Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses and was glad to hear Mr. Zuleeg's comments about the need for a debate across Europe. One reason the joint committee is having this debate now is that if the Conservatives win in May, one of the first items on that party's agenda will be discussions across Europe on how Europe can be changed and how the Conservatives can put some proposals to the people in advance of the referendum. Should that come about in May, we in Ireland certainly would wish to be part of any negotiation. The witnesses undoubtedly are aware of Cameron's Bloomberg speech a couple of years ago in which he outlined the type of changes he sought across Europe. All of us are in favour of most of those changes and there is nothing there that is too controversial or with which we could find disagreement. The witnesses are also probably aware of the review exercise undertaken by the Government of the United Kingdom on the balance of competences. The review considered what powers might be better transferred back to the national parliaments and my understanding is that after going through a fairly exhaustive exercise across various departments, a limited number of items were found where powers perhaps could be returned to the national government. In many ways, this was a tribute to the fine scrutiny work the Houses of Commons and Lords do and the joint committee receives reports from their scrutiny committees on a regular basis. They are extremely thorough and well researched and ensure adherence to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

As for the type of requests one could expect to see from the United Kingdom should the Conservatives win the next election, much of the content of Cameron's speeches over the past 12 months focuses on matters such as the freedoms and, in particular, the freedom for movement. From the witnesses' discussions across member states and from their perspective, what appetite do they believe exists for some sort of deal to be done with regard to the freedom of movement? I acknowledge it is perceived to be a central pillar to the European Union. Do they perceive any leeway or scope for a compromise in this regard? Mr. Zuleeg mentioned that to date, he has not seen much discussion at a European level. Are many other countries carrying out exercises similar to what the joint committee is doing here? Obviously, Ireland is greatly affected because of its unique position with regard to the United Kingdom. However, as he noted, other countries will also be affected, should the United Kingdom leave. At what stage is the debate in other European countries?

I will ask a couple of other members to come in, the first of them being Deputy Crowe.