I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. In terms of his reference to President Barroso, has he raised the matter of the dispute between the European Parliament and Commission in respect of the appointment of the Italian nominee, and is he concerned about the clash between these two key EU bodies? Does the Taoiseach believe that the appointment to the Commission for Justice is an appropriate one and has he plans to raise it with fellow European leaders? Did he raise it with President Barroso and if he did, what was the outcome?

I did raise this matter with President Barroso. As the Deputy knows several problems arose involving a number of commissioners. The Italian one got most of the media attention. There are obvious concerns that issues have arisen which have created strains within the groups. The ratification of the full Commission is set for next week and it must be ratified as one group. The President told me that he is engaging in collective discussions with presidents of the various groupings to see whether a satisfactory way forward may be found. He outlined to me what the commissioner-designate stated and while it raised concerns, he hopes to be able to deal with the issues involved in these discussions. I am not sure about the likely outcome of these initiatives. He was not prepared to say what compromises might be reached in the discussions. However, I got the distinct impression that while he is prepared to work with the presidents towards finding a resolution, he does not want a conflict with the European Parliament at the outset.