I attended a Fine Gael public meeting on the Nice treaty last night and was most impressed by the contribution of former MEP and Labour Party Deputy, Brendan Halligan. One of the issues he addressed was that of the democratic deficit and our almost unanimous view that there is some sort of democratic deficit in Europe from which we are all suffering. He challenged us to ask ourselves if the democratic deficit was greater in European politics than at home. He posed a very valid point that, within the structures of Europe, there is absolute media access, not just to the Parliament, certain Commission meetings or committee meetings, but even also to the meetings of the various European political party groupings. He asked if we are ever likely to see the day when the media will be allowed attend a meeting of the Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil or Labour Party parliamentary parties. There is media access to a high level within the European structures.