Ms Billie Sparks:

I thank the committee for its invitation to EM Ireland to appear before it. I intend to focus my initial remarks on our submission to the committee as part of the national debate on Ireland and the future of the EU, focusing particularly on the democratic legitimacy of the Union and what EM Ireland is doing in working towards increasing same, as well as the EU's transparency and accountability, before my colleague, Councillor Neale Richmond, discusses the latest findings of EM Ireland's 2012 accountability report, which was published on 7 May 2013.

EM Ireland commends the joint committee on launching this national debate on the future of the EU and Ireland’s relationship with it. We were pleased to have had the opportunity to make a submission to the committee as part of that national debate and to present the findings of our submission today. This crucial conversation is taking place against the background of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the 40th anniversary of Ireland's accession to the then European Economic Community and 2013 being designated as the European year of citizens.

This is a crucial time in Ireland's relationship with the EU. That relationship has undergone a dramatic change in recent years. Since 2009 and as a result of the financial crisis, there has been an increasing amount of negativity and euroscepticism among the Irish people. In EM Ireland, we are acutely aware of the challenges that this surge of negativity and anti-EU sentiment can generate, particularly in light of ongoing developments in the Irish-EU relationship. We are working hard to ensure people continue to connect and engage with the EU through a variety of measures that help to foster reasoned, robust and measured debate on all matters European in Ireland.

In our submission to the committee, EM Ireland is seeking to ensure an independent, not-for-profit, civil society voice is heard in this debate, relating as it does to the future direction and form of Ireland's ongoing relationship with its European partners. Founded in 1954, EM Ireland is the oldest civil society membership-based organisation dealing with Irish–EU relations. EM Ireland can and will continue to play a significant role in providing an independent, factual, non-governmental voice of reason on Europe that no other organisation can.

In compiling this submission, we asked our members and advisory council to submit their thoughts on Ireland and the future of the EU as part of the national debate. The responses received reflected the changing relationship between Ireland and the EU and dealt with many diverse issues. It was felt that EM Ireland was best placed to deal with the modules in the call for submissions that dealt with democratic legitimacy and accountability, the matters on which we will focus today.

With 2013 being designated the European year of citizens and Ireland hosting the Presidency during the first half of the year, there is an opportunity to engage Irish people in European matters and, consequently, to work towards increasing the democratic legitimacy of the Union. EM Ireland is fully aware of this unique opportunity and we are working on delivering programmes and projects that reflect the current challenges facing Ireland and the wider EU while strengthening Irish citizens' engagement with the Union.

This year, EM Ireland is particularly focused on seeking to develop a transparent connection between the ordinary people of Ireland and both the Presidency and the European year of citizens 2013. In addition to our regular programmes and campaigns, such as the accountability campaign, which Mr. Richmond will discuss in further detail, and our work in the third level sector, we have increased significantly our communications and information dissemination campaigns and programmes.

On the education front, we continue to pursue our grad jobs campaign, which is aimed at increasing awareness among Irish graduates of the opportunities that exist for them in the broader EU system. A significant part of this work involves presentations to careers services, colleges, classes and societies throughout the institutes of technology and universities. In addition, we are pleased to have been appointed to the national implementation body for the roll-out and delivery of the Blue Star programme in partnership with the Department of the Taoiseach and the Minister of State for European affairs in the delivery of the programme's second year in primary schools throughout Ireland. The idea of the programme is simple: foster better understanding and knowledge of the EU and how it affects the lives of Irish citizens among primary pupils through classroom projects and activities. The Blue Star programme aims to introduce participants, pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community to the EU, what it means and how it works. The programme also aims to foster a strong sense of awareness of the EU among its participants that reaches far beyond the school walls and into the wider community.

This year has been declared the European year of citizens, which EM Ireland was delighted to launch in Dublin City Hall in January. The year was officially launched by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, along with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. This launch was followed by an afternoon session featuring an interactive and participatory citizens dialogue at which the Vice President of the European Commission, Ms Viviane Reding, and the Minister of State for European affairs, Deputy Creighton, engaged in a frank and open exchange of opinions with more than 200 citizen guests on the current economic crisis, the rights of European citizens and the future of the EU.

