Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join Deputy Haughey in expressing my deepest sympathy to the parents and siblings of Rory Mason from Dunboyne.

He was a constituent of mine. I read what his dad said - it was lovely. The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance. The family has asked for privacy, so I had better leave it at that. They are going through a difficult period and they have my deepest sympathies. May he rest in peace.

Regarding treaty change, the Deputy has essentially set out our position, but I do not sense much appetite for it around the table at European meetings. It is not on colleagues' immediate agenda overall. The Taoiseach has stated that he is open to it, particularly in terms of a health competence, but everyone who is open to it has a different reason. Most would probably agree with expanding health competence provided it was suitable, but others have different priorities. There is much more discussion of the passerelleclauses in the treaties, so I urge the committee to examine those. We are examining them and I believe it is on them that there will be discussion. People feel that treaty change would require a great deal of work. For example, we would not be the only country that would need to hold a referendum. Most people are framing the difficulties and administrative issues in reaching consensus at the European table in terms of enlargement. They are not saying that it is something that needs to be done urgently to stop a current problem.

To those who find this position difficult or believe that we should be getting rid of vetoes or using more qualified majority voting, unanimity is important. It protects national interests, but it also protects European interests. When dealing with important issues that we need consensus on, the EU can speak with a greater voice when all of its members come together. Look at what we have already achieved with unanimity. We achieved a massive recovery fund post Brexit and we have had to work via consensus on the issue of vaccines. We have achieved a significant amount. Take the sanctions package as an example. A point I make repeatedly is that it is always difficult to negotiate a sanctions package. Through unanimity, though, we have achieved a great deal in that regard. Ireland has always been at the forefront of trying to get the maximum possible sanctions. There was speculation last week about the EU being divided and breaking up because of the package of sanctions on Russia. As we have seen from yesterday and today, the negotiations are still ongoing, but it certainly looks like ambassadors will be able to agree another package of sanctions on Russia unanimously.

Unanimity has achieved a great deal for us and we should not dismiss it. We protect our national interests. It is not just Ireland that has specific national interests. Every member state of the EU has particular interests that are important to it - quirks in terms of its membership or something that other people do not understand or do not face as issues themselves. We must ensure that the democratic legitimacy of the EU is to the fore. We have done that successfully so far.

Citizens' panels can be a good idea. It is fair to say that other member states view the Irish citizens' assembly as the way to go. The two main reasons for this are that our assemblies are usually on specific topics and they are informed by experts. A general citizens' panel would be a waste, but if we had panels on specific topics that we might otherwise struggle for consensus on, they would work well. They would have to be informed by experts. We are open to the idea of panels. The Irish example is one that the other member states want to follow.