Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms O'Connell and Ms Flynn. It is good to have the presentation. Deputy Dooley has raised some interesting points about a qualitative view. His latter point highlights a great dilemma for people in public life over the past five years. Particularly at the time of the recession we had the question of the cost factor. It was a huge dilemma for all of us presented with an option to travel somewhere.

We constantly weighed up the importance to Ireland of being there against the potential of it being misconstrued by certain members of the public. While I presume it will become less of an issue in future, it was a major dilemma for us in recent years and Deputy Dooley was right to raise it. A number of us would have shied away from particular events on that basis.

I will be brief, as there is no need to go on about this issue indefinitely, but it merits saying in response to the report that the Irish engagement is of a high quality at all levels from the Government to our MEPS. Our Civil Service engagement is also effective and professional. As a geographically peripheral island and in the worst of times, we can be proud of engaging so wholly with the European project. We stand up well.