Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chairman and I thank Bertie, if I can call him that, for being here today and for a very interesting contribution he has just made. I was a TD, as he knows, for the entire duration of his term as Taoiseach, as indeed was Deputy Howlin, which we have just been discussing. It was a privilege to observe at close quarters some of the major events of the time, including the Good Friday Agreement, the peace process and all of that, but also the European Union affairs culminating in the Day of Welcomes on 1 May.

There are many questions we could ask Mr. Ahern but I will confine myself to two or three. If I can bring him back then to the enlargement in 2004, the Day of Welcomes and everything that went before that, he spoke in his contribution about the naysayers. Was it difficult to get agreement to admit the ten new countries? What were the problems which had to be overcome and the fears? If I recall, from my own point of view there were fears about an influx of labour coming from the central and eastern European countries and, when one thinks about it, that was certainly misguided.

Linked to that, I also throw in the new constitution for Europe which, as we know, was torpedoed by France and the Netherlands. Again, was it difficult to get agreement on that? I suppose we are talking here about the workings of the European Council, which Mr. Ahern mentioned in his contribution. Was he disappointed when that constitution fell, as it were?

The second question, and I have no doubt other members will take this up as well, is on the future enlargement of the EU. We are talking about the countries from the western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Ireland, as Mr. Ahern knows, supports in principle the enlargement of the EU, as does Mr Ahern, as we have just heard. Does he envisage any problems? We will be moving from 27 to 35 if all of these members are admitted. On the decision-making process, which Mr. Ahern also mentioned in his contribution, does he think this process is up to accommodating as many as 35 members or is there a need to reform the treaties or to have some sort of institutional reform?

There is also the multi-annual financial framework and CAP reform, which is another issue that would have to be addressed in the context of a future enlargement. Would Mr. Ahern be concerned about a shift in influence to the east within the European Council and, indeed, within the European Union as a whole? With Brexit and the United Kingdom now gone, should we be concerned about any shift in influence to the east?

Again, Mr. Ahern mentioned the importance of the geopolitical situation at the time, the influence of Russia, and so forth. Mr. Ahern will no doubt agree that the geopolitical situation in the context of these new applicant countries is very important in bringing stability and peace to the area.

The third and final question is again on the future of Europe, which Mr. Ahern also touched upon in his contribution, with the rise of the far right-wing populism, or whatever one wants to call it, and multilateral diplomacy in decline, which he outlined. We have seen what Viktor Orbán can do in Hungary, and so forth. Would he be concerned about the future of Europe having regard to these new developments and movements and would he be concerned, indeed, for the very survival of the European Union? Obviously, we must have hope but these developments have to be taken seriously.