Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies from all sides who contributed to the debate which was a good debate. I note the comments by two Deputies, Deputy Paul Murphy and Deputy Shane Ross, who started by describing the debate as a waste of time and yet contributed.

Everybody else who contributed did so in a very productive fashion. Europe Day is an opportunity to consider in a small way the importance of the EU to the Irish people and our importance to, and the role we play in, the EU. Given the important role the Union plays in all our lives every day should, to an extent, be Europe Day. Many issues were raised and I did not have the opportunity in my opening remarks to touch on all the areas where the EU is important to us.

Many speakers referred to the United Kingdom. There is no question but that a British departure from the EU would have serious and potentially adverse consequences for the country. That is why the Government has been monitoring developments in the EU-UK relationship extremely carefully. The Department of the Taoiseach has been co-ordinating interdepartmental efforts to ensure Ireland is best prepared for any situation that could arise. Given that polling is going on in the UK today, we will not have long to wait to see the likely shape of the new UK Government. It was decided to create a new division within the Department, which is up and running. Several other Departments are conducting detailed research in their areas of competence. The Department of Finance, for example, has commissioned a report on the macroeconomic links between the UK and Ireland in the context of our EU membership. Our ambassador in London and his team are also actively engaged on this issue.

I did not speak about the TTIP negotiations in my opening remarks. It is very important to re-state that TTIP is not, is not intended to be, and will not be, a race to the bottom in regulatory standards. It will not automatically overrule, repeal or amend EU laws and regulations and, consequently, Irish laws and regulations. Such laws as relate to genetically modified organisms, GMOs, for example, protecting the environment, animal welfare and workers’ rights and conditions are not part of the negotiations. Legitimate concerns have, however, been raised by civil society in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe about certain elements of the TTIP talks. It is important that we listen, which we are doing, to these concerns and learn from international best practice. On contentious issues mentioned today, such as investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, TTIP presents a prime opportunity to devise novel and mutually acceptable procedures consistent with our legal system and with relevant safeguards to prevent abusive cases. We have to be balanced in how we consider the TTIP negotiations. We have many companies operating in the rest of the world. As many American people work for Irish companies in the US as Irish people work for US companies here. That is an interesting statistic to remind people of. We have to consider TTIP from both sides of that equation. We are resolute in our belief that it will provide significant benefits to the Irish people and economy and to the EU.

I thank Deputies for their contributions. I have not had time to cover all their remarks. It was an excellent debate and as members of the Opposition pointed out, continuous excellent work is being conducted by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, under the chairmanship of Deputy Hannigan.

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