Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a feeling that on the one hand, the EU has been a very positive force in our lives - we can think of equal pay for men and women. As a son of a small farmer I am very conscious of the EU solidarity dimension. We had a debate yesterday on the successful negotiation of Pillar 2 of the CAP. On the other hand, the downside of the EU is that it sometimes goes beyond its remit and interferes in areas that ought properly to be left to member states. Only in recent weeks the European Union made a representation to the Romanian Government telling it that the putting down of stray dogs was a matter it ought to be careful about even though that approach was not within the EU's remit. I sometimes think that some of the Commissioners have too much time on their hands and are interfering excessively. We see the European Union at its best when it is an institution or a collection of institutions. When it starts to imagine itself as a new country, to which we must all show some kind of allegiance, then it is at its worst and that is where people least sympathise with its aims.

I am not opposing the Bill. There would have been an argument for a national list, to which Senator Cáit Keane referred. Even the naming of the Midlands-North West constituency must have proved a problem. There may be people in the counties of Louth and Meath who wonder why "North East" was not included in some way in the title of the constituency.

In this disadvantaged situation in which we find ourselves, with 11 MEPs instead of 12 as previously, it is all the more important that we have strong Independent voices.