The first item on the agenda is the election of a Chairman. I must ask for nominations for the position of Chairman.
Election of Chairman
Clerk to the Committee
I propose Deputy Joe Costello.
I second that proposal.
Clerk to the Committee
As there are no other nominations, I call on Deputy Joe Costello to take the Chair.
Deputy Joe Costello took the Chair.
I thank the members for electing me to serve as Chairman of the committee. I am looking forward to working with all of the members in the coming days, weeks, months and years. I congratulate all of the members on their appointment to this committee.
In the first instance, I want to recognise the considerable and valuable work done over the past four and a half years by my predecessor, Deputy Bernard Durkan, who, I am delighted to note, is on the committee, and also the former Vice Chairman, Deputy Dooley, who is also on the committee, and the Joint Committee on European Affairs. I served on that committee and I am glad to have had the opportunity of experiencing the excellent efforts made by it.
The European Union is playing an important role in Irish parliamentary affairs. That role is increasing on a regular basis. Approximately half the legislation we deal with domestically emanates from Europe. In that context, and in the context of the Lisbon treaty which has conferred greater powers in terms of supervision, accountability and framing of legislation where there are greater inputs from European parliaments on a range of measures in holding the European Commission and the European institutions accountable as well as the domestic Parliament accountable, this committee has a wider remit than previous committees. I expect we would exercise that remit to the maximum and carry out our business fully. In the past, to a considerable degree, Ministers did not come before this committee. Indeed, most of the Ministers did not appear before their sectoral committees. At this point in time, however, a greater degree of accountability is required. It is the function of committees to hold the Government accountable regarding in-house matters and particularly European matters. This will be a major function of this committee and also of the other sectoral committees because we operate under two remits: the terms of reference we received from the Dáil in the motion that was passed and the programme for Government.
The programme for Government makes it quite clear that the work of the committee will be shared with the sectoral committees and that each committee will be responsible for examining and scrutinising matters that come from the European Union. That will be an important role for them. We will do that in consultation and in co-ordination with them and ensure that matters European are properly scrutinised at all levels, but particularly that this burden of work is shared across the entire sectoral divide.
As the members will be aware, there are many important issues and challenges facing Ireland and Europe. It is a critical time in the history of the European Union and it is an interesting time for a committee of this nature. Today, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance are in Brussels dealing with important economic issues. All of these matters will, in one way or another, come before us in the weeks and months ahead.
Another area in which I would have some interest and concern, a matter that was discussed to a considerable degree under the previous committee, as Deputy Durkan will be aware as he was very much involved, is what was thrown up by the Lisbon treaty referendum. It showed that there was a high degree of disconnectedness between the citizenry of this country and what was happening in the European Union. We were not as good as we could have been in communicating Europe to the citizens of this country. There is a role for this committee in engaging the public in our deliberations so that when we discuss major issues that arise on the work programme of the European Union and the Commission, including legislative proposals, we can open up lines of communication to the public and invite them to contribute to the debate.
It is also important that we engage with the recommendation by the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the European Union, which was established in the aftermath of the Lisbon treaty to investigate how we could maximise the engagement between the citizenry and the European Union, on establishing an information centre in Parliament which would offer in-house and outreach programmes to communicate what happens here and in the European Parliament. Given that approximately 50% of the legislation passed in this Parliament emanates from Europe, we must engage the Irish public as fully as possible if we are to deliberate on these matters properly.
I expect to outline at a later stage our work programme and how we will conduct our business. I thank members for electing me to this position at this important period in European affairs. I consider it an honour to chair this extremely important and influential committee and I am sure we will be able to work together in the best interests of the country.
I propose to suspend the meeting temporarily as Deputy Donohoe, who is being proposed as Vice Chairman, has not yet arrived.
Before we suspend the sitting, I wish the Chairman well in his role. The Chairman and Deputies Durkan and Dooley as former Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively, played important roles in the Lisbon treaty debates. Their involvement contributed greatly to the success of the second Lisbon referendum, which was vital.
