Professor Gavin Barrett:

I will try to be as quick as I can.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan expressed concerns about the evenness of the consultation process. I agree that a certain amount was due to the speed with which the task force had to report. Of course, the European Parliament refused to participate in the exercise because it was led by the Commission, which detracted from the membership. I have mentioned the deficiencies in gender balance, regional representation and so on which affected the report and led to an over-emphasis on regional questions. It reminds me a little of the Amsterdam treaty which was supposed to provide for the enlargement of the European Union but which ended up dealing with justice and home affairs questions which needed to be addressed. It did a great job in reforming these areas, but it did not do what it was supposed to do, namely, to prepare the institutions for enlargement, which is why the Nice treaty was needed. This report does a great job in telling us how we should involve regional and local authorities, but subsidiarity and other issues remain to be addressed.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan's point about fragmentation is well taken. The danger of fragmentation has never been greater. Curiously, Brexit is doing wonders for the avoidance of fragmentation as it has scared the living daylights out of all members of the European Union, apart from the United Kingdom. It is probably part of the reason the approval rate in Ireland for the European Union is 92%.

Solving the insoluble problem of democratic participation will be key. Obviously, as Dr. Schön-Quinlivan indicated, increasing the powers of the European Parliament only will not be enough. A range of reforms are needed. The Lisbon treaty was a good start in beginning to empower national parliaments, but many other things need to be done. Rather like curing cancer, there is not one answer but a series of answers.

Senator Neale Richmond referred to the European Committee of the Regions. Differences between its members have crippled the committee and explain why it has not been more empowered. With all due respect to county councils in Ireland, Irish councillors sit on the committee alongside the President of the Bavarian Government who thinks his role and area are more important than Ireland because Bavaria has a bigger population. It is very difficult to make such an institution or body work. It is almost impossible to cure the problem of democratic representation at a European level, but we must do so because there is no alternative.

I take the Senator's point about parliamentarians having to travel abroad in order to get their job done. One thing I hate about media coverage of parliamentarians is the league tables of how much money each spends on travel, as if those who spend the most money are the worst parliamentarians. Frequent travel is often necessary to enable them to do their jobs and those who travel the most are sometimes the best parliamentarians. We need a more mature attitude to the issue on the part of some in the media.

Senator Neale Richmond also raised the issue of how to make the report more relevant. It could be used as a fund of ideas. For instance, the proposal regarding national parliaments doing something about the Commission's work programme or the European semester could be taken up by the Houses of the Oireachtas or Oireachtas committees which could call witnesses and hold hearings on the European semester each year. The same could be done on the work programme, on which the views of groups worth hearing on the issue such as social groups, trade unions and so on could be canvassed. All such groups have a view on the Commission's work programme and, in particular, the European semester and budget. The proposal might be worth pursuing.

Deputy Seán Haughey asked for a review of how we were doing. Am I allowed to advertise? The Deputy should purchase my book which has just been published by Manchester University Press.