Throughout 2013, EM Ireland will continue to roll out these dialogues by hosting a series of regional town hall meetings and local seminars on the theme of the European year of citizens. Given that the significant majority of the official Presidency events will be taking place in Dublin, our series of regional town hall meetings are about reclaiming the debate. Their aim is to ensure people have an opportunity to make their voices heard and to engage with those representing them on the European stage, thus further increasing the fundamental premise of democratic legitimacy, transparency and accountability.

These dialogues are an opportunity for citizens in Ireland to participate in the important debate regarding the future shape of the EU, which underpins the purpose of this submission. We have hosted two of these regional dialogues. The first was in Cork, where EM Ireland hosted a regional dialogue with the Tánaiste in City Hall. We also hosted one in Galway with the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, in April. These regional dialogues are the commencement of a national discussion on the Irish–EU relationship by the citizens during this 12-month timeframe, and we look forward to rolling out a further four dialogues during 2013.

Each attendee at these dialogues is asked to complete a questionnaire in order to share his or her opinions on the EU. We look forward to publishing a report on our findings at the conclusion of the dialogues and to progressing the outcomes of this debate. The dialogues are being supplemented by a range of small-scale talks on the EU and the Irish Presidency provided by EM Ireland staff to the public through a network of public libraries and Europe Direct information centres.

One of the lessons learned from our two Lisbon referendums was the relative lack of knowledge about the EU among young people. One way in which we are seeking to address this is with our youth media and the Irish Presidency programme. As part of this programme, EM Ireland has recruited a team of 25 young citizen journalists from around the country to cover and report on the Irish Presidency from January to June 2013.

These young journalists have been trained to report on Presidency events with a youth audience in mind and to provide a useful source of local knowledge and input through local reporting on all Irish EU Presidency and European year of the citizens activities in their communities. The programme targets young people in that Presidency events and developments are reported in a youth-friendly and accessible format.

As I mentioned, in seeking to answer the call for submissions to this national debate on the future of Ireland and the EU, we spoke to our members, focusing on what could be done to increase democratic legitimacy and accountability of the EU. It was believed that more could be done to ensure engagement by the Irish people with the EU, in particular as this comes at a crucial time in Irish–EU relations. The general consensus among EM Ireland members was that there are real opportunities for enhanced engagement between Ireland and the EU at many levels and this increased engagement would lead to increased democratic legitimacy and accountability.

At the start of January, European Movement Ireland commissioned Red C to carry out a poll to ascertain Irish people’s views on a variety of different topics related to Irish-EU relations. Members should have copies of the results in their packs. It was conducted among a representative sample of more than 1,000 adults throughout the country. The results of this poll are encouraging. It demonstrated that 85% of the population believe that Ireland should remain part of the EU, and the vast majority of the population - 83% - believe that Ireland has benefited overall from membership. The results also seem to indicate that in spite of the presence of the troika in Ireland, the debate over bondholders and the economic downturn, there is widespread acknowledgement of the benefits for Ireland that lie in membership of the EU. We also asked participants in the poll if Ireland should remain in the EU if the United Kingdom were to opt to leave. The poll found that just 29% of the population thought Ireland should leave the EU if the UK decided to do so. We found this to be an interesting barometer of how far Anglo-Irish relations had developed in respect of the EU.

Apart from reflecting general support for Ireland’s EU membership, our poll also held good news for the Irish Presidency, with 76% of the population aware that Ireland currently holds the rotating Presidency. Interestingly, awareness is strongest among men and those in older age groups. Within the statistic, a contrasting indicator showed that just over half, or 52%, of the 18 to 24 year old demographic were aware that Ireland currently holds the Presidency. As mentioned, EM Ireland has sought to address this issue through our youth media and the Irish Presidency programme. In addition to increasing awareness among younger citizens, it is also important that we reach out to mná na hÉireann, as this poll shows that just 71% of women are aware that Ireland is holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, compared with 82% of men. Despite the overall encouraging results from our poll, we cannot afford to be complacent about Ireland’s relationship with the EU and citizen sentiment towards Europe. That is why we believe our accountability report is so important, as it seeks to track statistically Ireland’s engagement with the EU.

I will now pass over to my colleague, Mr. Neale Richmond, who will talk about the results of the most recent accountability report in more detail. I look forward to members' questions and comments on this presentation and to progressing further with them the outcomes of this important national debate on Ireland and the future of the EU.