Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be able to speak on the future of the European Union about which I have concerns, as have many others, for some time. I have been a campaigner since 1973 when we joined Europe. The ideas and views, as Deputy Haughey mentioned earlier, went back to the late Seán Lemass and many other political leaders here aspired to this, worked for this and helped to bring it about. We have benefited hugely from Europe for a number of decades but the shoe is on the other foot now with the situation with the evolving Europe and the pull. Certain countries have taken a huge amount of power, and have neglected and have not listened to ordinary people. Surveys have shown that. The most recent European Parliament analysis found that, in the context of the renewed debate on the future of Europe, only 47% of European citizens feel that their voice counts in the EU. It is the best result since the 2009 European elections. That is concerning. Less than half are committed and feel that their voice counts. We must be ag éisteacht i gcónaí. I should wish everybody a happy Europe Day. Happy days is right but people are dissatisfied. If they are not happy and feel they are not listened to, there will be unease and there will be shifts. There could be seismic shifts in European elections. We have seen that in many nations. There have been major shifts because people feel disenfranchised, feel a huge disconnect and are concerned about that. Over half of the EU's population, of more than 500 million, feels that their voice is not heard. That is a frightening statistic. I do not know about the poll but I assume the report is reputable. It is very concerning that over half feel that, which is more than 250 million people, because 47% are satisfied.

Last year, the European Commission presented a communication outlining ideas on the future of food and farming. The communication proposes a number of changes to the CAP, which is important. The CAP has a major impact on Irish farmers, from the farm to the fork, right down to housewives and the consumers. The changes to CAP focus primarily on making it simpler and ensuring best value for money. It is anything but simple, as far as I am concerned, and it is hard to see where the value for money is. The new CAP wants to establish a system allowing EU countries and regions to fulfil EU goals with their own tailor-made policies. That is a nice and aspirational paragraph. That has not been happening. How will we get the 53% who said they were unhappy and disconnected? What kind of a tailor will we need to make the suits to fit them to make them think that they are being listened to? There is much food for thought here. It is important that we listen or get out to these people. We do not have the heavy gang who, even after Brexit, went off on a tangent of threatening, even when a sovereign country had a vote to leave the EU. The same communication gave no details of how much money would be available and if the budget would be affected by the UK's withdrawal. It is fine to go into the tailor and order a suit but if one does not have money to pay for it, one is in trouble. We want to have a tailor-made system to establish our own tailor-made design yet we have no idea of what is in the budget. There are cuts in the budget so we need to be honest with ourselves. This is very strange.

The multi-annual financial framework revision will also have an impact on the post-2020 CAP. We know that and are unsure of where that is leading us. The future CAP will therefore face several financial challenges while having to deliver for farmers. Several instruments are already available to farmers, such as loan funds. These can often be very hard for smaller farmers. We see that with single farm payments. The smaller farmer often comes out worse after these things.

We have a lot of work to do and the Minister of State has a lot of work to do. It is very important that we bring the people with us and that the people are listened to, as they are not. A total of 55% of people in that survey felt disenchanted while only 47% of European citizens feel that their voice counts in the EU. The British people got lectured from on high after they voted for Brexit. They got lecture after lecture on how they were not good Europeans. They had made a sovereign decision. It has had and will have a huge impact on us so we need to be very conscious of that and support them. One of the reasons was that they were paying in as well - in fact paying more. If President Macron gets his way, he will have a Europe that he and a few more will be in charge of, including finances, and the smaller countries will be left out in the cold. We know that Ireland is now a net contributor, which is a big difference from the early days of the EEC, so it is a big change. There is a lot of work to be done. The Taoiseach came back here last December and told us he had cast-iron guarantees - practically bulletproof - that there would be no Border and this, that and the other. It has evaporated like the snow over St. Patrick's weekend. We have no guarantees and we are left wondering where it will take us. I am asking the Minister of State for European affairs to be a strong voice for Ireland. Above all, we need to listen to concerns unless the Government wants a seismic shift in the next European elections, which are only around the corner. Make haste slowly but bí ag éisteacht leis na daoine.

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