Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the European project on Europe Day. Peace is something that the EU has at its cornerstone. We see that in its support for the Ukrainian people in the face of the Russian aggressor and we see it in the way the EU has defended the content and the context of the Good Friday Agreement, because the context is important.

These are to be welcomed. When Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the EU, addressed Oireachtas Members towards the end of last year, many fine words were said about the institutions of the EU. I am not here to argue about those, but I do want to address the manner in which we, as Members of the Oireachtas, engage with the EU because certain issues have emerged in recent times that show that while the EU has a role to play in how member states address key issues such as funding and environmental issues, there seems to be no coherent pathway of communications from Government offices. Take our forestry sector. New afforestation licence applications cannot be accepted at the moment because the Government delayed getting sanction from the EU for the new forestry programme. It did so on the basis that it had to wait until the state aid guidelines were in place before applying for an exemption for the Irish forestry programme. Following a question from the Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus, it emerged that other countries have state aid schemes relating to afforestation in place. They will be running for various durations in the coming years. So our forestry industry is effectively on hiatus because the Government either did not understand the work of the EU or the EU did not convey it to the Government properly. Sometimes fault can be deflected onto the EU when the fault really lies closer to home.

I want to point to the Government’s apparent inability to act in its own interests unlike other countries in the EU. This Government uses the EU as a curtain behind which to hide. We have seen this with the windfall tax. The Government sought to block attempts to introduce a windfall tax on energy companies that have benefited from soaring prices until the EU did so. The Government has dragged its feet on the matter since.

The EU project is something we want to remain a central part of. It is not perfect. We saw that during the economic crisis, for which we can thank Fianna Fáil, and the austerity that was overseen by Fine Gael. In order for the EU to work in our interests, the Government must use it as effectively as possible and not in the blundering way it has done so in respect of so many matters.

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