Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cathaoirleach. Maybe I will use the minute and a half Mr. Andrews did not use end of my speech. This is a very important day. Ireland is a member of the European Union since 1973. I do not believe this process has happened before, namely, MEPs coming into the Seanad Chamber and addressing the Senators. It is very worthwhile. The MEPs might not realise it but they are approximately half way through their five-year term as this month is two and a half years into the term of 2019 to 2024. Probably none of us got to see, or to engage with, the MEPs as much as we might normally have because MEPs have been in Brussels or cocooned. Everybody else has been cocooned as well. That engagement has been missing. In the last Seanad, when we were in the temporary Chamber, I asked for a debate not on the future of the European Union, but on the benefits of the European Union. We sometimes tend to use the European Union as a stick, in the sense that it introduced noise regulations, fertiliser rules or emissions rules. It is used as the body to blame. We say that we did not impose this on people and that somebody else did. Even though Ireland is one of the most pro-European Union nations in Europe, we need to be always cognisant of all of the benefits, including the Erasmus programme. My mother was Erasmus co-ordinator in UCD many years ago. People who participated benefitted from travelling abroad to universities in The Netherlands, France and Germany at the time because the EU was smaller back in the 1990s.

We also need to remember that it is the world's most successful peace project. We do not reflect on that. We take all the good stuff for granted, like in all politics. Dublin is very lucky, and this is before I throw any rocks at anybody, to have four parliamentarians who are so experienced and who bring so much knowledge to their portfolios and to their committees from Ireland. I just spotted that all four of the MEPs were elected in the local elections in 1999. I think Mr. Cuffe might have been on a local authority prior to that, but all of them were elected successfully and are still around. Some of them, like myself recently, had little gaps in their political career but have come back. That in itself shows great resilience.

I was on the finance committee in the last Oireachtas and the EU finance committees used to meet twice a year, once in Brussels in February and once in the country holding the Presidency around late October or early November. It was useful that we met each other.The finance committees used to meet twice a year, once in Brussels in February and once in the country that held the Presidency in late October or early November. That was useful but has not happened in the past while. I am not sure many other committees do that.

We debated a reasoned opinion in the House today on the Fit for 55 package. I am on the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. As an island nation, transport is important, as Ms Daly noted. The transport connectivity that other countries take for granted is not available in Ireland. One can jump on a train in the Czech Republic and go to Germany, Denmark or France. Even though the UK has left the EU, one can still get a train the whole way from Brussels to Glasgow, as I saw Mr. Cuffe post on Twitter. We do not have that kind of connectivity. Ms Daly referred to aviation, which has been a major issue for our committee. It is important that the EU appreciates just how disconnected we are from Europe. France, our nearest EU neighbour, will assume the Presidency in January, as the French embassy on Merrion Square has indicated. That will be positive for us.

We also need to acknowledge the success of the Covid digital certificate. It has been implemented really quickly, despite the fact that many people thought it would not be. All of a sudden, it arrived in everyone's inbox. It saddens me that vaccines have gone unused in countries in eastern Europe such as Romania, but 700,000 vaccines destined for Romania were not wasted as they were reallocated to Ireland where we have the highest vaccine take-up rate in the EU.

The question and answer session will be later. Not every MEP was able to attend our previous session on the Midlands-North-West constituency. It is brilliant that all four Dublin MEPs are here. Long may this engagement continue. Do they put on not just the green jersey but also the blue Dublin jersey? Do they work together as much as they can on behalf of Dublin?

There is a one China policy. In a vote on Taiwan recently, nine Irish MEPs voted one way, a couple went the other way and a couple abstained. I would be interested in hearing the thoughts of the MEPs present on what happened and why any of them voted in particular ways.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity to speak. On behalf of Fianna Fáil, I thank all of the MEPs for being here.