Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that very comprehensive address. The entire committee is grateful, as always, for the level of engagement she and her officials have had with it over her time in office. It has been an interesting time, to say the least.

I will touch on all five key issues the Minister of State raised and work backwards. On Poland, I agree absolutely that we need to protect the European values. We must emphasise increased dialogue between the Polish authorities and the EU authorities over the coming weeks and months to ensure that when one signs up to the European Union one respects its rules. A state has the ability to make the rules of the European Union but once it joins, it must implement them.

With regard to the multi-annual financial framework, we had, as Minister of State noted, a good discussion with the relevant Commission budget official yesterday. I acknowledge the great challenge facing the Union as whole with the United Kingdom leaving and Ireland's position. We need, however, to increase our commitment to the European Union. It is actually a healthy reflection of the state of our economy and country that we are net contributors and that we will be required to increase our contribution. We have received wholesale solidarity over recent years from the other 26 member states who are to remain in the Union, particularly regarding Brexit. It is also important that we show that solidarity in turn. I must agree, unfortunately, with the statement of our Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, that Ireland is not of a mind to contribute more to security and defence expenditure. That is a matter we must examine. The threats on the borders of our friends in Estonia, Greece and other countries are equally our threats if we truly believe in European solidarity. I respectfully ask the Minister of State to bring this back into the discussions.

With regard to enlargement, I really welcome the agreement made by the Greek and Macedonian Governments on the name change, which will be put to the Macedonian people in a referendum. Macedonia is a country I visited a number of times. In a previous life, I was on the consultative committee on Macedonian accession. There is considerable potential in this regard. I truly believe in an ever wider and deeper European Union. We need to examine the positives of enlargement but we must also examine the status of our candidate countries and make sure that we set down the Copenhagen criteria. We require great sacrifices and changes but we also need to be returning the compliment. We need to show there is a material benefit in order to make sure the pro-European sentiment remains in the countries in question and so we do not witness the kind of frustration that can arise among people who are waiting indefinitely to try to join the Union.

Ultimately, with regard to the future of Europe project, I absolutely commend the efforts of the Minister of State in traipsing around the country over recent months. The level of engagement between the Minister of State and European Movement Ireland at the civic dialogues was breathtaking. It was fantastic to see crowds in places such as Letterkenny and beyond. Huge crowds engaged with major questions. To see the relevance of the European project in Irish people's lives now is phenomenal and reassuring. Does the Department have a timeline for issuing the report on the future of Europe?

With regard to Brexit, I must consult a different page of notes, if the Minister of State does not mind. Could she outline the process we can expect before the key Council meetings on 26 June and 28 June and the activities involving the EU negotiating team and its meetings with its British counterparts? Irish officials were brought into various discussions in April. Could the Minister of State outline where Irish Government officials may be required to have an input?

With regard to the paper produced by the UK Government last week, I agree it is absolutely incomplete. It is not enough. It does not respond to the political agreement of December or the repetition of that agreement by Prime Minister May in March, nor does it really acknowledge the European legal interpretation of those agreements. Therefore, I welcome Commissioner Barnier's swift response and commitment to examining this. I have been blown away by the solidarity on a European level. It is such that we can hold a united, uniform position involving 27 sovereign governments, ranging from the far left to the far right. It is very reassuring as an Irishman who is phenomenally pro-European. It is also reflective of the European position by comparison with the British position, possibly. A number of people have suggested that when we receive the paper, we should pause the negotiations. I believe we need to do the exact opposite. In the coming two weeks, we should intensify negotiations and really get the European and British teams get down to it and work towards a common path that will ultimately lead to what I hope will be a withdrawal agreement in October. It will not be a good deal; there is no good deal. Brexit will be bad. This is a process of damage limitation and we need to engage in that process and try to limit the damage, not just for the rest of the European Union but also for Ireland.