I do not doubt the Chair's commitment to Europe and his knowledge of the workings of the European Union. He is an excellent choice for the position and I wish him every success. I am delighted to have been appointed to this committee. I was anxious to become a member because it will play an important role at this crucial stage. We have a responsibility to work with our colleagues in Europe to put our case forward. The former Chairman, Deputy Durkan, managed to convey that message to other parliamentary committees on European affairs. I commend him for his commitment in that regard.
I congratulate the Chairman on his accession to office. I have no doubt that he will do the Houses of the Oireachtas proud and that his knowledge of European affairs will stand him in good stead. He was an excellent member of the previous committee and his attention to duty was exemplary. I wish him well in his new role.
The current period is probably more important than any other in the history of the European Union. It is crucial that members of parliaments of the member states engage through their respective committees with the European institutions and with each other. We must become more familiar with each others' problems in order to be authoritative when speaking on European issues. It is particularly important that elected members of parliament fully play their role in terms of entering into dialogue, unlike the experience of the past when there was a tendency for people with delegated roles to speak with an authority they did not possess. In other words, they were acting ultra vires. That is something of which we need to be aware in the future.
Members will recall the contretemps we had with a certain individual in respect of the Schuman report, which I hope we will follow up at a later stage. Perhaps we can even arrange a meeting with the gentleman concerned in order to avail of an opportunity to explain Ireland’s position from an Irish point of view.
I am glad to hear that sectoral committees are playing a greater role. I hope they fully appreciate the rule being thrust upon them in so far as European issues are concerned. For far too long we have blamed the European institutions for issues that received their imprimatur in the Houses of the Oireachtas and other member state parliaments. There is no sense in casting around for blame after the horse has bolted. As committee members, we have to examine and respond to these issues. The Chairman will recall that most Ministers in the previous Administration readily appeared before the relevant committees without resistance. There were one or two exceptions who treated committees as if they were non-existent or of no importance. I welcome that the programme for Government clearly sets out a different attitude and I am not blaming the major Opposition party for a reluctance to meet committees.
I join the previous speakers in wishing the Chairman well in his new position. Having worked with him for the past four years, I am confident he has the skills and ability to ensure the committee will play an active role. Deputy Durkan and others have outlined the serious work that needs to be done and Fianna Fáil looks forward to continuing the transparent and non-partisan approach we took in the last Dáil.
It would be wrong if I failed to recognise the tremendous work done by Deputy Durkan in his time as Chairman, particularly in respect of the difficult tasks associated with the various referendums. I welcome the new clerk to the committee and acknowledge the fine work done by the previous secretariat over the past several years.
Siobhán Malone was our clerk in the previous Dáil and Una Langan is our new clerk.
I wish the Chairman well in his new role. He is well qualified and he will do an excellent job. The committee's role is important, particularly now that, under the Lisbon treaty, parliaments have the right to convey their concerns about new legislation within eight weeks of publication. Will a facility be made available to the Chairman? I was in Brussels for two years. The Irish secretariat there comprises more than 90 people who have expertise and who monitor every Bill and regulation going through the European institutions from an Irish point of view. If I asked them for advice on any matter, I received a three or four-page response within 48 hours regarding the Irish position and what was in the best interests of Ireland. As this committee has a role in what is going through the European institutions, will the Chairman have access to that facility? It would be important to make that facility available to him because of the volume of legislation, regulation and directions. I am not sure whether that can be done but it would be useful, particularly if we have an oversight role. It might be worth considering this.
I will bear that in mind. Any source from which we can get relevant information will be availed of. We have our own secretariat and we have access to the Oireachtas Library as well. I am anxious to involve Members of the European Parliament and the institutions of the European Union as much as possible in all our deliberations. We will contact the various secretariats as often as we can for information.