Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Probably, yes. In any event, it was said in this Chamber on many occasions that this is the ideal House to scrutinise European legislation and directives. I ask the Leader to give consideration to bringing that forward. We have the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence. We used to have an EU scrutiny committee and various joint committees deal with European laws and directives. However, I believe this House could play a significant role in scrutinising European laws and directives. I support Senator McDowell's comments on the very heavy workload that will be thrust on various Departments and that, as a country, we will probably need to employ many additional people in those areas but this House could play a significant role in that regard.