Mr. James Temple-Smithson:

I will not follow down that line, tempting though it may be. I will run through the points Deputies have made. It is absolutely the case that overall the benefit of EU membership to Ireland has been significant. Let us compare Ireland in 1973 with Ireland today. That is part of our day-to-day work and is absolutely what we intend to do in the campaign.

The question of younger voters is puzzling. When we ask younger people in surveys, they are always the most enthusiastic Europeans. They say they are pro-European and identify themselves in the group that is interested in and intent on voting. How do we then galvanise them to actually get to the ballot box? There are mechanical and structural reasons. They might be away at college or they might not understand the register. There might be some process issues. There is a job to do on that front and we work with the Union of Students in Ireland and the National Youth Council of Ireland on initiatives in this area. Certainly, one important part of this is making the case to them that their future is at stake. Young people in the UK have buyer's remorse, if that is the correct term, for the fact that they did not turn out and vote in the referendum and now they are set to face the consequences. It is a complicated problem but we have some ideas to pursue on that front.

Why do countries not vote on the same day? It is simply a matter of tradition. From time to time the idea has come up. I referred to the report resolution in the Parliament in February. If I remember rightly, an amendment was proposed that the poll should be on the same day everywhere but it was voted down. Every time this issue comes up the possibility is raised that it would be more coherent. Perhaps the moment will arrive and the politics will align so that it can happen. It would certainly make things more straightforward. However, we could have the strange situation of the polls closing, presumably if were to be on a Friday. Then, the local votes would be counted and there would be interest for people in the immediate aftermath. However, we could not start to count the EU Parliament ballots straight away. We could verify them but we could not start counting until polls close in the last country, which could be at 11 p.m. in Italy. Then, the count could go on until the middle of next week and so on. Certainly, there is an argument that it would make the case easier and that it would feel more like a European experience if everyone voted on the same day.

Mr. Verhofstadt is a rather media-friendly personality. When he came to Ireland last September, there was considerable interest in him and in the way he articulates things. He is a skilled political communicator. We are always trying to identify other MEPs who have something to say. Ms Danuta Maria Huebner is the chairperson of the EU Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs. She visited some weeks ago. There was a reasonable amount of media interest in her but not the same as for Mr. Verhofstadt. Tomorrow morning, the Taoiseach will meet the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Tajani, and we will be promoting that and what Mr. Tajani has to say after that meeting. We do try.

It is important to help promote that the whole of the European Parliament is relevant to people in Ireland and we promote not only Irish MEPs but MEPs from other countries. Our remit extends to the big issues of the day. We take account of the Eurobarometer, which we have discussed, identify issues of concern to the population in general, the issues people have said are priorities and we communicate what the European Parliament has done in those areas. There is a saying that eaten bread is soon forgotten. It is true that what we are saying is what has happened in the past and perhaps the rest interest is in what will happen in the future.

To move on to the point the Chairman made, let me be clear, we are the supporting cast in this. The actors are the politicians. We can set the stage but it is for them to articulate what they think should happen on those big issues. We are certainly in the market to provide information about decisions the European Parliament has taken on migration or, as was mentioned, the rise of illiberal democracy and what the EU has done in respect of Hungary and Poland.

I have not heard the OSCE mentioned regarding European elections. I would have to look into that and come back to the member on that. I am not familiar with that but I will make a note of it.

The issue of a combination of elections being held on the one day is a difficult one. It slices both ways. On the one hand, having local elections on the same day as the European elections promotes turnout but it makes the debate harder to get across because we are competing with the local elections. The same applies to the holding of a referendum on the same day. If a referendum was to be held on lowering the voting age to 16 on the same day as the European elections, that might help us garner interest among younger voters but that is not likely to happen. Lowering the voting age to 16 is not an issue for us. It is not our remit. We do a great deal of youth engagement work and when we talk to people in that age bracket and ask them what are issues they care about, that is always one of the top two or three issues 16 to 19 year olds raise. That is just a passing observation.

On the issue of the way Commissioners are appointed, the Parliament would point to two factors. There has been much more interest in the nomination process on the past two occasions. The European Parliament had added democratisation to that process through the hearings we have had. I have been around for a long time and 12 years ago there was little evidence of interest in those hearings whereas now there is a great deal of interest. I anticipate there would be interest in the hearing for whoever is nominated to be the Irish Commissioner. We actively promote that. For example, we pay to promote the hearing live online to make that as accessible as possible to people. There is certainly much more interest in the Commissioner from one's country and if there is some controversy there would be more interest in that. The person nominated does not only have to get through the appointment, he or she has to be ratified by the European Parliament. Also, we would argue that the "Spitz" process in terms of the lead candidate process is an important democratising element. In the past the European Council nominated the President of the Commission after a closed meeting but with this process these people are making their case for their vision of the future of Europe months beforehand and that is a much more open process.

On the Chairman's comments, we are acutely aware of the whole issue of hacking, fake news and nefarious interference in elections issue. In areas where there is a legislative solution, that is for a matter for the Commission to act. A conference was held in Brussels yesterday or the day before at which Commissioner King specifically proposed some actions and other Commissioners have proposed specific steps that need to be taken before the European elections. There is an awareness there will be interest in some quarters in trying to manipulate the European elections. We are certainly taking steps in the European Parliament to engage with social media or firms and so on. One of the measures we can take against fake news is to promote awareness of the phenomenon. We held an event in June on that issue, in which there was a great deal of interest and at which a number of Deputies and Senators spoke.

On Brexit, the fact that it will happen on 29 March next year just before the European elections can only increase interest in the European elections. It may help to demonstrate and underline even more the importance of membership of the Union. If nothing else, Brexit, as the Eurobarometer today shows, has underlined to people what the benefits of EU membership are and what they stand to lose if their country is no longer a member of it.

Regarding candidates and potential candidates for the European elections and MEPs, the last session will end Easter week next year. We will deal with members in their routine work until the end of that session which will be Holy Thursday. After that they become candidates. We provide information for all candidates. We can provide information about what happened in a certain vote, what was achieved in this or that area, but we would not provide the support we provide to MEPs until after the elections. That would be for former MEPs standing again or for new candidates. We treat everybody the same in terms of providing the same level of information. Perhaps I could buy the Chairman a cup of tea and pick his brains on ideas for how we might galvanise people in terms of these elections.