Mr. Ivan Cooper:

The Wheel sees it as crucial that Irish civil society organisations are at the centre of European alliance-building, especially in light of their proximity to the people. Building alliances across the 27 member states must be led by citizens as much as it is led by governments. This is one of the key challenges. Real partnership and mutual understanding can be achieved through our member organisations, which are at the heart of the relationship-building dialogue. The Irish civil society sector, which represents diverse and often unheard voices, should have a forum where it can engage regularly with politicians and senior public servants on key European issues that affect the community and voluntary sector. Such a forum could convene twice a year, once at senior official level and once at political level. This would be a major step in recognising the need for this sector to be able to avail of a more active input and feedback mechanism with regard to EU affairs. I thank the Chairman and the members of the joint committee again for the opportunity to make this presentation. We look forward to engaging in a dialogue shortly.