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

We need to be cautious and mindful of the events that surrounded us all in this jurisdiction after the financial crash, when stability was a critical issue. We waited every day in this House to see how over European colleagues would react to our requests at the time for solidarity and assistance. It was touch and go for a long time, until the Italian representative came forward with a famous remark. Asked how long support for the banking system would go on, he said it would go on long as it took. That put an end to all the speculation and stabilised everything. It was then possible to visualise what was likely to happen in the future.

We need, on the one hand, to be certain of how far this can go and what our liabilities are likely to be in the future.

At the same time, we need to assure our colleagues in Europe that we are part of the European Community, we are strong supporters of the European Community and that, collectively, the European Community is a powerful entity and should remain so. In the face of this kind of threat to a country, although it is not a member of the European Union, that country has the potential to become a member in some shape or form in the future.

Notwithstanding all that, there are signs of possible instability within the European Union in recognition of or in response to what, I do not know, other than historically, after oppression or unrest, there comes a time of peace all over the world. After a time of peace, there is always a tendency to become picky about those parts of peace and stability we want to support. We cannot afford to do that. Therefore, we need stability to be part and parcel of what we are involved in. We need to have an assurance that we cannot have the situation advanced over our heads without us having a right to intervene or without our permission. That is important, including for the stability of Europe. If we do not retain that right, Europe will be poorer and, collectively, we will not stand for anything. If we want to fight every case individually, we are always going to find some country in Europe that will say it is not its issue and we will not intervene. That will set a precedent for possible interventions and supports in the future and we eventually become a less powerful entity. By "we" I mean this country, which is part of that European entity. Europe also becomeslessened.

As I noted in our meeting last week, there is a tendency whereby the European Union, or one of its representatives, infers some wrongdoing where none exists. This was the Advocate General's response to similar issues a couple of weeks ago on the economic and financial front. The European Union should not be so fast to prosecute member states because it sets a precedent. It may be good fun from a global perspective to punish some countries that appear to be operating outside the thinking circle of some members of the European Commission, for example, but it does not always follow that it is to the benefit of either the Union or the individual country that supports those views. In that regard, I refer to the changing situation in one central European country where there appears to be a swing in a particular direction, which is not in the interests of the European Union, the country in question, this country or any country in the European Union. We need to be cautious and careful and let the powers in Europe know that the EU has a population of 240 million or 250 million, so there are many people involved. We have to think about everybody. At any given time, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of every member state and all those countries that wish to be members of the European Union. I am sorry for going on about this issue but I feel strongly about it.