advanced manufacturing. In particular, the discussion focuses on how initiatives such as the forthcoming EU Biotech Act and related policy developments can support innovation, attract investment, build skills and enhance Europe’s competitiveness.

Panellists include:

Thomas Van Cangh, Deputy Head of Unit & Head of Biotech Task Force, DG SANTE, European Commission
Rachel Shelly, Global Head of Life Sciences & Food, IDA Ireland
Anouk De Vroey, Head of Government Affairs & Policy at Johnson & Johnson EMEA
Prof. Mark Ferguson, Former Chairman of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board

Why do some new democracies develop peacefully while others descend into criminal wars? Accountability Shock (coauthored by Guillermo Trejo, Lucia Tiscornia and Juan Albarracin, Cambridge University Press 2026) argues that the answer lies in how newly elected governments confront — or ignore — their authoritarian past. When post-authoritarian elites pursue truth commissions and criminal prosecutions for past atrocities, they break the cycle of state impunity that enables criminal violence to take hold. Where they extend amnesty and silence instead, criminal wars follow. The book's findings challenge a long-standing policy assumption: accountability is not a threat to fragile democracies — impunity is.In this discussion with the IIEA, Lucia Tiscornia and Roger Mac Ginty will discuss the role of accountability in conflict prevention, and how post-authoritarian states can strengthen democratic institutions, address legacies of violence and build the foundations for sustainable peace and security.

Lucía Tiscornia is Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin and Faculty Fellow at the Geary Institute for Public Policy. She works at the intersection of political science, criminology, and international relations, with research expertise in criminal governance, state violence, and security sector reform. Her most recent project, funded through a European Research Council Starting Grant, focuses on understanding criminal governance in contexts where one would not expect to find it.

Roger Mac Ginty is Professor in Defence, Development and Diplomacy in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. He works on peace and conflict, with a particular focus on the intersection between top-down and bottom-up approaches to peacemaking and on everyday peace. He co-directs the Everyday Peace Indicators project and co-edits the journal Peacebuilding. His research has been funded by the EU, the ESRC, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Often compared to modern slavery, trafficking in human beings destroys individuals’ lives by depriving people of their dignity, their freedom, and their rights. Yet trafficking in human beings remains a largely hidden crime. In the EU, more than 20,000 victims were registered in 2023–2024, while many more remain invisible. Trafficking is a serious threat to security, closely linked to organised crime and generating enormous profits, with low risks for criminals. It affects women, men, and children in a wide range of sectors and takes different forms; including sexual and labour exploitation, forced criminality, and forced begging. It requires a comprehensive approach from prevention to prosecution of traffickers, while protecting the victims and working closely with partners from the private sector and non-EU countries.

Against this backdrop, the IIEA host a keynote address by the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, Diane Schmitt, offering insights into the latest trends, challenges, and action needed, as well as an opportunity to exchange views on this pressing issue. Moreover, this discussion fits into in the Irish Presidency’s priorities to deliver on European competitiveness, values, and security, in addition to occurring at a particularly timely moment, as the EU will have a renewed EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings before end of 2026.

Combatting trafficking in human beings requires a comprehensive approach to prevent the crime, protect the victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Diane Schmitt was appointed EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator in July 2021 to contribute to this approach, improve coordination and coherence among EU institutions, EU agencies and Member States, cooperate with international actors and support the implementation and development of EU policies in this area. This appointment follows a long career in the European Commission, where Diane Schmitt held different strategic positions, including in the area of migration, security, and justice.