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

I thank Mr. Andrew Munro and Ms Una Murphy for their help. I have read the briefing. There would obviously be a concern around subsidiarity. The Department of Justice and Equality has not specifically pointed it out but it has, as the witnesses have done, pointed out the practical issues of implementation. From a broader point of view, the concept of a European constitution and us all being citizens of a new European state did not proceed. It was rejected by people in France and Holland and, in fairness, while it was endorsed by a couple of countries, it did not proceed further. We are citizens of Ireland. We are members of the European Union but we are citizens of this State. We have a Constitution in this State and we expect the laws to be upheld. I would have grave concerns. I agree with co-operation between the Judiciary and our police forces to combat European-wide threats, particularly as specified by Eurojust which also deals with this area. I would be concerned about people co-operating and sharing intelligence and evidence emanating in Ireland but not at the European level. My view is that we should flag a subsidiary concern in Ireland, as has been done elsewhere.