Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I was delayed coming down to the meeting. I welcome our friends who have come to give us very useful information. The involvement of Councillors John Sheehan and Maria Byrne is particularly important because they provide representation via their attendance at the regional assembly of the European Union. There is a real disconnection between Europe and Ireland particularly as evidenced in relation to special areas of conservation. There is no feeling that there is an appeal to Europe to say that something is not working and we must find a solution. It was very evident in our recent by-election in Roscommon where people were so genuinely affected by this issue that they took people power. I met a farmer from Leitrim whose farm is surrounded by bog. He feels he will be squeezed out of a livelihood if the European Union has its way. This is real life and he campaigned day and night - 17 hours a day - to elect a representative to the Houses. I congratulate that representative who will be able to articulate the problems that come to his attention.

I have another example of the disconnect. As a Member of the Seanad, I was debating with the last Government, particularly its Green element. People do not realise in regard to the former Green Party Minister, Eamon Ryan, that of the 28 countries in the EU, only Ireland has a 90-year ban on eel fishing. His Ministers of State were Conor Lenihan and Seán Power. We could not get this through to them. The North of Ireland allows eel fishing on Lough Neagh where it is a very good industry. On our side, eels are protected for a possible 99 years. I would like to see that appealed as it is outrageous. In our area, there are people making a livelihood in eel fishing and the ESB has an involvement in it down at Ardnacrusha. That is an example of how this affects ordinary people.

There is a feeling that there is a lack of power to do something about these issues. The Leader of the Seanad, Senator Maurice Cummins, called a small meeting recently and we decided at it that the Seanad will take on a scrutiny role in regard to European legislation to look at specific controversial areas where we can have a view and refer matters back to Europe where we are not satisfied with the Commission's proposals. It is a good initiative because the Seanad has that extra time. We used to have such a scrutiny role in here the joint committee and it was a very effective way to do things. I have not heard much about scrutiny since.