Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I had the opportunity in previous committees to hear Dr. Barrett's presentations. As always, his analysis is very much valued here. In his reasons for these events, he listed the rise of UKIP and the concern of Conservative Party backbenchers about the dominance of Europe. We all agree that we need European and international co-operation to tackle human trafficking and drugs trafficking, and the use of the Internet to promote criminality. Clearly we need that level of co-operation between our police forces. One of the issues that comes up is that not every member state has the same data protection measures, so we are trying to balance the need for civil liberties versus the need for co-operation and security to tackle real threats to all of our people. Are there any valid concerns about that balance expressed by Conservative Party backbenchers, or is it more a symbolic expression of independence from Europe that means they wish to have control over their national security apparatus?