Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

Absolutely, and Brú Ború is at the foot of the great UNESCO site, the Rock of Cashel.

In my intervention, I want to touch on local government. I do not think it has been mentioned, though I was in and out of the committee and apologise for that. In my 15 years at local level, I always sensed there was a real appetite among members at the local level and local authorities about the importance of engagement at the EU level but, of course, more resources are needed to achieve that goal. I had the honour of being the head of the Irish delegation to the European Committee of the Regions for ten years. We launched a strategy, which had two pillars. The first was to strength the Irish Regions European Office based in the permanent representation and the second was to create eight additional posts, eight EU affairs officers, across the former NUTS 3 regions. For example, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare would have an EU affairs officer. The reason for that is, right now, some local authorities - Cork city comes to mind, as does Donegal and a number of others - are really successful in accessing EU funds. My own local authority of Tipperary had an EU affairs officer when I joined in 2009. Indeed, it had an EU strategic unit. That does not exist anymore. A cluster of EU affairs officers around the country working with that strengthened Irish regions office would be a great opportunity to implement that strategy as we head into the Presidency. The first pillar has already been achieved. The Irish Regions European Office, which, since its establishment in 1994, has always had two staff members now has four staff and can support that cluster of eight EU affairs officers. That strategy is fully costed. The officers would support local authorities and work, as I said, with a strengthened Irish Regions European Office. It would establish partnerships with EU counterparts and, most important, ensure the local government sector is well placed to access funds. I appeal to the Minister of State to dig out that strategy. It is sitting somewhere. The officials with him today may be aware of that. There is a real appetite at local level for people to better engage with their European counterparts. If I can put it like this: we are leaving money behind. Some local authorities are doing it really well; others are not.