Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To go back to the core issue, the population of the European Union is in the region of 500 million people. Those 500 million people are not heard in these processes. Only a limited number of people are listened to and have influence. My argument is that, as a member of the European Union, we are obliged to abide by its rules in most situations, and we do so in most situations, but in this particular situation it seems that everybody is equal but some are more equal than others. That is untenable. We cannot operate on that basis. As time goes by, it will become increasingly important to do the things that we want to do, and to do them quickly. Waiting for 160, 180 or 200 days and so on is crazy, particularly as we have access, in every sense of the word, to the European Union, and it to us. We are all part of the same Union. The same regime should apply and the same negotiation. The team should negotiate on behalf of everybody; not on behalf of the most powerful. I believe it is necessary to set the wheels in motion, and to do so soon. When a pandemic occurs, it is too late to do those kinds of things. It concentrates the mind but it is too late. If we have done our work beforehand, we should be able to avail of the benefits of economies of scale. We are not doing so at the moment.