Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I do not believe it is and the Irish people will have to have a vote if we want to meddle with the triple lock. It was given as a sop. I am old enough to remember canvassing in favour of Nice I and Nice II. If it was today, I would not be canvassing in favour. Nice II was passed because of concessions, one of which was the triple lock. We need to have our voice heard in Europe and our concerns need to be listened to. More balance is needed, especially from our current Taoiseach and Tánaiste. For them, everything goes. We are top of the class and will do whatever Europe wants. We have seen that with many pieces of legislation as well.

I may be straying from the European Council now, but I also recognise the European Court of Justice has given access to justice to people here when they could not get justice in Ireland. We have seen many cases like that, where the European Court of Justice gives people a hearing when they do not get a fair hearing at home. As regards the post-European Council and our issues there, we are in a very volatile time.

What is going on in Gaza is incomprehensible. Words cannot even describe how people feel but we need to be careful. We need to be an cúramach ar fad. Hopefully, that will end soon. By God, it cannot end soon enough, the slaughter of children and everything else is horrific, but we need not to make too many enemies out there either. Why are other European countries, in spite of the horror they see, being so careful and prudent? Why are they not rushing out? I say this in the context of the clamour here for Senator Black's Bill and all of the emails we get about Gaza. We are the only people making these noises. We have to have a balanced and more nuanced view. We have to accept that we are a small island and while we are part of Europe and need to be an equal player, we do not have to be the best boys in the rang gach lá. Some days we can be the buachaill or cailín dána, assert ourselves and assert the hard-fought freedom we have here as an independent State.

I also canvassed for accession to Europe in 1973. I am probably showing my age now but a lot of things have changed since then, with Ms Merkel and others. There are huge issues, and I am not even talking about immigration. There are huge issues with migration here. There is funding there to support it but I do not even know how we claim that funding, as a partner in Europe. We are entitled to it to pay towards the costs of migration. We cannot have completely open borders. We must be seen and heard at these meetings to be standing up for the voice of an independent, neutral country, not in a cosy cartel, trying to be the best boy in the class. We do not need to be the best buachaill in the class gach uair. That is difficult.

I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response to the debate. People in Ireland want more of a balance. They do not want us running headlong into every issue in Europe, trying to be at the front line and the centre of it. We need to have balance and we need to have respect for the electorate here in Ireland.

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