Aideen Hayden (Labour)
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I will be somewhat provocative. We are talking about two criteria. One is citizenship, which is based on nationhood – in reality, a 19th century principle that precedes the European Union and the idea of a transnational identity. The second is the other pre-EU principle, which is that of subsidiarity. In other words, decision-making is brought down to the lowest possible level so that the person who is going to be most affected by the decision should have a say in how the decision is made. In reality, we have two competing principles. One of the things we are trying to do is to reconcile those principles. I am not clear how that can be done to the extent that it has been discussed by the committee - not necessarily by the three witnesses, but by other people who have come before us.

I note that for the sake of argument Deputy Halligan talked about Irish citizens – I ask him to correct me if I am wrong – having a say in presidential elections and Seanad elections but not Dáil elections, for example.