Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too am happy to speak on this issue. I note from the agenda highlights issued by the European Council that the spring focus will be on economic affairs. Heads of State or Government will also look at a number of the other pressing issues, including taxation and foreign affairs. Finally, EU leaders will also discuss Brexit. That is strange. I would have thought we would demand that Brexit be at the top of the agenda because it is coming ever closer like a train on autopilot and we do not know where we are on it. It is all over the shop, so to speak.

I imagine that the results of the recent Italian election will also play a significant part in the discussion, even if the great and the good of the European project have been uncharacteristically silent about its results. Will we continue to get these results or wallops, as the Minister of State's former leader called them but as European institutions are talking about now, before we sit up and take notice of the terrible disconnect between ordinary citizens and the European institutions, more so the heads of those institutions?

We have seen in the Italian election how, once again, the majority of the people have expressed deep-rooted frustration with the entire European political process. It is a timely warning and we should sit up, listen and try to make sure we address that because we are sleepwalking. The Italian people believe, as do many in Europe, that they are isolated from the agendas set out by the likes of those in the European Council. That is what it is, and other speakers referred to it also. There is a huge disconnect and also abject poverty in Italy and people do not believe they are in any way supported or that their lot is improving. That is not to mention the refugees. I am talking about ordinary families and small business people who believe they have been left behind.

This is a radically dangerous path for Europe to follow. Italy is not on the fringes of Europe. It lies within its very heartland. Towards the end of the British empire when England was at its weakest, we were stuck out off the west coast of Europe and saw the impact of that. This vote has taken place in the very heart of Europe. If the people of that great state are sick and tired of the disconnect between their lives and European policy pushers, that is incredibly dangerous news for us all. That is what the result has thrown up. How many more warnings do we need?

The European Continent is all too aware of what happens when Europe becomes a fragmented and divided landscape. We need to take note of that also. As we know, Italy featured in the top 15 of Ireland’s top trading partners in terms of Irish export sales, that is, countries that imported the most Irish shipments by dollar value during 2017. That is a serious issue and we need to be cognisant of it, address it and not have us undermined in that regard. Irish trade with Italy is estimated to be worth $2.9 billion. That is a huge amount of trade. In light of that I hope the leaders at the European Council will heed the messages that are coming from the great state of Italy because inevitably we will be affected by any obstacles to trade imposed on us by those on the European mainland. It is very important to wipe our eyes and look honestly at what is going on, and I am not talking about the Minister of State or the officials, and recognise this for what it is. There should be no back-slapping and saying that everything is great, we are doing fine and the European project is hunky-dory. Clearly, it is not.

What are we going to do about the huge crisis in Europe with the refugees? What are we going to do about the situation in Syria, which is diabolical and has been going on for many years? There are millions of refugees, displacement and Israel is bombing the hell out of the place whenever it feels like it. We seem to be silent on those issues. We are a neutral country. We are meant to be always proud of our neutrality, but we seem to be acquiescing now with what the big boys in Europe want. We want to be the good boys in the class.

I appeal to the Minister of State to do her best to let her voice be heard from this proud Irish nation. I will pass over to Deputies Michael Healy-Rae and Danny Healy-Rae.

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