Ms Banotti, MEP:

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his warm welcome and also thank the Leader of the House, Senator O'Rourke, who wrote to me on the subject of MEPs addressing the Seanad. It is customary on occasions such as this to express how delighted one is to be invited here. I am not merely delighted, I am thrilled to be here.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

When elected to the European Parliament in 1984 one of the first suggestions I made was that MEPs be required, not invited or allowed, to participate in some aspect of discussions here on European legislation. I suggested we should be called upon to participate in debates and to inform our colleagues in the Oireachtas about the work we were doing, how we were going about it and how it could be of extreme importance to the work being done in both Houses. Unfortunately, MEPs were not even a twinkle in Mr. de Valera's eye when drafting the Constitution. I was told again and again that such a matter would have to be put to the people by way of referendum. Happily the Leader of the House decided she knows best, as she does on many issues. I thank her for inviting me here and hope it is a tradition that will continue.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

The volume of legislation that has gone through my hands in the past 19 years is staggering. Some time ago, I was highly unimpressed by the then Oireachtas committee on third legislation, which MEPs were allowed to attend but at which they could not speak. At the three meetings of the committee which I attended, a report was introduced and passed over because it had since been voted into legislation.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs is doing a good job. It is interesting for us, as Members of the European Parliament, to consider how our colleagues at home tease out matters. Only one member state – Denmark – has a parliamentary committee at which real discussions on European legislation takes place before it is voted on.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

As I am the first MEP to have the privilege to address this House I will give Senators a brief idea of how we go about our work. Many Senators may have already been to the European Parliament. Each MEP is entitled to a full place on one parliamentary committee of which there are 19. Many MEPs are supplementary members of various other committees. For example, I am a member of the Civil Liberties Committee which deals with issues such as immigration and asylum. I am also a member of the Petitions Committee. It was as a member of that committee that I was invited to take on the role of President's mediator on matters relating to abducted children. I was appointed because the committee was receiving a considerable number of requests from parents whose children had been abducted. It was decided it was best to appoint one person to deal with these often delicate and dangerous cases. I have been involved in that work for eight years and have been re-appointed by five successive Presidents of the Parliament. The issue is, no doubt, of interest to many Senators.