Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When Ireland joined the EEC, it was a community and it was a good project. Sadly, over the past number of years, it has headed towards fiscal union. Fiscal union is like marriage - it is either love or divorce. The first element of divorce we have had is with the UK because people are sick and tired of rules and regulations being imposed on them. People wake up in the morning and go to their bathrooms knowing they have to have a permit for their septic tank because of an EU regulation. People in business are regulated by the EU on a daily basis. Earlier, the EU stated Ireland has to make sure people pay water charges because the State has signed up to this. Every year, drivers have to get a certificate saying they are capable of driving a lorry because of EU regulations. I met a 76 year old man who has been spraying potatoes for 64 years. He had to get a licence this year to spray his spuds because of EU regulations. This is what is going on right around the country. Next year, farmers will have to have certificates to spread fertiliser because of EU regulations while eggs cannot be sold to a butcher because of regulations. A person can spread slurry in Spain any day of the year but in Ireland if it is a fine day on 9 January, it is illegal because of regulations whereas if it is spilling rain on 14 January, it is not. The Minister had responsibility for the steel industry in his previous portfolio. Last year, small business owners had to spend €15,000 on certification to comply with EU regulations. Why does the penny not drop with officials that ordinary people on the ground are fed up of the rules and regulations being imposed on them? Politicians have gone to Brussels from different countries and signed up to measures the ordinary person on the ground does not want and will not adhere to because they are sick of it. Currently, EU regulations forbid bog owners from cutting turf. I can go on but this list reflects the disconnect.

It is no wonder Brexit happened last Friday. The people on the ground revolted and they are sick and tired of rules and regulations being imposed. Newspaper commentators are wondering what went wrong. Politicians did not listen to the people on the ground. Europe has gone too far on its journey. The EEC was a good journey. Politicians returned home and sold pups to people around this country. It is important that the Taoiseach and the leader of the every other member state goes to Brussels with a list of the problems. It is despicable that the leaders of the six founding members states met last Saturday on their own. There are other members in this so-called "union" but they forgot them. They did not want to bring them with them in case they would say something. Ironically, the voters in the countries of those who met on Saturday met may not agree with what they did.

Unelected bureaucrats in Europe are making up rules that the ordinary people on the ground are rebelling against. We have seen the result of that in the UK over the past few days. The people there have said, "Enough is enough". Politicians based in Brussels say the Germans and the French are leading the way. TTIP is being discussed at the moment while the agriculture element of the Mercosur trade deal has been removed. The ordinary person is fearful of what is going on. We have moved away from the great project of trading goods and peace but the steps that have been taken have gone too far. Jobs and prosperity were promised under the Lisbon treaty but, instead, unemployment and debt was foisted upon us by some of those in Europe. Jean-Claude Trichet and Jean-Claude Juncker need to take a step back and understand that there is serious discontent throughout Europe about the path the EU is on. MEPs are elected by us but what say do they have in decisions? Politicians in national parliaments and MEPs are basically put in the back seats while unelected bureaucrats drive the EU agenda. If they do not listen to the people and stay on the road they are on, the European project will be finished. However, there is now opportunity for representatives of every member state to sit down and outline a new vision of the Europe we want. If not, there will be a more significant exodus and the project will be over.

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