President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will address the Oireachtas on December 1st when she visits Dublin. Ms von der Leyen will give the address during a visit to Ireland next Thursday. Her appearance comes after an invitation from the Government.

She will be the 23rd world or Irish leader who has been invited to address the Oireachtas since the foundation of the State. She is the second leader to have received an invitation in 2022 – Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed a joint sitting of the Oireachtas on April 6th, via video link from Kyiv.

The German politician has been president of the European Commission since 2019, having held several ministries in governments led by chancellor Angela Merkel.

She is the second president of the European Commission to address the Oireachtas – her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker did so in 2018. The previous yea, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier also appeared before a joint sitting of the Dáil and Seanad for what was described as “an exchange of views”.