Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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624. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the process for selection for members of the European Committee of the Regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55211/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The process by which members are elected to the Committee of the Regions is that the General Secretariat of the European Council writes to Member States to ask that they submit names of candidates for their national delegations for the renewal of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) for the

relevant period.

The Irish delegation to the CoR consists of 9 full members and 9 alternate members. Alternate members may attend in place of their full member when the full member is unavailable to attend a meeting; they are unable to attend meetings without a full member to delegate to them.

Members are usually appointed for a full 5-year term but may also be appointed for a shorter duration as a result of any vacancies that arise mid-term.

My role, as Minister, is to consult with political parties and independents, as appropriate, to select suitable candidates for appointment to the CoR and to advise the Government concerning such appointments. The Government must approve candidates who are nominated for appointment to the CoR. The appointments to the CoR are then made by the European Council at its next available meeting.

A member of the CoR must be an elected member of a local authority. Where a member of a local authority is appointed as a member of the CoR but is not already a member of their relevant regional assembly then he or she will automatically become a member of that regional assembly from the date of their appointment to the CoR.