Ms Noelle O'Connell:

Not at all. We were alphabetically seated next to one another for many of the plenaries.

As regards Deputy Ó Múrchú's comments on the methodology of the conference, we certainly do not claim it was perfect in every way.

Did everything that Deputy Ó Murchú or I or others put forward as recommendations and views from the Irish perspective end up in the final report? No, but we were able to input and shape it and as in all things European Union-related it reflects a compromise with something that is as multifaceted and as challenging as trying to piece it all together notwithstanding the structural challenges of the conference in terms of the sometimes opposing interests between and within the EU institutions; and the various challenges of being overshadowed by external events. What came across very strongly, and something that we are calling for, is the recommendations prepared by the citizens' panels and by the outcome of the conference. It really demonstrates, and especially to elected representatives and to all of us, the expectations that citizens across Europe have and that they place on the European Union. The fact is that people believe, - and this is borne out by our polls - that the EU should assume more responsibility, perhaps exhibit greater external unity and use its strengths, regulatory powers and economic policies to advance those great transformation projects such as the Green Deal or the digital agenda, which is something that I saw very strongly in the digital transformation working group.

In terms of implementing the conference proposals, exclusively predicating them on the questions of treaty change is not really what a lot of the citizens were talking about. They just want the EU to work better for everyone collectively. It then becomes more transparent and it picks up on Deputy Ó Murchú's point as well on how it communicates better outside of that conference process; we really believe that this ongoing task should continue. It should be a model of representative citizens' panels. It is certainly one that can be taken away. The good work and the example that we in Ireland have done on that is certainly credible. It creates a genuine European input and a momentum. If there is some way that the EU and the institutions could institutionalise and harness this engagement, it would be really welcome.

I might ask Mr. O'Shea to come in on the methodology and to do the drilling down for some of the questions in the poll. Deputy Ó Murchú is absolutely right. I know that we have a follow-on event on 2 December that we will attend in Brussels. If we could keep that momentum going and keep that conversation alive, that is really important.