28 Feb 2013, 17:54
Leading journalists were before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs for a wideranging discussion which centred on how Ireland can best manage the challenges presented in an evolving European Union.
28 February 2013
Ann Cahill of the Irish Examiner, RTE’s Sean Whelan and Dan O’Brien of the Irish Times addressed the Committee as part of its on-going national debate on the future of the European Union.
Chairman of the Committee Dominic Hannigan TD said: “We thank the three respected commentators for insightful, candid and sometimes provocative presentations on how to best equip Ireland to deal with the challenges posed by a European Union in flux. The issue of a more powerful Germany was raised, though we take on board Dan O’Brien’s view that it may be an under-assertive Germany that might pose a bigger risk to the European project into the future. Meanwhile, Ann Cahill pointed to recent calls for Europe to move away from the market centred approach of recent years. Pointing to displeasure among certain Member States of our tax system, she said that Ireland needed to play a more principled role in shaping the direction of the European Union.”
“We discussed the role of national parliaments in underpinning democratic legitimacy in an evolving European Union. We heard that Irish politics, and our parliamentary system in particular, needs to be better equipped to track European legislation more efficiently, such as through the greater use of the Seanad in EU scrutiny. We also heard a thought-provoking suggestion from Sean Whelan that our entire electoral system required reform to ensure our parliamentarians had more time to spend on working on national and European legislation.
“With the discussions on closer integration advancing at European Union level, our Committee intends to engage Irish citizens and civil society to ensure that they are at the forefront of this debate. Our submissions process remains open until 29 March and we hope to receive a wide-range of views as what happens at European level impacts in every corner of our country.”
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Call for Submissions: The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs is leading a national debate on Ireland and the future of the European Union. As part of this process, the Committee is inviting submissions from individual members of the public and organisations on the future of the European Union and Ireland’s role in that Union. The closing date for receipt of submissions is 29 March 2013. Read more and make a submission.
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Dublin 2
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Committee Membership
Deputies
Dominic Hannigan, TD (Chairman)
Paschal Donohoe, TD (Vice-Chairman)
Eric Byrne, TD
Seán Crowe, TD
Timmy Dooley, TD
Bernard J Durkan, TD
John Halligan, TD
Seán Kyne, TD
Joe O’Reilly, TD
Senators
Colm Burke,
Fidelma Healy Eames,
James Heffernan,
Terry Leyden,
Kathryn Reilly