Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Like the previous speaker, Deputy Gannon, as appropriate, I would like to thank very much the good people of Dublin Rathdown for electing me to this Chamber. It is an honour of which I am immensely aware and humbled by, and as long as I am a Member of this House, I hope to serve them to the best of my capabilities.

I am delighted to make my first contribution on this key issue of reflections on the most recent European Council meeting. The European Union, and everything that goes with it, is something I have been passionate about my entire adult life. It is what drove me into working in politics and seeking political office for the Fine Gael Party many years ago.

Three of the key outcomes of this European Council meeting sum up many of the challenges the European Union will face in the coming years both in the short and medium term, but equally in the long term. In the short term, the real challenge facing the European Union, particularly Ireland as a member state within the European Union, is the ongoing Brexit negotiations. It would be remiss of me not to pay credit to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, for the work they have done with Deputies opposite and throughout this Chamber and, importantly, with their partners in the European Union over recent years to garner that level of solidarity in respect of the serious crises Brexit could create for this island and this jurisdiction.

The negotiations have begun between Michel Barnier and Britain's envoy, David Frost, but much more is presenting itself. I welcome the colloquial comments of Commissioner Hogan this morning when he likened the initial exchanges in the negotiations with a bit of argy-bargy in a pre-match tunnel. There will be extremely testing days ahead when we consider some of the reflections in a certain sector of the UK media but especially some of the commentary from British politicians who should know better. However, I firmly believe that an agreement can be reached between the European Union and the United Kingdom that will allow for the least worst Brexit. Ultimately, there is no such thing as a good Brexit for this country and for the European Union as a whole, but equally there is no such thing as a good Brexit for the United Kingdom.

In the medium term, we look at the discussions over the multi-annual financial framework, MFF. This is where we must act decisively as a changing European Union. We are one of 27 member states - not 28 member states - of a European Union that is reduced significantly with the departure of a large member state that not only contributed so much financially to the workings of the Union and supported many programmes but provided great weight to the work of the European Union to deal with global crises. There are many crises facing this Continent and the world as a whole. We are in the grips of one in respect of Covid-19, which exposes how Ireland, as a small island, cannot work alone, how we are reliant on other members states, and how the UK will be missed. The challenges that the new financial framework presents are great and very different from the challenge the early EEC faced in the 1970s, when Ireland joined as a member, and as it changed during the 1980s and the 1990s.

A number of Deputies opposite expressed their concern about the increase in military spending on defence or research, but we need to acknowledge that things are changing. The militarisation of the world or the threats faced by this country and our partners in the EU are no longer about troops on the ground. It is about the cyber threat. It is about the threat of influencing across social media and online platforms and playing a very dangerous role within the functioning of democracy throughout this country and throughout the European Union. We need to look at the European budget scientifically. There is a gap to be filled.

Like Deputy Gannon, I see it as a great source of pride that we are becoming net contributors. The financial contribution this State has made to the European project cannot be quantified or based against a financial return because the returns are so much greater than sheer monetary value. I would argue that our membership of the European Union has been the single, most transformative act on this island in centuries. It has liberated us socially and economically and has allowed us become a truly sovereign and mature State. We need to reflect on that and the long-term threat towards the European Union, that is, the threat to the existence of the European Union. For the first time, the European project is losing a member state, not just any member state but a large influential member state. We need to look towards the future of the European Union and reflect not only on the speech that French President Macron made some years ago, as referenced by Deputy Martin, but equally on the speech made by the Taoiseach in Strasbourg some years ago about the role the European Union will play in the world and how the European Union will evolve against growing international pressures.

We must look at our own neighbourhood also. We are losing the United Kingdom, which is a very important member state, but what are we gaining? No new member state has joined the EU since Croatia in 2013. We have to acknowledge and accept that applicant countries - accession countries - have been standing on the periphery of this Union for far too long. Have we lost the imagination within the European Union to take those applicant countries and formalise their relationship?

Many people have referred to the actions taking place in Turkey and the worrying threat to democracy sometimes posed by President Erdoğan, but we must ask if we in the EU are responsible for that. For how long did we string Turkey along with promises of potential accession to the EU without providing the social and material returns for whatever reforms it might have put in place? We look particularly at the Western Balkans, the former Yugoslavia and those member states that have been looking towards the European Union as a light for the future for so long. How are we to treat them? Will we be proactive during this Croatian Presidency of the European Council? That is not only the short-term challenge in dealing with our neighbours but the long-term challenge. Will the EU become a closed club of 27 or will we continue to evolve into a potentially wider and deeper entity? I hope that we seek to grow within the European Union.

We are very lucky in Ireland. We have a pro-European population. The latest opinion poll by the European Movement indicates that 93% of the population believe our membership of the EU is a good thing. However, we know that can be fickle and may be reliant on the decision of the UK to depart, because prior to Brexit that number decreased to approximately 86%. If we do not continue to stress the importance of our ongoing membership of the European Union domestically as well as internationally, we run the risk of many people here and further afield taking that for granted. We have to remember how far we, as a member state, have come and the things that my generation take for granted. We can live, work and travel across this Continent without any restrictions or worrying about the need for foreign currency. We know that our rights are protected and that our healthcare needs will be met if we travel throughout this wonderful European Union. We have to remember that that was not always the case. Our friends in the United Kingdom will start seeing things changing greatly for them in the next ten months or a year. We have to make sure that is not the situation for this country.

It behoves all of us in this Chamber and in the other Chamber to make sure that, when we speak about the European Union, we are fair and reasonable and we reflect on not only the opportunities European Union membership can still present to this country but also the responsibilities we have as citizens of this State and as citizens of the European Union as per the Maastricht treaty. We must look at that going forward and use this European Council and the next one to reflect constantly on the short, medium and long-term challenges the European Union faces. I fundamentally believe that the challenges Brexit presents to this State and to the European Union can be overcome. Some opportunities may even be presented, but our single most important strength facing into the challenges of Brexit is our continuing membership of the European Union.

I take this opportunity once again to wish the Minister of State, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste well in however much longer they will be dealing with this process.

I hope we can see out the Brexit process and take the European Union forward in a way that continues to benefit all the Irish people.

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