Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The secretariat and I were in shock that Senator McDowell would be intimidated. We were in agreement with Mr. O'Ceallaigh in his surprise.

Senator McDowell is correct about the Cathaoirelach's suggestion. I and Senator McDowell are members of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs and there is not enough capacity or time to do all that work on top of the other issues the committee has to work through. The Parliament needs to find some other way to undertake that scrutiny of EU legislation. It is a good suggestion.

I thank Mr. O'Ceallaigh. It has been a robust exchange. He touched on a lot of areas where others have not yet dared to go and he has given us a lot to think about. Much of today's engagement will form part of our report which we will publish before the summer recess.