Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for this opportunity to say a few words on the recent European Council meeting. No doubt the European Council has a considerable impact on our lives. It will be interesting to see how that impact will increase over the years to come. I wish I had Deputy Harkin's confidence in what Europe will do in terms of Ireland and that we should be looking out for and happy with what they will do. Unfortunately, I do not believe that we should. Even when it comes to Brexit, for instance, in terms of the fishing community, we saw that Europe looked after the French fishing communities but shafted ours in the negotiations. That was partly our own fault because the Minister did not bother even talking to the European negotiators in relation to it in the run-up to Brexit taking place. From October through to the end of the year, there was no contact from the Government at all in relation to fishing with the EU negotiators. There is probably an element of us being a little responsible for that as well but there is no doubt that in Europe might is right, they look after themselves first and then if anybody else benefits from it, that is well and good.

In relation to the Council meeting that took place, we should give a cautious welcome to the fact that Ukraine and Moldova have been given candidate status for joining the EU. That is cautiously welcome because the EU, in a report on Ukraine only last October, stated that Ukraine was the most corrupt country in Europe that it had worked in. What has changed in relation to that? Ukraine has had the difficulty of an invasion and what the Russians are doing there is completely wrong, but Ukraine will still be a corrupt country at the end of it. That process has to be resolved and has to be dealt with. While Ukraine joins the European Union, that corruption will have to be sorted out and dealt with. Zelenskyy presided over that corruption before the war with Russia and that has to be dealt with.

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