Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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I was on the Committee of the Regions many years ago, a bit before Deputy Lahart. They were frustrating times because you could see the potential of the committee but there was something missing. One of the things I found to be missing - and we touched on this morning - was that there is not always a dedicated officer in councils. There are eight of them, which is a big weakness. I get that maybe in smaller councils it would probably make sense to have one. They have to have someone. Ireland is on the periphery of Europe. We are an island nation, a small country that is partitioned, with two jurisdictions. Deputy Lahart spoke about the whole challenge of Brexit. It makes sense that we should be a champion for the whole area of cohesion, particularly in relation to our involvement in Europe.

As we know from the Irish experience, we followed Europe. We went along with centralising and disbanded town councils. As was said in the opening statement, there is a very small pot of funding. The main things people say to us as politicians is that the war in Ukraine has changed things in relation to Europe, there is an emphasis on defence and the fiscal rules have been torn up. We face a big challenge trying to change that narrative. We need to invest in our regions and within our own countries in relation to that. The biggest challenge is how small and community-based organisations access the funding.

That was always the biggest challenge. You knew of different projects drawing down funding but there was the question of translating that to an Irish organisation or an organisation that might be slightly dissimilar to those organisations. That is where the EU officers come in; they investigate and simplify the pathway. When I was on the Committee of the Regions, that was the big challenge. Is it still the big challenge? Every day, organisations in our communities come to us asking us how they access this funding. Sports capital grant funding was recently announced. Most local authorities have an officer who will help organisations fill in that form. The witnesses' ask this morning makes sense. That has to be one of the recommendations.

This committee, with its limited powers, can make recommendations. What other asks would the witnesses have if they had a magic wand? The EU Presidency was mentioned. As a structure within the Houses of the Oireachtas, what can this committee do aside from asking for these dedicated officers?