Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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I join Senator Higgins in welcoming the Minister of State to the meeting. I am delighted to have her here. I congratulate her on her appointment. I am aware that she brings a unique skill set, both politically and from her academic past. Her particular academic achievements and areas of study give her a unique skill set for this role. I am confident that she will make a significant difference in this and have a good impact for our country in Europe, which is important. She is welcome and I wish her well.

I agree with the Minister of State's broad point. While it is not specific, it is no harm to state and celebrate the very positive impact the EU has had on our country, in our evolution as a society and areas of social policy and in our economic development. It has had a significant impact in social policy specifically. The directives that we will scrutinise in the future and that have arisen in the past have bettered our society and have been an improving influence on it, whether in the sphere of women's rights, gender equality or the social reforming packages that came through Europe, which were so necessary in this country. I am very well placed. I grew up as a very young child in the time before the EU and I have vivid memories of that time and the transition and evolution of society. So much good has been achieved. It has such a positive impact on our country. We cannot celebrate that enough. I know that is recognised and is reflected in our Eurobarometer. It is worth mentioning on every occasion and I agree with the Minister of State.

The principle of subsidiarity is important. If we are to maintain democratic buy-in and consensus, and prevent alienation, particularly at a time when there are threatening political forces on the right, it is an important time to maintain the principle of subsidiarity. I am proud that when I was Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Seanad, from the first day I came into that role, I advocated for the Seanad having specific involvement in European affairs and dealing with European legislation. I was conscious of that. As part of that process, we had special sessions, as colleagues will remember, with members of the European Parliament for all the constituencies, and good engagement with them. It is something I have always believed. It is very much part of Seanad reform and the development of the Seanad. It is central that we have that EU role. I am proud that my colleague, Senator Martin Conway, is the first chair of that committee that I visualised and hoped would develop. We are delighted that it is in place.

I agree with Senator Higgins that, contrary to being a delaying element in dealing with the directives, we will actually give impetus because the imperative should be there for the directives to come before us and still to go to the sectoral committees as relevant. That imperative to have them come before us to be quickly dealt with here should no doubt be the case. Senator Higgins is right in saying that we are not a delaying organ. Quite the contrary, our committee is a refining organ. These statutory instruments and secondary legislation arising from directives impact so much on the lives of people. Coming from a rural community, the farmers in those communities feel the impact of secondary legislation and statutory instruments. They sometimes feel overwhelmed by unnecessary bureaucracy and so on. For that reason, everything we do here is relevant to both the whole business sector and the entire society.

It is important that the legislation comes through promptly. The Chair will agree that at the beginning of our committee, we spent a fair while engaging in introspection and wondering what our role was. In rural, pastoral society, there is an expression that it is important to feed the pig as well as to weigh the pig.

We cannot go on navel-gazing indefinitely. We will have to start looking at specific instruments and moving them along. I know the Chair will be anxious to do that.

It is a pleasure to have the Minister of State in attendance. Like Senator Higgins, I have nothing more to say, other than those general remarks. I welcome her and I emphasise again my personal delight that this has evolved in the way that it has done, as well as our willingness to work with the Minister of State in every conceivable way to get the right outcomes for the people.