Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is particularly fitting that today's statements coincide with a most important anniversary, that is, the 50th anniversary of when Ireland voted 83% in favour of joining the then European Economic Community, EEC. Support for our EU membership has been consistent since then; in fact, it has increased to 88%. The Government's EU50 programme this year will provide opportunities to reflect on our membership.

Yesterday, ministerial colleagues and I celebrated Europe Day by visiting, together with ambassadors, a number of schools. Yesterday commemorates the Schuman Declaration. It is worth considering the text of that declaration, made on 9 May 1950, to remind ourselves of the twin-track approach that is part of what the EU is all about. The declaration stated:

It [is proposed] that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe. The pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development...

Mr. Schuman went on to say: "The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible." By merging coal and steel production, the objective was not just to lay the foundations for economic development but to lay the foundations for permanent peace between France and Germany. That is what has happened. It is why I find it so frustrating that at every referendum on EU matters, we hear about the Union being a force of war or conflict, when, in fact, it is the exact opposite and its record proves it. That is why the Irish people support it.

Yesterday, I was pleased to go with the Danish ambassador to a number of schools. Denmark joined the EEC at the same time as Ireland. We wanted to join for various reasons but we also kind of had to because Britain was joining and we had huge trade dependencies with it. That seems ironic now given that Britain has left the Union and our trade dependency on that country has reduced substantially as a result of our EU membership. In contrast to what anti-EEC campaigners said at the time, I believe our sovereignty has been massively enhanced by being at the European table. There is no question whatsoever about that. Nevertheless, it was a courageous decision to join. We had gained our independence only 50 years before we voted to join the EEC, but I think our people understood the full benefits.

We have since seen a transformative change in our country, including the development of an open economy, freedom of movement and the single currency, to name just a few developments. The right of women to equal pay rates, on which Ireland and a number of other countries were behind at the time, was a condition of our membership. The Government had to make a specific decision in that regard and the Taoiseach and I have seen the memorandum relating to that decision. It was an Irish Commissioner who drove that change on within Europe. Although Europe forced us along a particular road, there were Irish people involved in bringing the entire Union forward on that road.

I take the opportunity to remind the House that while a lot of Irish people have joined the then EEC's civil service and administration from the 1970s on, many have since retired and one third of our staff there are due to retire in the next three years. We are campaigning really hard to ensure Irish people think carefully about careers within the EU. Indeed, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and I have just had a meeting with Commissioner Hahn, who is in Dublin today, on that very topic.

On Ukraine, EU member states are working together to confront shared challenges. It is more important than ever that the Union is united and internally strong. At the same time, we should not be too frustrated when decisions around Ukraine and other difficult issues take time to make. The EU is a democracy made up of 27 separate democracies, the representatives of which sit around a table. The truth is that it is complicated to make that democracy work. We need patience, understanding and compromises.

When the European Council takes three days to make a decision or, indeed, does not make a decision, we should never regard that as a failure but simply as democracy in action. Sometimes agreement just cannot be reached. However, on the major issues of our time in recent years, whether Ukraine, the vaccine programme or Brexit, we have seen extraordinary unity around the European table. It does not come automatically or straightforwardly but it does come and is worth working for, and that work takes time.

The Taoiseach spoke about the desire of the Ukrainian people to join the European Union. I was so proud of our Taoiseach when he made his very clear statement in that regard a number of weeks ago. The Ukrainian people have made great efforts to defend their democracy and their rights to free speech and free media. That is really important for the EU and makes Ukraine an important ally of ours in respect of democracy, human rights and freedom. The EU, of course, is committed to supporting the Ukrainian Government with its immediate needs and, when this war ends, as it will end, with the reconstruction of the country. The European Union, through the European Council, has agreed to adopt a Ukraine solidarity trust fund.

As for Brexit, the protocol was designed and agreed by the UK and the EU to address the challenges faced by Northern Ireland following the UK's decision to leave the EU. The protocol protects the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions. It fully recognises the constitutional position of Northern Ireland, to which there is no threat, and recognises the principle of consent. All sides need to work to ensure calm in the post-election period as parties endeavour to form an executive, and we wish them well in doing so. Everybody must, however, remember what John Hume told us about the three sets of relationships, which are obvious now but may not have seemed as obvious when Hume set them out. There are the very important relationships within Northern Ireland, which we now see in practice with the hoped-for setting up of an executive. There are also the North-South dimension and the east-west relationship, which are very important. Those relationships underline and underpin the entire Good Friday Agreement.

It is incumbent on the British Government to continue working in the spirit of what the Taoiseach and the European Union have offered to underpin that peace, not to take any one-sided or unilateral moves, and always to remember that every action taken in Northern Ireland affects a very delicate place. That action must be taken together. That is better. Any unilateral action would be an unnecessary source of tension at a time when we need to work together. The European Commission has come forward with wide-ranging solutions and remains fully committed to working with the UK. The issue of medicines was a big one in this area this time last year. That issue has been completely resolved in recent weeks. A huge amount of effort went into that. I pay tribute to those Members of the Dáil, Members of the European Parliament and members of the Government who contributed to make that happen. Nobody sought publicity for any of the work they did on it, but a huge amount of work was done to ensure Brexit did not ultimately cause disruption to the supply of medicines in Northern Ireland. We are happy and do not want a fuss. We did not want to be seen to be interfering in the elections, but that issue has been resolved. It is a sign of the European Union's good faith.

The Taoiseach spoke about the Conference on the Future of Europe. I thank the Oireachtas Members who went to the plenary debates, namely, Deputy Brady, Deputy Niamh Smyth from my party, Deputy Richmond and Senator Higgins. I thank our citizens' representative, Noelle O Connell, and the citizens randomly selected to take part in the Conference on the Future of Europe and the plenaries and citizens' panels. Their work has kind of gone unheralded. I have been encouraging them to make themselves known to the media. They will have to do that themselves. These randomly selected citizens have done a huge amount of work. We do not know who they are, but they have played a significant role in the conference and in setting Europe's and Ireland's future direction. I was glad to meet a number of them in Strasbourg. Their work should be heralded more. The Government was very conscious that they had to do that work independently, and they have done so.

There will be a lot of work ahead on the Conference on the Future of Europe. Big decisions will have to be made. The European Parliament has already spoken on it. The Council of the European Union will have to consider the recommendations, some of which are far-reaching. The important point is that we have a debate and democracy. Nobody is going to force anybody down any particular road. That is not what the European Union is about.

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