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

I do not mind saying I support the European project and have done so since the beginning, but I also do not mind saying we should, whenever necessary, be critical of the direction Europe might be taking on any aspect of the role it plays.

I also believe we should never forget our own sovereignty and our own people and, if we are not happy about the direction Europe is taking, we should not be afraid to put forward views and opinions in an effort to change that direction.

On the militarisation of Europe and the talk about peace versus those who want to bring up the arms race, purchase arms and so on, Europe and Ireland have a lot to offer in respect of a peace project. We have always been the ones who were recognised as playing a huge role in relation to peace and we should continue to do so. There is no harm in our saying we will go so far on one particular part of the project but no further. I do not want to see us arming up and getting ready to play a role in a European army. I do not want to see that.

On the agricultural side, there is a lot more Europe could do on farming, funding the initiatives it currently has, and in making sure CAP is not only funded but that it is possible to implement it without the amount of bureaucracy and red tape that I see farmers having to engage with every single day. I do not want to nitpick but I would give the example of the latest directive from the European Union, relating to local authority grants, whereby you cannot now get a grant to change a boiler but you must go for a bigger option of a full kit-out for the home. It does not make any sense, yet I have not heard anyone in Europe say on Ireland and what we are doing here that there is a need to protect the industry and recognise that most people applying for those grants are not wealthy. They are older people trying to make the best they can of a grant and of a failed heating system they might have in their home.

On the bigger picture, I fear Mercosur and the deal that is being talked about. Some 100,000 tonnes of beef into Europe will scare any farmer and will cause difficulties for those planning to farm beef or whatever because of the uncertainty. We need certainty around that. On CETA I would like to see more said in terms of the courts. It needs to be explained to the Irish people. That is the big thing for me. Europe has moved away from the people. It has created a huge gap between the bureaucracy of Europe and, in our case, the Irish people. I would like to see more said by members of the European Parliament.

I want to add my voice to all of those who have spoken about Gaza and what needs to be done. Not enough is being said regarding the leadership of the European Union and what we feel about what is happening. It is genocide or war crime; whatever it is, people are dying and kids are dying.

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