Ms Noelle O'Connell:

I thank Deputy Howlin and the Cathaoirleach for the questions. Both Deputies touched on the issue of the direction of the EU and the sentiment around that. It might be useful to clarify the methodology used in the poll. We polled 1,200 people in the South and 1,200 in the North, giving a total of 2,400 respondents across the various demographics and age profiles, between 26 and 28 March. That was when the fieldwork took place. In terms of the EU moving in the right direction, the challenge with the poll, which we have been conducting since 2013, is to ensure a level of consistency in the questions we pose so that we can analyse and track changes across the years. Of course, they are very blunt and concise statements, so delving down into them can be a little bit of a challenge. This year the response to the question on the EU moving in the right direction was the most significant. Last year, 58% agreed that it was moving in the right direction.

The same number of people in Northern Ireland felt the EU was moving in the right direction. There was an increase, from 15% to 24%, in the number of people in the South who said they did not believe it was moving in the right direction, and an increase of 5% in the number of people in Northern Ireland who said that. The difference is, give or take, 9% on each side. It is almost like a swing of 18 percentage points, which is of course something we in European Movement Ireland would not welcome. We would rather see continuing correspondingly high levels of support and belief that the EU is moving in the right direction. There is of course no doubt that the reality of the situation and how the EU has struggled to formulate and get a cohesive response to the horrific situation in the Middle East has contributed to that finding.

More broadly, in respect of some of the performance issues I would have thought people felt the EU was performing more strongly on the environment, given the EU green deal and climate change agenda which has occupied the current Parliament and Commission mandate for many years. Yet, only 10% or 12% believe it is strongest on that.

Before I hand over to Ms Hayes on migration and Israel-Gaza, defence is an interesting question. Last year, 49% of people believed Ireland should invest more in its security and defence co-operation. That has increased to 56% of people this year agreeing. The number was at its highest, at 59%, in 2022, around the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are seeing an upward trajectory in the number of people being more alert and mindful of the wider defence and security co-operation question. It is something we see when we have politically non-partisan town hall debates and engagements around the country as part of our Can Vote, Will Vote campaign. There is growing recognition of the increasingly complex geopolitical world order we are living in and the role of security and defence in that regard. Irish people are more open to having difficult conversations around this issue.