Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation. It is my pleasure to speak to the experts. Senator Catherine Noone and I have just returned from a familiarisation visit to the European Union, the Parliament and the Commission. It is rather complicated so the witnesses will excuse me if I get the dot on the wrong "i"; they are the experts, having been there for five years ploughing their furrow. It is important, given the overall political context, that the European Union, national parliaments and local government know there is great concern at the participation by the citizenry of all 28 member states in the process. We are here speaking about how we can relate to one another with the MEPs, this committee and the Committee of the Regions. I do not underestimate the difficulty in creating a structure that has us all speaking together. It will not be easy. I am a relatively new member of this committee. Earlier, this committee had tried to facilitate the MEPs and had chosen a Thursday for them but, as the witnesses will see, they are not very visible.

Whatever about our political affiliations, the key issue is that we have to try to encourage the electorate to participate in a more open way with the Committee of the Regions, Brussels parliamentarians, Government and MEPs because of the threat and fear that as a result of the economic crisis that has affected us, people will become more alienated and this will lead to the potential withdrawing of engagement with the magnificent programme of the European Union.

I am still a bit mystified because everybody keeps asking if we are all wearing the green jersey. The witnesses are affiliated to political groupings and it has been said, rightly, that if one is in the Socialist group or the Christian Democratic group, one affiliates to them. It is hard to figure this out, but we have some MEPs from Dublin who do not believe in the Union. Irrespective of our political affiliation, it has to be admitted that we did a great job in the Presidency and we have achieved much in the international arena in terms of our status and role as a small nation, especially after the troika pulling out of the bailout and other aspects of our development programme and the Irish Aid programme. We are highly respected as a small programme. What do the witnesses think of the suggestion regarding the forum? I hope the Chairman can develop a new structure with the witnesses because we all have to talk to one another. It is a rather complex field and the witnesses are the specialists. We have only just learned about the structures and we are happy to move forward. May I ask a personal question of those of the witnesses who may be in Fine Gael, the Christian Democratic party, which is called-----