John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to make a number of points about Europe. I will start by congratulating Michael McGrath and wishing him well in the task ahead at a time when Europe is being challenged and the direction of Europe is being questioned. That direction needs to be questioned, and we need at every turn to ensure that Ireland's interests are represented in every decision that is taken.

I agree with the sentiments expressed in respect of Ursula von der Leyen. The groupings that committed themselves to voting against her should do so because a commitment was made directly to the Irish electorate. The European Union has been far too weak in its condemnation of Israel and far too weak in intervening in some more meaningful way. The bombings we have seen of schools and hospitals and the killing of children and parents bring our minds back to previous wars, something we felt we would never see again. Now we have it daily, and we are part of a European Union that, in my opinion, does not do enough and gives far too much time to defending the position of Israel. I condemn all those involved in the war, regardless of what side they are on. There should be lots of room in a modern democracy, a modern world, for intervention, discussion and, particularly, peace.

The Irish position should be one of neutrality. There is lots of talk about the triple lock, and we should not move away from that. I support the view of the world that the name of Ireland equals peace throughout the world. It puts us in the centre of things in terms of our availability for negotiations and credibility in respect of our peacekeeping operations. Any movement away from that, I think, would be damaging to Ireland.

Why is Europe drifting away from the people it represents? I suggest that it is in the main led by bureaucracy and by officials. I suggest that the politicians who are elected there - we had an election recently - are simply not strong enough and maybe not interested enough in setting out the case for Ireland. I understand that we are part of a bigger unit in the European Union, but there is still space within that for challenges to come from those who are pro-Europe but want to make it better and not worse, less bureaucratic, and more centred to the citizen rather than moving away from the individuals in every state who are represented through the European Union.

The issues of the day have to be reflected on. The way in which this is done is such that COMs arrive here for transposition into Irish law without that much question from the Dáil. We get into the finance committee various COMs which affect the day-to-day workings of this country and we seem to just accept them. I am glad to say that the members of the finance committee challenge a lot of the COMs that come before us and are willing to put forward alternative arguments for something different in a constructive way, without being against the European Union but voicing our concerns, particularly about a recent communication to do with Ireland's funding of the arms industry in Europe. We wanted to know how far that was going. Would the money end up elsewhere? Could it be used for something to do with war and arms, and how much would be involved?

Finding detail on that with which to put forward a reasoned argument against the direction Europe was taking in that instance was extremely difficult. Particularly when you look at the number of directives and regulations coming before various committees, it just is not right. It sounds alarm bells for me. It suggests that elected members in Europe are being bypassed or are not giving sufficient scrutiny to what is eventually passed on to member states.

I think of the area of agriculture, where there is a great deal of change going on, particularly because of climate change and so on. The farmers of the European Union are not being understood fully. They are doing a great deal for climate and are having a very positive impact on the management of our countryside here in Ireland. Despite this, they are being forced from one project to another without the appropriate level of financing and support being given to them. I have not heard enough debate about that in Europe to convince me that the message regarding the whole agricultural sector in Ireland is being heard. I have not heard enough argument or debate about the production of food and the provision of food to the European Union and the rest of the world or about protecting Ireland's identity in all of that. That concerns me.

You can say what you want about the recent EU migration pact but it does represent a reduction in our sovereignty. It is a real concern. As politicians attending European institutions become more institutionalised, they tend to more readily accept what officials and civil servants hand them. We are there to challenge things in the interests of the Irish people and to make things better but I rarely see a strong advocate for protecting sovereignty, making things better and being part of Europe. I see the opposite. I see piles of paper, proposals and decisions coming here to be transposed into Irish law without that much consideration. I will give one example that affects this House. I speak about it constantly. I refer to the issue of politically exposed persons, PEPs. What has happened in that regard is just ridiculous. It shows how influential and dogmatic the European Union is and how much it is under the thumb of the G7. That is a real concern. How much are we in command of our own destiny as Europe? How much are we in command of Ireland's destiny within Europe? How much concern do we express about the direction of Europe?

The Covid pandemic affected all of Europe. We have not had a Covid inquiry here but we should have. We should be part of an overall investigation within the European Union. We have to learn from what happened during that pandemic, what went wrong and what went right and how we could make things better for the future. People are concerned. They are dying. A record number of deaths can be ascribed to the pandemic and I ask for action in that area.

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