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

It will need every country to support it, which means it is not likely to happen. Regarding the veto, we are fully aligned in this country with EU foreign policy. There are countries that have unnecessarily held up some important foreign policy statements by way of the veto. We have seen it used in regard to the accession of North Macedonia in a way that is not good for anybody, including the country that is using it. We accept the veto is important but when we see it being used, we see it is not really effective, even for the countries that use it. I do not know when Ireland last exercised its veto. We will discuss the issue at the informal meeting of European affairs ministers. My position, on behalf of the Government, is that we do not support it.

Regarding the Conference on the Future of Europe, there is a huge amount we can do that does not require treaty change, a move to qualified majority voting or anything like that. The Taoiseach has said that Ireland supports treaty change, particularly in respect of health. However, generally, I do not detect a huge appetite around the table for treaty change and, therefore, I do not see this particular issue arising.

See this speech in context