Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On Dr. Piedrafita's view of the role of national parliaments and in particular their interaction with the European Parliament, she will be familiar with the fact that in the past there were a greater number of joint parliamentary sessions organised primarily in Brussels by different groupings there.

As a method of ensuring that the national parliaments remain more in touch with what is going on in the European Parliament, we get information on a regular basis but it is often hard to get the agenda of the European Parliament or the issues relevant there discussed within the environs of individual state houses. In that context, does the witness believe there should be a greater level of interaction between European and national parliamentarians through the joint parliamentary session and does she believe there should be more specific scheduling of committees of the European Parliament in attendance in various member states to spur debate and generate activity? Does she have any other insights that might assist in building that dialogue between national and European parliamentarians?

Members of the European Parliament are ex officio members of our European affairs committee but the schedules do not permit their participation. That is not a criticism of members and we may sit on a Thursday or Friday to facilitate European parliamentarians. Generally, their schedules are very different to ours and we do not get that level of interaction. Unless we create a specific level, such interaction can be difficult.

Ireland hosted the recent COSAC meeting and although in the history of that organisation there was a strong level of representation from the European Union it is quite limited now to a number of people with a particular interface between national and European parliamentarians.