Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is apparent that the Chairman is the former Minister for Education. Míle buíochas as na ráitis thábhachtacha sin. We certainly need to readjust ourselves to a listening mode, from what the witnesses have said. I have two questions. When President Macron embarked on the future of Europe dialogue, there was a certain dryness about it. There was a certain staleness about the notion that we were going to look at the institutions, how they operate and perhaps consider majority voting and so on. I think that has changed because of the invasion of Ukraine. The idea of Europe and the values of Europe have been re-looked at, with countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia applying for EU membership.

My first question concerns the idea of Europe that the founders of the EU had, post-war and after centuries of conflict. Is that a thing? Is it something that young people get? Do people appreciate that they want the notion of a democratic entity with values that are European? I would be interested in hearing the witnesses' perspectives on that.

My second question builds on Deputy Richmond's question. How well did the outreach to young people, in this outreach process, work? Obviously, the witnesses are very well-informed individuals. How representative do the witnesses think they are in terms of their state of knowledge? From what has happened in the outreach process, can we do things better? Have the witnesses suggestions on how to do that.