Opposition parties have criticised the Government for doing "too little, too late" in its bid to secure an extra seat at the European Parliament. Fine Gael and Labour both said the Government had been disappointingly slow in lobbying Brussels to get one of 16 extra seats at the parliament that will become available from 2009.
The criticism came as the parliament's constitutional affairs committee recommended Ireland's representation should remain at 12 seats after the next European elections. In contrast, Spain, France, Britain, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Bulgaria, Latvia and Sweden would win extra seats under its proposal.
EU leaders will make a final decision on the composition of the parliament next month.
Avril Doyle, leader of the Fine Gael delegation at the European Parliament, said the Government had done "too little, too late" on the issue if it was serious about gaining a 13th seat. "Dick Roche was present at the Council of Ministers on June 18th as minister for the environment and July 23rd as European Affairs Minister and not once did he open his mouth on this issue," she said.
Labour's spokesman on European affairs, Joe Costello, said the Government did not mount a strong campaign to make sure Ireland had the strongest possible representation in Europe.