Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

If we could simply implement the majority of the decisions that have already been taken we could add 4% or 5% to the GDP of the European Union as a whole. There is huge potential which is not to be dismissed.

President Van Rompuy has signalled his frustration at the gap that sometimes exists between rhetoric and delivery, a frustration I fully share. We must see urgent progress on measures that are regarded as having real potential to contribute to growth and job creation, including the long-awaited European patent and the energy efficiency directive. Making the most of the Single Market will be an important priority for the Government during our upcoming Presidency. Europe must also take steps to ensure there is a proper flow of finance into the economy to support growth and job creation. That means mobilising the European Investment Bank, project bonds and all potential sources, including the Structural Funds, in support of this goal.

We are in the throes of negotiating the Union's budget for the period beyond 2014. Ensuring this is fully aligned in support of our efforts to generate growth and create jobs will be an important task. We must also ensure a greater focus on the job creation dimension of economic recovery. The only way a recovery will be sustainable, economically, politically and socially, is if it gets people back to work. We in the Government have made clear the priority we attach to this through our action plan for jobs and our Pathways to Work programme. It is long past time for us in Europe to ensure we make the most of the synergies between efforts at national and European level to ensure they are having the maximum effect.

As the Taoiseach identified, a wider debate is under way about how we can take economic and monetary union to a new level. President Van Rompuy will report back to the European Council at the end of the month, following his deliberations with Presidents Barosso, Draghi and Juncker. I very much welcome this debate, which is an important one to which Ireland is ready to contribute positively and constructively. However, it should not distract us from the urgent tasks we need to tackle now. Generating growth is obviously a key priority but so too is overcoming the crisis in Europe's banks and ensuring debt sustainability. We need a collective approach and a solution that benefits this country. Irish people have made great sacrifices throughout the crisis in the interests of Irish recovery and European stability, and they deserve enormous credit for this effort. This is a message we will continue to bring to our European partners in the important debate ahead.

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