Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach very much. I will try to make it short and sweet. I will go back to something Deputy Howlin said about when Poland joined 20 years ago. Quite soon after that, approximately 140,000 Polish actually did come and they have contributed massively to our economy in this country. Many of them came to my community and many of them are registered to vote. They are full, active citizens in this country. It certainly has been good for Ireland in that respect.

I have a couple of questions. What are the challenges Ireland faces with further EU enlargement? I am a great advocate of bottom-up and grassroots politics. I would like to see European affairs committees and strategic policy committees for EU affairs within local government because there is a disconnect from the ordinary citizen in Ireland. What does Mr. Ahern think the Union should do to strengthen the relationship it has with the ordinary citizens in this country? If he was the leader of this country today, how would he solve the situation we obviously have between Ireland and the UK around illegal migration?