Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 4 November 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

Engagement with Representatives from the European Parliament

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I have very specific questions for specific people, which if not responded to in this round might be responded to in the following round or in writing in due course. Mr. Kelleher touched on the future of Europe, which is where I want to focus some of my questions. Deputy Haughey has dealt with the rule of law and Senator Chambers has dealt with migration. All of these issues are interconnected.

The committee heard from the European Commission last week on the issue of Commission competencies in regard to health but not only in relation to the pandemic. This was repeated by Commission President von der Leyen. Ms Walsh touched specifically on mental health. How can we ensure greater engagement at European level, particularly in regard to mental health? We are all aware of the impact the pandemic is having on mental health and front-line services.

In his opening statement, Mr. Kelleher went into some detail on the options of providing own resources. Own resources for the Union will be important to it being able to deal with specific EU issues. What is Mr. Kelleher's personal preference in regard to securing those own resources? On the Conference on the Future of Europe, Mr. Cuffe mentioned the desire of his own political group, the Greens/EFA, to have that conference. I ask him to elaborate on what work his political group is doing and what work is being done by other members states that we can learn from as this would be helpful to the committee's job of work in that regard.

I was very taken not only by Mr. Andrews's opening remarks but the notes he tweeted last night, one of which I will take as a whimsical comment. I am interested in his tweet in regard to treaty change as it is an issue that was raised last week. Does Mr. Andrews think it is time for a treaty change? Does he think it is time for a new European treaty, bearing in mind that he and I campaigned here in various referendums for European treaties, which were slightly difficult to say the least?

On migration, Ms Clune touched on the issue very eloquently. There is relative agreement among our MEPs that we in Ireland are not engaged in the debate on migration and asylum into the European Union. This may be for geographic or other reasons. When we speak to continental colleagues who are living in Greece, Spain or Italy they can sometimes come at the issue from a very different position. It does not necessarily come with political ideology but it is more practical. I would hope that there is agreement in this committee that Ireland can and should do so much more to address this issue.

I was taken by Ms Daly's reference to the Dublin Regulation. It is very difficult when in European circles there are people giving out yards about Dublin. One has to separate that out and remember they are speaking not about Dublin specifically but the regulation. How do we make that relevant? With the exception of the fires in Moria in recent weeks, it does not get coverage. It rarely comes into the public psyche. I would argue we are not engaging and, therefore, nobody, bar our MEPs, is having an influence over the European policymaking process that we could have. I ask Ms Clune to comment on how in her view we can improve that level of debate.

Ms Daly spoke in detail about the rule of law. This comes back to the Conference on the Future of Europe. I would like to think there is agreement that Article 7 processes are working slowly when it comes specifically to Poland and Hungary. Ms Daly rightly stated that there was not a will from the vast majority of groups to move it into Bulgaria and she named other EU member states. Returning to Mr. Andrews's scribbled notes in regard to treaty change, do we need to renew the Article 7 process? With that in mind, what is our approach to the rule of law? Ms Daly referenced the Union. She is the only MEP taking part in the meeting today who voted against the European Parliament resolution in regard to Belarus. I ask her to provide an explanation for her vote in that regard.