Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Taoiseach for facilitating me and Opposition Members. I am pleased to see the Taoiseach is prepared to allow us all to co-operate when it comes to EU matters as it is hugely important we do not bring our domestic disputes to the European stage.

The selection of the President of European Commission is an immensely important decision that will be taken at the summit this week. I would like to lend my voice of support to Jean-Claude Juncker for a number of reasons, first, because he is a good candidate. There has been a lot of personalisation of this appointment in the past few days, some of it in very bad taste. Jean-Claude Juncker is somebody who has served his country with distinction as Minister for Finance during periods of unprecedented growth in his country, perhaps an example that could be followed by others, and has been a very effective Prime Minister, one of the longest serving in the world. He is somebody who, I believe, has shown great leadership at European level. He is also somebody who can help Europe to meet the many challenges that lie ahead, particularly when it comes to reintroducing a strong delivery of growth, opportunity and job creation to Europe's citizens and in terms of completing the Single Market and the sort of structural reforms that will genuinely lead to better prospects for Europe's citizens.

Second, I believe it is important because, whether we like it or not, all of the main European parties signed up to this concept of a top candidate - the Socialists, the Liberals, the EPP, the Christian Democrats, the Conservatives and the Greens. It is not an ideal format or solution but it was a small step in the direction of bringing greater democratic legitimacy to the election process at European level. The winners of that contest were the EPP and, therefore, I believe it is appropriate that Herman van Rompuy, as President of the Council, sought to find a consensus, or at least a strong majority, to endorse the leadership of Jean-Claude Juncker in the European Commission over the next five years. All of the political parties signed up to that and I believe it would send a very negative signal to the citizens of Europe if they suddenly decided to go behind closed doors and back to the sort of smoke-filled rooms we are used to, in order to arrive at a cosy consensus and to nominate somebody whose name was not before the public.

I am not sure how many European citizens were aware of Jean-Claude Juncker, Martin Schulz, Guy Verhofstadt or any of the other candidates. The answer is probably not very many but the fact is that the political parties committed to it and it is appropriate for them to see that process through. My preference would have been and remains a direct election to the presidency of the Commission. It is something Ireland should loudly advocate. We should not be afraid of treaty change in the future to allow that to happen. A direct election would engage all the citizens of Europe and give them a direct voice as to who will provide leadership in the European Commission and indeed across all of the institutions in the future, so it is something we should advocate for.

I agree very strongly with Deputy Ross. The opportunity exists for Ireland to do something radically different in terms of how we appoint our Commissioner by looking outside the old political circles and examining a new format. Some of my colleagues on the Independent benches in the Seanad have put forward a Bill in the past week that would give this Parliament and one of the Oireachtas joint committees the power to scrutinise the Government's nominee for the position of Irish Commissioner. I think this would be a really positive step forward. There is no reason the Government should not accept that proposal. I think we should be looking outside the old political circles. I do not believe it should be a member of Cabinet or that there should be horse trading between the two parties in Government to arrive at a sweetener, a prize or essentially an exit route for somebody from the current Cabinet. It would make sense and possibly bring this Government some way to the promised democratic revolution that quite clearly has not occurred. It would allow this Parliament to have a say in the sort of characteristics, traits, skills and abilities we would like to see in our Commissioner.

The role of European Commissioner cannot be overstated. It is a hugely important role where the future of the European agenda and the growth and job creation agendas will be shaped and where Ireland can have a powerful voice. It should not be a retirement home for failed or unpopular politicians or used to make room for new blood in Cabinet. It should be somebody of calibre and expertise who can serve this country and all of Europe's population with distinction.

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