Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

European Parliament Information Office in Ireland: Discussion

2:00 pm

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

I thank Mr. Temple-Smithson from the European Parliament Information Office for his presentation. One thing of which parliamentarians are not short is information. We experience information overload on a daily basis. Having said that, from time to time we need specific information, particularly on what is happening in the European Parliament. We need concise information because very often we receive queries from constituents about particular problems or proposed legislation. It is welcome that Mr. Temple-Smithson has made his office available to us to that end.

I have a few specific questions. My first question relates to a point made by Mr. Temple-Smithson about the European Parliament elections to be held in 2019. He has a serious job of work to do to ensure citizens will engage in those elections. Irish people, by and large, do not take elections to the European Parliament seriously. Some do but many do not. Very often elections to the European Parliament are used to have a protest vote or to campaign on a particular local issue. Many candidates are hostile to the notion of the European Union in the first place, which is a shame. We, therefore, need to engage citizens in the work of the European Parliament and the European institutions as a whole. Obviously, that is not only a job for Mr. Temple-Smithson's office but for all of us. Citizens or voters do not really engage in elections to the European Parliament until two and half weeks before polling day. We all have a job of work to do to change that. I wish Mr. Temple-Smithson well in his endeavours. As parliamentarians, we must raise the profile of the elections and the issues to be debated once the election campaign starts.

I wish to discuss Brexit. As the Chairman said and Mr. Temple-Smithson mentioned in his address, members of this committee visited the European institutions recently. We met some MEPs, including Mr. Guy Verhofstadt. It was mentioned to us that the committees of the European Parliament were working on sectoral issues related to Brexit. For example, how can each of the committees scope out the issues to be addressed as the negotiations get under way? Does Mr. Temple-Smithson have any information to give us on the matter? I vaguely remember hearing that 20 reports had been commissioned by various committees of the European Parliament. Has the initiative progressed? Have the reports been finalised? If so, can we access copies of them? From an Irish point of view, it would be useful for parliamentarians and the Government to have the information contained in them to see how the issues have been scoped out and to learn what the concerns are in order to pursue the issues raised.

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