Ms Noelle O'Connell:

I thank the Deputy. He made a great point on Generation Europe. He referred to the disenchanted middle, to which I alluded. From a socio-demographic perspective, it is interesting to note support for EU membership is particularly high among younger and older generations. Interestingly, this contrasts somewhat with the trend in many fellow member states, which generally experience a decline in support for the EU among the older cohort. Ireland is something of an outlier in that regard. That is probably attributable to the older generation having seen how many improvements were afforded to them, their children and grandchildren through the opportunities afforded to us by membership. Interestingly, with regard to the finding that 76% of those aged between 45 to 54, or Generation Europe, support membership, a possible explanation is that this cohort has gained the most from opportunities afforded by EU membership since 1973 but, conversely, has also lost the most as a result of the economic, banking and financial crises from 2008 and onwards. To follow on from Deputy Brady's points, we would probably need to carry out further analysis of this and have more focus groups on it. It is, perhaps, illustrative of the point Deputy Calleary is trying to make. He is correct in asking what more we can do to engage. It is a matter of ensuring that the demographic in question is represented at every stage in the Conference on the Future of Europe process.

On the question on what other organisations do, which was also posed by Deputy Richmond, some organisations do what we do on occasion but not to the same level. The EU's Eurobarometer surveys, which are carried out regularly and consistently, give a quite good EU perspective on some of the questions and topics we have touched upon but the EU poll we have carried out since 2013, with its caveats and health warnings, is to try to give an Irish snapshot. It gives us a little more leeway to pose some of the questions through an Irish prism. Perhaps we lose the Irish flavour in the wider Eurobarometer surveys, which, understandably, must cater for, and are targeted at, a wider EU audience. It is a matter of trying to get the balance right. I am sure we could have many committee meetings and engagements answering a compare and contrast leaving certificate question on all the various polls, results and findings. I do not know what time we would finish at but there would certainly be a lot for us to explore.