Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

He may have been but his party seems to have relented on the subject now. The EU has been good to Ireland and Ireland has been good to Europe. The biggest effect has been on the fishing industry and the lobby at that time was not as strong as it should have been compared with other interests. That was then, however, and now we have to maximise quotas and catches under the Common Fisheries Policy and to ensure we get our product to the market after Brexit.

I find the debate on the development of Europe somewhat unreal because the main focus is Brexit. In March 2019, the United Kingdom will no longer be a member of the European Union. There will be a transitional period of two or three years, which is acceptable, but I was in Brussels recently and met British MEPs who will be gone, along with all the influence they currently have in Brussels. People should have some consideration for the dedicated civil servants who worked very well with Irish diplomats and civil servants in Europe. I was given responsibility by the then Minister, Des O'Malley, to be the main negotiator for Ireland and I got tremendous support from the civil servants and ambassadors in that role. I met John Redwood, a pro-Brexiteer, and others around 1990 or 1991. Since that time, everything the United Kingdom wanted from Europe it got, such as derogations on issues it could not deal with at that time. The Single European Act was an important provision for the European Union and has brought great progress to the region. We should recognise the contribution of the United Kingdom to the development and strength of the European Union. We are losing a genuine ally because our interests were totally parallel and always coincided.

I am in favour of development in the EU but I am not at all in favour of a federal Europe. We fought too long for our independence and we want to ensure a united Ireland in time, but not in a federal Europe. The President of France is moving too far, too fast towards a two-speed Europe, with some in and others out, and I think that would be damaging. I regard the prospect of further treaties with scepticism as we have enough to work on at this stage. We need a Union that is more responsive and there have been changes to the role of parliaments. As the Minister said, the Dáil and Seanad are two separate Houses of Parliament in the Republic of Ireland and we have the right to put forward amendments to legislation or to yellow card proposals. It is for the Leader of the House, the Cathaoirleach and his staff to devote a bit more time to European affairs in the Seanad. We should have time set aside to review legislation coming from the Commission and to ensure there is an Irish input. We will fight for and retain the 12.5% corporation tax as we have to. This attractive package is imperative, now more than ever, for our development given the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

The Union should not be paralysed in its expansion and I prepared a report for the Council of Europe in respect of Montenegro. I recommended that it join the EU, along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they should be encouraged to continue with their negotiations. I hope the negotiations are not put on hold but I accept that Turkey will never become a member of the EU as the policies it is pursuing at the moment make it ineligible.

This is a worthwhile debate and I am glad to have had the opportunity to speak on it. I hope we can come back to discuss these issues regularly though, as members of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, Senator Neale Richmond and I will have the opportunity to meet the Minister for briefings. This is about Ireland Inc. and we need to work together as a team. It is not a party political issue but a united Irish approach to the future of the European Union.