Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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13. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will outline the diplomatic and legal recourse available to the Government under the treaties of the European Union in circumstances whereby the European Commission has failed in its obligations to discharge its duties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45364/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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If the Government believed that the European Commission had not fulfilled its obligations in regard to a matter under its remit, in the first instance Ireland would raise the issue at an appropriate level with the relevant Commission services. Under Article 265 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, where an EU institution, including the European Commission has, in infringement of the treaties, failed to act, an EU Member State or an institution may bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Before bringing such an action, it is necessary to first call upon the institution to act, and afford it two months in which to do so. The Court’s case law indicates that, in order to establish that a failure to act has infringed the Treaties, it is necessary to demonstrate that the institution had an obligation to act in the particular circumstances, and that a failure to exercise a discretion to act is not sufficient.