Ms Mairead McGuinness:

I know Deputy Ó Murchú hails from County Louth and I perhaps should not have a soft spot for him but I am a Louth woman and will indulge. With regard to his point on the Narrow Water Bridge, I looked at this project. It would be a hugely beneficial one and I hope it comes to fruition and that citizens benefit from it. I listened to his comment on the engagement of citizens in Northern Ireland in the conference. All engagement helps.

With regard to the single-use plastics directive, one of the things I was really concerned about was the abolition of the use of plastic straws. Some people with a disability need them. There is always an unintended consequence that lawmakers need to be aware of and I was able to bring that issue. With regard to plastic use in agriculture, derogations are possible. I am not fond of them because it should be phased out. I am sure if the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine speaks to my counterparts here in the Commission on that issue, there may be some capacity to move, but with regard to the use of plastics generally, we should not try to continue to use them. We should find other ways. There is always another way. When you are forced to find it, you will, while understanding some of the problems of contractors.

I do not have much to say on funding that would not take a long amount of time. I take the Deputy's point. It is changing its direction but there are significant flows of money still available, including through agriculture policy.

On the bigger question on the future of Europe, which might be a good one to end on, to be clear, my colleague, Vice-President Dubravka Šuica, is our go-to person on the conference here. She is excellent and I recommend she be invited to the committee, perhaps in the autumn. The Commission is not steering the Conference on the Future of Europe in any direction. I hope nobody is. Ireland has a very good example of deliberative democracy where people come together. My friend, Enda Kenny, would have put this idea forward and many people have realised it works. When you give people the responsibility of taking on an issue and going through, they will come up with some interesting answers because they are committed to it. We hope the same will happen with the Conference on the Future of Europe.

On treaty change, the idea of referendum always puts people ill at ease. On the other hand, if in this discussion with citizens we feel there are areas in which treaty change is needed, we should not shy away from them. These are always important moments. We might be on different sides occasionally around the way the treaties are being changed, but at least we get to debate it. With regard to Irish citizens in particular, from my memory of referendum, if you do not give enough information and they do not believe what they are being told, they will not vote in favour. It also puts a responsibility on the political system to address concerns and questions citizens may have. What I would say on the Conference on the Future of Europe is that minds should be open about the future.

Post Brexit and post Covid-19 is probably a good time to have a chat about what we want. I know during the heat of the awful months of this year, when people were dying from Covid-19, getting ill and the vaccination roll-out was not as rapid as we all wanted, there was a sense that we would be better off on our own, which tends to be the immediate reaction until you step back and say I am glad we were not on our own because, especially if you are a small member state, you may be forgotten. However, I come from a small member state. It never inhibited my work as a Member of the European Parliament when I started in 2004 because I engaged. We are lucky we have Members of the European Parliament who engage and it is very important they do because you have to spread yourself quite thinly. I hope the conference excites and unites people in Ireland and that they have a conversation around it. If treaty change is required, so be it. We should all be ready for that challenge.