Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. It is always good to have factual research as opposed to opinions which are often assumed to be facts. This is helpful. I would like to drill into a number of issues, if I may. One of the issues that is very important to us as a committee is the perspective of the Irish people on whether the EU is moving in the right direction. Of course, from my perspective I do not mean moving right but in the correct direction. It is worrying that there is a significant drop in the number of people who believe that, from 58% to 49%. It is less than half, meaning a majority is of the view that it is not moving in the correct direction. There are several main negatives and I am interested in hearing the witnesses’ perspective on them.

One is the issue of migration and dissatisfaction with the EU’s response to it. How intertwined is the people’s view of the domestic situation with the EU’s response? How many people would actually be aware of the EU’s response or the details of the EU migrant pact, for example, as opposed to being aware of the fact there are tents on the canals and more than 1,000 adults here who have no accommodation? How many are assuming that is a European issue as opposed to a domestic one? I am interested in hearing the witnesses’ take on that. Would it be possible in future analyses to disaggregate those two issues?

My second question relates to the EU’s role in the ongoing horror of Gaza. Very significant numbers – 64% in the Republic and 72% in Northern Ireland – believe the EU has got this wrong. A lot of that would be conditioned by the initial response of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who a majority in this House believe went peremptorily to Israel to pledge support for whatever it might do. What it did, obviously, has been horrible. Have the witnesses drilled down further into the actuality of that? Obviously, the domestic view would be very different from the mainstream and Ireland has played a very constructive role, through the Tánaiste, in trying to build a different perspective within the European Union, with some significant success. The announcement by two further EU member states and Norway of recognition is important in that regard. I am interested in the witnesses’ take on that.

I have two more brief questions, one of which is on the united Ireland issue. I was intrigued by the divergence of views North and South, which was the same as last year. It is one thing to ask people if they would support a united Ireland but quite another to ask them if they envisage one actually happening. It is a different question. The question asked was whether people envisaged it happening in the next ten years. Only one quarter of people in the Republic who answered that question said “Yes”, whereas almost half of the respondents in the North said that they did envisage it. Is it simply the timeline or is there anything else at play? Is it simply that the timeline in the question conditioned the response or is it more substantial, in terms of people having concerns about it? We have not drilled into that.

My final question relates to defence co-operation. I am extremely surprised at the figure that is presented here. The question referenced in the document is, “Do you think Ireland should invest more in defence and security co-operation with the EU?” According to the analysis, 56% of those in the Republic said “Yes” while only 30% said “No”. That is a figure that surprises me.