Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach. It is important that this legislation has passed, albeit seven or eight years too late. I can never, for the life of me, understand how it takes so long to transpose European directives into Irish law. This is a commonsense piece of legislation that is agreed by everybody. Going forward, if there is one lesson from this it is that we need to be doing these transpositions into Irish law a great deal more quickly. The directives are created for a good reason and the time delay was certainly not necessary and was regrettable.

That said, the legislation is greatly welcomed. The euro has served this country and the European Union well. We have to do everything that we can to protect the integrity of the euro. This legislation certainly embellishes the protection of the integrity of the euro which is something that has to be welcomed. The European project, in spite of Brexit, will thrive and we will see this occur post-pandemic. This project has knitted together and has acted very much in solidarity during the pandemic. The European Union has moved in unison. The European Union will never be stronger when we rebuild our continent post-pandemic. We need to do everything we can to protect the components, the currencies, the people, the citizens and the integrity of European project. Gabhaim buíochas.