Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is very little I can add to Senator Leyden's remarks on Ms O'Reilly's qualifications to hold the office of EU Ombudsman. It is a great honour for Ireland and represents a recognition of the work she completed here. I wish her well and thank her for engaging with the committee.

I am minded to recall a body of work we did here at the committee in the aftermath of losing the first Lisbon referendum. We were trying to establish why the Irish people had chosen on that occasion not to support what appeared to be a treaty that was in Ireland's best interests. One of the issues that was debated ties into what the Ombudsman has spoken about today, which is the notion of a democratic deficit within the institutions of the European Union. I have always felt that there is no democratic deficit, but if there is a perception of one, it is as important as the reality. There are all sorts of means by which people are elected or appointed and there is a trace back which is based on democratic principles. The work the Ombudsman can do and is already doing to ensure greater transparency is the strongest way to remove the notion of a democratic deficit. If the output at the end of the day appears and is fair and it is clear how decisions are arrived at, it is going to take away any question marks over the people who have made those decisions. How they came to be in the position is irrelevant if they are seen to work in the best interests of all the citizens of Europe. There is a very important strand to what the Ombudsman does in terms of increasing or improving the recognition of what the institutions do and giving people a better belief that the institutions are there for them rather than for the preservation of the institutions in themselves. That is really good work.

The fact that the Ombudsman has decided to carry out the investigation on TTIP is important from an Irish perspective as Senator Leyden has said. It affects every community, whether through small businesses, multinationals, traded services and, in particular, the agriculture sector. Ireland is one of those countries where almost everything in TTIP has a relevance for almost every community. That is because we are so dependent on agriculture and foreign direct investment. It has a chance to open up the institutions to the Irish public and hopefully improve the Irish electorate's understanding of how decisions are taken and how they impact. We will have to see whether it is of benefit but we can at least consider how it will impact on the lives of those affected. That is the first point.

The second point deals with the lobbying issue. In general, lobbying is poorly understood. Perhaps there is good reason for that given the history in the State and, elsewhere across all political parties, including my own, as to how decisions were taken and whether they were appropriately connected to certain individuals.

It is really important that the European Ombudsman continue that work and to try to improve the way in which lobbying is managed and understood. She will not need me to tell her that there is a perception that where a lobbyist is involved, something corrupt is going on. She rightly says lobbying is an important part of how business is done in Europe and elsewhere and that appropriate structures need to be put in place. I was quite surprised to hear that there was not a European register. Is any country more advanced than Ireland in registering lobbyists? The system is very advanced in the United States. Perhaps the Ombudsman might give more detail of what is in place in this area in Europe and indicate when more appropriate structures might come into being to deal with the perception that lobbying is all bad.