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

I thank Mr. Temple-Smithson for his presentation. Undoubtedly, there is still a disconnect between citizens and the European Parliament and work needs to be done on that. What is Mr. Temple-Smithson doing to increase reporting and coverage of European Parliament proceedings? For the first time in a long time, Irish people are aware of an MEP from outside Ireland, namely, Guy Verhofstadt. We can pronounce Mr. Verhofstadt's name now because he is so central to the Brexit negotiations in which Irish people have taken an interest. It is a pity that European Parliament elections here tend to be dominated by personalities, national issues and even local issues, which is probably to be expected to an extent since the local elections take place on the same day. Does the remit of the European Parliament liaison office extend to giving information on the large general themes of the day in Europe, the big questions facing the EU on areas such as immigration or the rise of illiberal tendencies in EU states and the rise of intolerance and decrease in respect for European liberal democratic values?

An issue which is tied in with that is that of groupings. Most Irish people are probably not familiar with the European Parliament groupings, which stand for different policies, visions and so on. I am interested in the office's line of demarkation. Can it tell the people of the big issues of the day or educate people? Everyone will have a certain amount of interest but can it try to give more information on the big issues confronting the Parliament?