Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make a few comments before asking the Minister of State to conclude. The notion that there is a democratic deficit is overstated as the enhanced role of the European Parliament has created a more direct connection to citizens. This is evident in today's visit to Brussels by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to discuss and negotiate the multi-annual financial framework with the European Parliament. To echo the point raised by Deputy Dara Murphy, there is a concern that smaller states such as Ireland would lose out if citizens participated in direct elections of all office holders. A fine balance must be struck when trying to re-engineer or reconfigure current structures. I have no doubt the Minister of State has a keen interest in this issue.

The Minister of State referred to the issue of scrutiny. A number of members of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny believed the approach taken was not the best way to scrutinise EU legislation. It is appropriate, therefore, that scrutiny is being done by sectoral committees. I am not certain, however, that Irish parliamentarians are sufficiently well equipped to perform this task. This deficiency could be addressed in a number of ways. We could change the electoral system or equip and resource politicians to manage the problem. However, I am not sure the Oireachtas undertakes sufficient scrutiny of domestic legislation, not to speak of European legislation. This is as true of the Government side as it is of the Opposition side because far too much of our work is based on clientelism and the process of being re-elected. We must implement internal reforms before we start demanding more in the European context. This is an ongoing debate which I am sure will continue not only in this committee but elsewhere.