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

I have said a good deal on the Conference on the Future of Europe. People do talk about Hungary, but we have achieved a lot with which Hungary has agreed. It vetoed the taxation proposal that came up at OECD level, for example, but the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, has said he is confident we will be able to resolve that issue. Even with unanimity being a requirement, we can achieve a great deal. We speak more strongly to the world when we speak together. In some cases, the idea of having a vote and that there would even be a qualified majority in favour and a minority against a proposal could weaken our position. We are not rushing out the door on QMV for that reason, and I do not think we ever have, especially on foreign policy matters. Even though Ireland is very much in the mainstream of European foreign policy, it has never occurred to us to use our veto on any proposal put before the European Council or Foreign Affairs Council on foreign policy matters. We are in the mainstream and our foreign policy is based on democracy, respect for human rights and on the principles of the UN Charter. These are pretty normal foreign policy principles for democratic countries. This is the way the EU works. Nothing at the EU level has ever threatened our foreign policy. In fact, it has only added to it. Equally, I think we have added to foreign policy at EU level as well. When we have unanimity it makes us work harder and speak more strongly.

On energy security, I already spoke about what might be called the windfall tax that has been brought in. I am glad it has been.

There is work continuing on common purchasing, which would effectively mean price caps, and that work is happening at European level but also at global level, particularly on oil. The only issue that Ireland has about energy at the moment is energy security. We produce a small amount of gas ourselves and we do not produce any oil so, first and foremost, we have to make sure we get that product to the island, which is very important. Our interconnection with Britain and then on to Norway is very important and the proposed interconnector to France, which is effectively under way, is also very important. What is also important is that we continue with our renewable energy ambitions so we can become more energy self-sufficient and possibly become an energy exporter.

In terms of what might be happening at European level on block purchasing, we would be very happy to leave that to the Commission and it is best if it is done from that level. Different letters were circulated last week among member states on this issue but it is much more complicated than signing letters. We have to make sure we have security of supply. As I said, there is Ireland, Britain and Norway and the issue of ending dependence on Russia. We have to make sure we can keep that energy coming. Ireland is not part of the main European grid and that further complicates matters for us. We are keeping an eye on this and we are very happy for the Commission to take the lead on this, which it has done very successfully in other contexts. However, even the Commission would say that the issue is extremely complex, although it is working very hard on it.

On the protection of critical infrastructure, I would have to defer to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Department of Defence on that. I am not sure I can really add to that. However, in terms of our neutrality, I would say there is no pressure from anybody at the European table in terms of our non-membership of military alliances. Again, this is who we are, and every country has something that shows who they are. People can have different views and I have no problem with that but, as a nation, this is not something we are proposing to change. The Taoiseach has spoken about a possible citizens’ assembly to discuss it but we do not have detailed proposals on that or any Government decision. It is certainly not something one would find at European level, particularly among the member states, in terms of asking why we are not a member of NATO. Nobody has ever said that.

As to our nearest neighbour, the mood music is excellent at the moment. We have had really good engagement between the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and it was noted that we were the only country where both the Head of State and the Prime Minister were invited to the funeral. The Irish people and the Irish State showed incredible deference at the time of the funeral of Her Majesty and I think that really helped. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has had very good engagement with both the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Cleverly, and the Secretary of State, Mr. Heaton-Harris. By the way, we all know our counterparts very well from before, which is very useful. I will be speaking to my counterpart, who is the Minister, Mr. Leo Docherty, tomorrow, and we are all in regular touch with Vice-President Šefovi. The mood music is really good. We appreciate what Steve Baker said at the weekend and he seemed to appreciate what I said on BBC the day before yesterday, judging by his comments.

That is very good but the challenge now is to move the discussions on at a technical level. The political atmosphere is very good but the technical people, the officials who look at all of these highly detailed issues about customs, checks, state aid and VAT, have to be given a mandate by the politicians to move the thing on. That is where things fell down before in that there had at times been a very good atmosphere between the politicians, but then we find that when the officials get to talk, not very much happens. Nonetheless, there are things happening and there are technical talks starting this week. The Commission and the British authorities have been in regular discussion this week about scheduling them. We think the focus needs to be to ensure that those officials are empowered to have real discussions that can bring the outcome that people and businesses in Northern Ireland will overwhelmingly support, that is, what we see as a jointly agreed outcome that provides the certainty they need to maximise the opportunities offered by the protocol. I am a confident that we can come to an arrangement that will satisfy everybody but we need to come to that arrangement as soon as possible.