Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Kiely for outlining the Commission's work programme and for giving us some information as to the role of the Irish representation here. I would like to ask a question about agriculture, given Mr. Kiely's background in that area, but unfortunately it is not of much interest to my constituents in Dublin Bay North.

The Brexit vote on 23 June has taken place and there is talk of increased populism in Europe, of a swing to the hard right and so on. Has the Commission assessed the vote in the United Kingdom? Obviously everybody now agrees that immigration played a huge role in the outcome of the vote, but I am sure there are other issues as well. Some were just mentioned such as, for example, the delay in getting decisions and implementing decisions by the European Union. I would also say the Commission has a communications problem. Citizens sometimes feel they are being talked down to or talked at, rather than being communicated with. Has the Commission analysed the vote in the UK either officially or otherwise? Has it come to conclusions about how the EU should do things differently and so forth? A very definite message was delivered and I think this trend can be discerned throughout the states of the European Union.

The stated aims and objectives are laudable. In particular, the first one to boost jobs, growth and investment is probably the most important of all as far as the citizens are concerned. I agree with Mr. Kiely's comments about social Europe and so on. As an example, it was mentioned that the Commission representation here in Ireland would report on significant developments to the Commission. In the last two days, there has been a lot of discussion and debate following the speech from the Prime Minister of the UK yesterday. Would communicating the Irish reaction to the Prime Minister's speech, both in the Dáil yesterday and today and so forth, be particularly high on the agenda? In this committee, we have said it is very important that the special position of Ireland arising from the vote should be considered in the negotiations. All our efforts are to try to get that message across to our European colleagues. What role does the European Commission Representation in Ireland play in that regard?