Councillor Declan McDonnell:

While membership of the Committee of the Regions is determined by the member states, the committee increasingly works within political groups, mirroring the European Parliament. There are five political groups in the committee, with Irish members represented in four. Nevertheless, the Irish delegation generally works in a unified and co-ordinated manner to represent the interests of the Irish local government sector and to promote and defend national interests.

Across the EU, a significant amount of legislation is implemented at local or regional level. In Ireland, this mainly involves environmental issues, with legislation such as that on habitats, water quality, environmental impact assessments, energy efficiency, landfills and recycling, but also issues of procurement policy, health and safety, working hours, payments and so on. These are just some of the issues affecting Irish local and regional authorities. However, local and regional government in Ireland is responsible for a limited range of functions compared with other member states. Quite a number of the European Commission's policy proposals may not be directly relevant, such as fiscal issues and the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, but we defend national interests in such discussions.

Compared with our colleagues from other member states, we operate within a number of constraints. The lack of a well resourced, policy-focused national association of local government places us at a disadvantage. Colleagues from other member states often benefit from such associations' well developed positions on key policy initiatives.

At local level it was a concern that there seemed to be either a widespread lack of awareness or of interest in the EU policy-making process. This may be because there is a lack of structural engagement as, apart from members of the Committee of the Regions and aside from implementing some EU-funded projects, local government is rarely consulted on or informed of relevant EU developments. These are issues that may need to be addressed by local government in the first instance but could also be addressed by the Government, the Oireachtas and possibly by this committee in its report on Ireland and the future of the EU. Despite the structural weakness, as members of the Committee of the Regions, we have the support of a delegation secretary with one officer in Dublin and one in Brussels and we also receive some support from our local and regional authorities and regional assemblies. As members will know, these regional entities are scheduled for reorganisation as part of the current local government reform process and this may provide an opportunity to examine these issues in the round.

We maintain contacts with the Irish permanent representation in Brussels and that is extremely useful for getting a steer on key Irish interests. We are anxious that this direct link be maintained and enhanced because, as Irish representatives in Brussels, we rely on timely, insightful briefings and information. Within our political groups we also have direct links with our colleagues in the European Parliament. Since its inception, the Irish delegation has been very active and for its size has a high profile within the Committee of the Regions.

I will give some examples of our recent work. I was Committee of the Regions rapporteur on volunteering on two occasions and other members have recently acted as rapporteurs on issues such as the small business Act, skills and education, maritime spatial planning, the strategy for the Atlantic area, shale gas and oil exploration, health inequalities, energy efficiency, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the research framework programmes, biomass, new skills in jobs and less bureaucracy for citizens, among others. As one member acts as rapporteur on behalf of the committee in preparing each opinion, rapporteurs have an individual role as it is they who are responsible for consulting stakeholders, for drafting the Committee of the Regions response, and for steering the document through committee and plenary stages. Once opinions are adopted, rapporteurs promote them both within the EU institutional framework and more widely.

There was a strong sense of national purpose in EU matters around the Irish Presidency of the European Council. However, we believe it is important that Irish representation in Europe at all levels continue to bring a strong and coherent message to best represent Irish interests in shaping EU policy. I very much welcome the enhanced engagement of our Ministers with the European Parliament which has been developed recently.

Councillor Hanniffy will update the committee on some of the key themes of Committee of the Regions' current work.