Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Bradford for sharing his time. I welcome this Bill which gives me more confidence in the European project. I was one of the 18% of voters who voted "No" in the last referendum because of a lack of confidence in the scrutiny of European measures by the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is understandable why people in my home area of Donegal lack confidence in the European project. For example, a consortium of business people attempted to process a planning application for the construction of a golf course on sand dunes in north west Donegal. Their application was turned down because of European Union directives covering protection of fauna in the area. This sent negative signals to people in the local community, including myself, who were envisaging building hotels and leisure facilities which would have created tourism and employment opportunities, thus helping to secure the sustainable development of their area. We questioned the legitimacy of the authority of these directives, taking the view that the central authority in Dublin should not be obliged to treat Donegal any differently from other regions in the country. In view of this, the Bill is welcome as it will afford me the opportunity to scrutinise legislation, proposals and directives from the Union.

Another example of European Union bureaucracy concerns local restaurateurs in my home town. They get endless lists of conditions and requirements from the health boards, which emanate from Europe, often covering as many as 40 or 50 health and safety conditions that must be met before they can welcome members of the public to their premises. It does little for confidence in the European process, especially when those affected travel on holiday to other European Union countries, such as France, and find cats and dogs in restaurants. I hope this Bill will address this aspect and help to reduce the democratic deficit in the European project.