Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I refer back to the issues I raised in terms of the justice and home affairs matters, namely, Schengen and common European migration, immigration and asylum policies. Has the Minister had an opportunity to assess the decision of the European Court of Justice on the Schengen regulation which was struck down? This was with regard to a British position which was supported by Ireland. What are its implications for the future formulation of policy on border controls and a common asylum policy? Will Ireland be able to influence the outcome of an upcoming major decision of the Council on migration and asylum? Have the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs received a legal opinion on the implications of this?

Will the extra powers being devolved to domestic parliaments with regard to co-decision making mean they will have extra time for scrutiny and extra powers to seek to amend, refer back or reject Commission proposals? Rejection by one third of parliaments under one procedure or 50% under another will be required. While these powers are important in providing an extra democratic dimension to the domestic parliaments of member states, they do not seem to contain an in-built mechanism for implementation. How will the member states relate to each other and communicate? If Ireland is not happy with proposed legislation——

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