Ms Mairead McGuinness:

Yes and by other members of the committee. I sometimes think there is a little bit of tension, unnecessarily so, between national parliamentarians and Members of the European Parliament. We are all elected by citizens and we do the same work and I think we could do it better together. I would be interested in hearing the committee's observations in that regard.

On the topics for discussion, the taskforce on subsidiarity is in place. National parliamentarians will have a role in that taskforce and the European Parliament will provide the facilities. I hope to be involved in the work of the working group. Specifically on the future of Europe, I am happy to see that Ireland is doing a lot on the future of Europe by way of national consultations led by the Minister with responsibility for European Affairs, Deputy McEntee. Last night, a meeting was held in County Meath, led by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, with a further meeting to be held tonight in Carrick-on-Shannon. We are doing a lot of work in Ireland on very serious issues around the future of Europe which are linked to the budgetary issues. This came across very strongly at last night's meeting. It is important to put on the record that every person who spoke at the meeting last night said that in light of the trend in farm incomes we need not only to hold onto the budget we have but to push for an increase in the budget for the Common Agricultural Policy. While that might be a difficult proposal to discuss it is important to put on the record the view of the people on the ground.

In regard to Brexit, we are trying to garner the UK position from various speeches that have been read into the record, including today. While the UK has said it does not want to see the European Union weakened, with every speech, I get the opposite impression. There is a sense from the UK side that it is going alone on the high seas, breaking off to do global trade agreements without the European Union and suggesting that it can be bigger and better without being part of the European Union. For all its flaws, Europe has been very good at keeping people at the table. Large and small countries have managed to work together and to do so effectively. We are now seeing the consequences of one country deciding that it might be better off doing its own thing. This week, a report was published, which shows the serious consequences of Brexit for Ireland. It will be important for us in the Parliament, in terms of our making sure it fully understands the impact for Ireland.

Parliamentarians are working well together not only on the Irish issues but on the consequences for the European Union around its future but issues are being forgotten about, including public health and consumer protection issues. Europe currently has in place a huge amount of rules and regulations which protect public health not only in Ireland but across the European Union.

On the composition of the European Parliament, Ireland is set to gain two seats, although this has yet to be confirmed by the Council. If that happens, all of us would like to know where and how the boundaries might be drawn to accommodate the two extra seats. The sooner we know that the better because the elections will take place in May 2019. The issue of transnational lists was voted down by the Parliament. My own view is that it is an idea not to be scrapped. It is one that could be developed in future when other matters at a European level have settled down.

While our focus is on Brexit, with so much happening we also have to keep an eye to the debate about the future. I hope that the voice from Ireland that we believe that Europe has a future but that we will have to engage differently. In my speech to the European Parliament last week I made the point that I will miss the engagement with MEPs from the United Kingdom. Those who worked well in the Parliament will be missed. Their voices will be missed at the Council table and we will have to reflect that in how we do our business.

While the engagement between national Parliaments and the European Parliament is working it could be better. I am interested to hear the committee's thoughts on that engagement. I acknowledge that everybody is busy and that the Chairman has to leave soon to go to the Dáil Chamber. We are never in Ireland when this committee is meeting. If we believe that Europe needs to be strengthened and reformed then I think we need to work well. I appreciate this opportunity.