Yesterday we welcomed the announcement by the European Court of Justice that it had dismissed the appeal by the Hungarian and Polish Governments in respect of the European Commission's new-found ability to withhold funding from those countries due to flagrant breaches of the rule of law. Will the Government now urge European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to use that new law to make it clear that European citizens can continue to live in free democracies where the rule of law comes foremost rather than being subject to thuggish regimes that suspend the rights of the judiciary, minorities and many others?

He is not here now, but Deputy McNamara and I were joking earlier about what the difference is between Ireland and the UK. We have a constitutional legal system. I see the European Union in a similar light. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is, in effect, an extensive constitutional arrangement to which we have all agreed. It provides us all with real strength and protection in the context of fundamental rights. The European Commission and others are right that it is their role to stand up for the protection and implementation of EU treaties. I am glad the European Court of Justice has backed that up with its decision. For us, that adherence to law and that independence of the legal system, which has been one of the hallmarks of the success of our country over 100 years, is very important. I understand that the court decision was in part based on that very issue of the independence of the law. We are right to stand by that as a fundamental cornerstone of both our Union and our own Constitution.