Ms Aingeal O?Donoghue:

I will be brief because I am conscious that the Portuguese delegation is present. Senator Richmond made an interesting point on the target groups for potential success in EU competitions. Those who have experience of the EU in other ways are a rich target group. One of the ways to complement the general awareness raising opportunities in the EU is to look more clearly at what are key target groups are because, as the Senator said, the competition process is elaborate, lengthy and challenging. We have done some work on supporting people through that and giving them advice, both with sessions in the permanent representative's office and in Dublin but there is probably scope to do more. We recognise that we need to constantly refocus on how we are getting as many people as possible into the institutions. I was interested in that thought.

The critical point about the permanent representative's office is the number of staff and it has representatives from almost every Department. It is quite unlike any other Irish embassy or mission. It is by far the largest but it is also a whole-of-Government office. We are constantly recalibrating in the Departments precisely what the range of people they need there is in terms of the key matters on the legislative agenda. For a Presidency, that is clearly ramped up in a different way but what we have seen, thankfully in the context of Brexit, is more of an engagement and a ramping up both in Brussels and in our other missions.

The other point Senator Richmond made related to a concern that Brexit was occupying the agenda so much that we did not have the capacity to focus as much as we needed to on other key issues, notably the MFF. Going back to the point about when people travel to other capitals, Brexit is not at the top of the agenda in many other capitals and so they are very much focused on the MFF and other key issues. In that sense, the EU is collectively focused on it. It has taken its own rhythm. Initially there were urgings from the Commission that we would agree the MFF quickly and in advance of the European Parliament elections. As member states, we collectively felt that was too rushed and so it is moving forward at a pace. Within our system, we have tried to preserve clear policy and capacity. That includes my colleague in the Department, Ms Delaney, but it is led by a core group from the Departments of the Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs and Trade and Finance, which is focused on the MFF.

Senator Richmond also asked about opening consulates in other cities so I will happily take that lovely list of cities that he mentioned back to the Department. We always need to look at the overall Irish footprint. It is not just the embassy or the consulate; it is also the agencies and we need to look at what the right mix is. For example, a number of the agencies are based in Milan and Enterprise Ireland has announced the opening of an office in Lyon so when we talk about Ireland's global footprint it is the full global footprint.

I would like to pick up on the point made by a number of members on what role parliamentary engagement can play and how that might be augmented. It is encouraging to hear the openness and the positivity from members on what role they can play at the parliamentary level. It is critical and we will be happy to continue that dialogue with them, either directly or via their clerks. The role of national parliaments is greatly important for the democratic legitimacy of the EU. It is both about building alliances and engaging with other parliamentarians and members' national role in terms of the democratic legitimacy of the EU. It is a critical complement to the role of the European Parliament. I very much welcome the positive signals here today and I am happy to follow up with members.