Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the director general and the ambassador for being so forthcoming with us in outlining our strategy and for giving us very practical assistance on what we should do to help in the national interest. There are statements on the European Council in the Dáil Chamber at 3.45 p.m. and I may have to attend. I mean no disrespect by this.

I thank the witnesses for the work they are doing. Our diplomats serve us well. Ireland punches above its weight as a nation state. We should not take anything for granted and we need to work on all the issues that have been outlined. The UK leaving the EU is a big setback for the EU and for Ireland in particular. We have lost an ally on several issues. That is the challenge we face. We want to be at the heart of Europe and this is the work we must now undertake.

I will ask two questions which I hope are not too political for the witnesses. They can answer them in an academic way if they wish. I see two major fault lines in the European Union. The first of these is the threat to liberal democratic values, especially in Hungary and Poland. Is that a big threat to the European Union? Will it be a fault line, with member states taking sides? That is linked to the issue of migration and the rise of populism. There is some apprehension about how that might manifest itself in the forthcoming European Parliament elections.

Second, there are reports that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, was especially difficult at a meeting called to discuss an extension to Brexit at the recent European Council. He was not in favour of a long extension and he held out on that issue. He has put forward his vision for the European Union, and it is welcome that somebody is putting forward their vision as we formally discuss the future of Europe. He is calling for greater integration, a eurozone budget, closer defence co-operation, tax harmonisation and so forth. Some of these issues would pose challenges for Ireland. Will there be a major fault line between the nation states that want much closer integration, particularly in tax harmonisation, defence and so on, and those that do not? I would be interested in the witnesses' views on both of those potential problems.