Mrs. Elizabeth Wall:

My name is Liz Wall and I am the national president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association. On behalf of my fellow board members I thank the joint committee for this kind invitation to discuss changing attitudes to the European Union, as perceived among the members of the largest membership organisation of women in Ireland. In preparation for this presentation I held a series of interviews with a number of current federation presidents, members of our board, former presidents and some guild members. I asked them a series of questions about their attitudes to the European Union and, although anecdotal, I will report on their responses.

The ICA was founded in Wexford in 1910. Since the start, the ICA has tackled the big issues of the day. Before modern-day Europe was born in 1957 the ICA was instrumental in providing practical support in the development of basic utilities in Ireland such as water and electricity. Before setting out the finer details of the responses I wish to highlight some of the ways the ICA is committed to the European project. Although I will touch on some of the evidence of changing attitudes I am keen to reiterate that historically and in particular during my presidency, the ICA has always strongly supported the European project.

I represent more than 10,000 women. Two areas of significant importance to our members are family and health. The women of the ICA look to Europe to ensure that important issues like child care and early education are high on the agenda of policy makers. Some of the mothers and grandmothers in the ICA have children with special needs. They look to Europe for support for inclusive schooling and specialised staff. Through our membership of the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union, COFACE, we have been able to push a number of policy recommendations that have come from European institutions. We have been members of the organisation since 1957. Without this link to Europe the ICA would not have been able to participate with COFACE in lobbying for more family-friendly policies over the years.

Let us turn to the matter of health. Last month, together with the European Parliament information office in Ireland, the ICA held a symposium on health issues and initiatives focused on promoting good health in older people. The event looked at solutions to the challenges facing rural communities in particular. Contributors spoke about how they overcome their problems and what their communities are faced with today. One of the areas covered was the Europe against cancer programme initiated by the European Council. The ICA was active in pushing for national breast cancer screening and more recently the ICA was part of a successful campaign to extend BreastCheck to women aged 65 and 69 years of age. The fact that I know the Commission has recently established a new expert group on cancer control gives me the support I need to tell my members that Europe is fighting for cancer control.

I will outline some information on the interviews I held with our current and former presidents and other members of the ICA. I asked the members only to speak about the past three years, as this covers my term in office. All of the women I polled were aged 50 years and over. The main response I received from the ICA women was that they strongly support the European project. Members believe that the European directives, where implemented by the Government, have been successful. These have included family, health, fiscal and farming policies. When asked the direct question, "Do you think that there has been declining support for the EU project in the past three years?" the overwhelming answer among ICA members was "No." When asked if they believed they had been supported by Europe in the past three years I received a resounding "Yes". I asked for examples of this and the members took the view that they had been bailed out by Europe and that we would not have the economy and stability we are now beginning to notice without the help of Europe. Members representing the farming sector commented on the lifting of the milk quotas as being a boon to our dairy farmers. The quality of our new roads and infrastructure was another example of the reason for their support. The EU healthy eating policies that have been implemented in Irish schools came up as another area cited positively. Members of the ICA believe that for a small country we have a big voice in Europe and they believe this is thanks to the outstanding work of the 11 Irish MEPs. The support for the MEP structure and their role is strong. Some of the members I spoke to have second homes in France and Spain. They commented that rural communities in Ireland seem to have fared better than elsewhere and referred to help from French and Spanish communities. Some members took the view that even if the United Kingdom left the EU, Ireland would not suffer unduly since Ireland's relationship with Europe is so strong. ICA members believe that the European equality directives have helped women in Ireland in terms of our equality laws.

However, it is not all positive. Members felt that the Irish were dealt with very harshly by the troika and that austerity measures imposed upon us were too severe. They also expressed the view that European policy makers often seem rather remote or removed from the understanding of the everyday life of an Irish person, particularly with reference to losing our well-educated young people, who have been forced to emigrate. I thank the committee members for their attention.