Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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I thank the witnesses for the presentation. I really appreciate it. I totally agree with Ms Coughlan on part-time councillors as a recent incumbent here. That is a total misnomer. The issues have changed but the hours have not changed. It is a huge problem in Irish politics.

I am sad to say I agree with Deputy Lahart as well that the Committee of the Regions is one of the best kept secrets in Irish politics. The EU is too often seen as disconnected from the person in the street. The Committee of the Regions is one of the few elements, if not the only one, that I can think of that tries to bring Brussels into local areas. I am of the opinion that the answer to many of our geo-strategic problems is more Europe, not less Europe. As a net contributor, I remember back in the early 1990s a cartoon in The Irish Times of Albert Reynolds with a big sack of money from structural funds coming back from a European budget debate. We have come a long way from there. It is a proud thing to be a net contributor.

We are in a different reality now than we were when this current budget was being put together.

This is more a question for a politician but I will throw it out anyway because of what we are talking about. There is not enough money to go around to keep funding the regions and CAP while taking on new challenges like border spending. Can Ms Tütt suggest anything as far as revenue-raising goes as to where the European Union could look to bring in more funding to pay for the many challenges? I am asking but I do not have the answer to the question and it is fine too if Ms Tütt does not.