Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Vice Chairman will forgive me for being late this morning. Getting out of my driveway was the problem. Once I was on the road it was easy enough to get in. I am sorry I missed the presentation. Ms O'Connell speaks of providing factual information which is a really important aspect when considering the future of Europe. It is great that the roadshow is going around the country, engaging with people and listening to their concerns. It brings Europe down to the ground to the people who have an interest in it. The EU is currently under threat.

The European project that we know and love is under threat and I believe that the threat is not as great from Brexit as it may be from misinformation and migration. Let us deal with both of these separately if we can. On misinformation, the key thing coming out at the moment is Ireland's membership of PESCO. I am not sure if this is what European Movement Ireland is hearing around the country. I hope to join the citizens' dialogue in Donegal on 8 March. I would like to attend at least one of the meetings in rural Ireland to hear what goes on.

The notion of a European army is being bandied around the place. None of the people who speak against PESCO speak of the fact that it is a menu of choices. None of the people who speak against it speak of the fact that our nation could not possibly afford either the investment or resources to protect ourselves, for example in the area of cybersecurity. I do not believe that any EU country, apart from Germany or France, could fund that type of protection.

The benefits from PESCO are massive. With regard to defence in the State, I try not to use with word "defence" when we talk about PESCO and I try to only talk about security. When one mentions defence in Ireland people immediately think of uniforms, boots, guns and all that goes with that. As a small, open economy the capacity of the Government to negotiate deals for the purchase of hardware is a significant factor. There is a benefit in becoming part of a collective. Has there been any positive information on the ground around the benefits that would accrue from PESCO as against the downside?

I shall now turn to migration. We all want to play our part when it comes to refugees. The EU has mistakenly identified the crisis the Mediterranean Sea as a refugee crisis. Do not get me wrong, I am very supportive of free movement across the world and not just across the EU, but I believe there are those who are sitting in very poor circumstances who will nearly all have a television set and a mobile phone. They can see the relative luxury in which we live in the western world. Some people in Ireland, however, might not agree there is luxury living but when we compare it to where some others live, it is luxurious. There is a natural desire to come here and to sup at that well.

We have to find a way within the EU system to facilitate the movement of economic migrants. Has there been any discussion or debate at local level on that, especially around the notion of short-term visas for three to five years to allow people to come and pick up a skill set and then move back to the country they came from? We know that education raises the economy in every country. Those people who would come to the EU to get specific skills could go back home and raise their own economies.

Has there been any discussion on Europe's role, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and north Africa? Europe needs to take a proactive role in building those economies. By that I do not mean giving moneys to military juntas and the like but we need to be proactive in terms of education and encouraging companies that relocate in those countries to invest in them. I have raised on many occasions at this committee the massive multinationals that have moved from Ireland to cheap labour economies. Are any of us paying any less for their products now that they have moved to a cheaper manufacturing base? We are not. What are those multinationals doing with their super-normal profits? They are skimming them off and keeping them. Tens of billions of euro and dollars are being held. Is that an issue people around the country are talking about in the debates Ms O'Connell organisation has arranged? I commend her on what her organisation is doing. It must be tough at times facing the public at these debates. I apologise for being late and I thank Ms O'Connell for her commitment.