Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to put a related point and to follow up on a question Senator Healy Eames asked. The total number of occasions on which national parliaments have used the additional power that is available to them under the Lisbon treaty is one, and that related to the Monti proposals that were put forward. They never even got to the dialogue point with the Commission because the Commission withdrew the proposals when all the parliaments submitted their observations. I am aware that a critical mass of national parliaments must be reached for the system to be triggered - I believe it is one third - but is that not a very low figure? Given everything that has happened in the last 18 to 24 months, the system has only been triggered on a single occasion and when it was triggered, it did not even develop because the Commission withdrew its proposals. In view of the huge amount of activity across the European Union over the last 18 months why do you think national parliaments have only triggered their right to intervene on a single occasion?