Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

As Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this timely and interesting debate. The report, which our committee has laid before the House, is an outline of the work we undertook from 1 January to 30 June of this year, a period coinciding with the Slovenian Presidency of the European Council.

I commend the Chairman of the European scrutiny committee, Deputy Perry, and the other committee members on the diligence and dedication they showed in their work over that period. As a newly elected Deputy, I was shocked and awed when I first received briefing documents for a meeting of the committee last year. The depth of paper waded through was an ecologist's nightmare and I was unsure about whether to invest in a roof rack or a trailer for my wheelchair to transport it all. However, once we got stuck into the issues, we found that they were all interesting and had significant impacts on the daily life of every Irish person. Our work was important.

I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, whom I welcome to this debate, and the various departmental officials who supplied the committee with comprehensive reports on the various developments at a European level that would have affected their Departments during the first six months of this year. The summary of each departmental report is contained in the report of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny, which has been presented to the House.

This debate is important to the workings of the scrutiny committee and the Oireachtas's working relationship with the European Union. New European legislation has a considerable impact on everyday life and the power given to the Oireachtas to scrutinise that legislation under the European Union (Scrutiny) Act 2002 is a substantial safeguard to ensure that Ireland's interests are not adversely effected by any directives or regulations adopted at European level. Therefore, it is vital that the Oireachtas uses its full power to scrutinise legislation fully and to protect Ireland's interests.

The Joint Committee on European Scrutiny has been given the responsibility by the Oireachtas to scrutinise legislation on its behalf, but our work cannot exist in a vacuum. Unless the Oireachtas is fully involved in examining the reports we produce and in debating the issues raised therein, we will be failing in our responsibilities to people to safeguard their interests in Europe. That is why I attach so much importance to this debate.

As a committee, we were surprised by the public's lack of knowledge about the role that the Oireachtas plays in protecting Ireland's interests when adopting new European regulations and directives. This lack of knowledge and understanding became particularly clear during the many public discussions and debates that occurred before the referendum on the Lisbon treaty. The public would not have been as reluctant to adopt the treaty if they had known about the role of the Oireachtas in scrutinising European legislation, which would actually be strengthened by the treaty. As a committee we feel that strong efforts must be made to ensure the public are aware of this role. It is possible that the Oireachtas television channel, which is proposed as part of the Broadcasting Bill, will be one of the mechanisms that can be used to explain to the public the relationship between the Oireachtas and the European institutions.

Our colleagues on the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the European Union are examining this lack of public awareness and many other related issues. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the sub-committee's deliberations and to the opportunity to debate them in this House at some future date. I compliment the members of the sub-committee on the work they are doing. They have engaged in some of the most interesting debates I have ever seen. We are lucky in that we can watch proceedings on the internal Oireachtas television system. I do not know how anyone could state that those proceedings have been boring. The sub-committee's work has been extremely interesting.

The work we do has an impact across all sectors of society. In my constituency of Wexford, the fishing, agricultural and small business sectors have been impacted upon by the various directives and regulations that are imposed and followed through upon by the agencies responsible for their implementation. Members of the public and business people are of the view that there is a great deal of over-regulation and that directives are over-policed. By publicising the work of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny and that of the Houses in general and also by highlighting the relationship that exists between the Oireachtas and the European Union, we can move some way towards addressing the issues to which I refer.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, for his endorsement of the work of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny. I also thank him for his attack on the lack of coverage by the national media of the committee's proceedings. "Oireachtas Report" and "European Parliament Report" are broadcast late at night and are probably only watched by insomniacs rather than those who might be interested in the matters with which they deal. It should be possible to repeat these important programmes, which are only 30 minutes in duration, on Saturday or Sunday mornings. As already stated, it is a pity members of the public are missing out on the important and interesting work being carried out by the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the European Union.

As well as its scheduled work of scrutinising European legislation, the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny is also studying a number of ways of making its own proceedings more effective and of making the process of examining proposals from Europe a more central part of the workings of the Oireachtas. Among these initiatives are examining the operations of the European Union Scrutiny Act to see if measures can be taken within the terms of that Act to make its implementation more effective, seeking to have the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann amended to allow debates on European matters — including those relating to the reports of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny — to take place at least once a month and studying the best practice of scrutinising legislation in other national parliaments to see if we can learn from the experience and methods used in other countries.

It is worth reminding ourselves that during the six-month period under review in the report before the House, the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny published a special report on the enhanced role national parliaments would have had in scrutinising European legislation if the Lisbon treaty had been passed. That special report was debated in the House in early June and showed that national parliaments would be given a strengthened and clearly defined role in the European decision-making process after the adoption of the Lisbon treaty. I do not wish to revisit the referendum campaign, but I am of the view that the failure to obtain a "Yes" vote in that referendum represents a lost opportunity to strengthen Ireland's hand in Europe.

One general recommendation the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny made — this is highlighted in our report — is worth mentioning. The reports it receives from Departments on a six-monthly basis give the committee a good starting point to examine recent developments in Europe and to scrutinise the effects these legislative changes will have for Ireland. However, we are of the view that these reports could also give us the opportunity to forward plan and anticipate likely developments which could impact on Ireland. We feel that a section of each report should be devoted to outlining the priorities of the forthcoming six-month EU Presidency and the likely announcements of legislation that could be expected during that Presidency. The inclusion of information relating to future legislation would allow the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny to be more proactive in its work. It would also allow it to be quicker in its response to European legislation which could impact on Ireland.

The primary role of the joint committee is to scrutinise European legislation. During the six months of the Slovenian Presidency, which is the period covered by the report before the House, we examined no fewer than 274 separate items of legislation. The joint committee also compiled 16 individual reports in that time. These were presented to the relevant Ministers to guide them during the negotiations on these particular items of legislation.

I wish to refer briefly to one of the reports in question in the hope that it will give some indication of how the work of the joint committee examines the possible impact of proposed regulations on Ireland. Since my election to the House last year, I have been particularly involved with coastal communities in south Wexford. I am aware of the challenges that are facing these communities and their traditional industry — fishing. Earlier this year the European Commission published a draft regulation to amend the existing 2004 cod recovery plan. This draft regulation could have a significant impact on Irish fishermen because for the first time stocks in the Celtic Sea are to be included in that plan. This would have imposed strict days-at-sea limitations on Irish fishermen who catch cod in the Celtic Sea. The proposal in question is due to be finalised this month and is of great concern to those in the fishing industry in County Wexford and elsewhere. The joint committee published a report in respect of this matter last month.

The various reports compiled by the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny during the first six months of this year cover a wide range of areas, including terrorism, airport charges, VAT, food hygiene and telecommunications. Each of these areas has the potential to affect the lives of all the citizens of Ireland. The reports published by the joint committee were submitted to various Ministers and were used in their negotiations on these proposals.

I hope that in the coming years the general public will become more aware of the work of the joint committee and will begin to realise the role the Oireachtas plays in reviewing European legislation. If this happens, the fear of Europe that has developed in this country in recent years will evaporate and Ireland will return to playing a central role in the European project.

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