Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim an-bhuíoch as labhairt ar an ábhar seo. I am thankful to be speaking on this subject. I also wish to express my gratitude to Edward Snowden for his courageous work in exposing the USA’s secret spying programme. During the summer, we learned that US agencies were secretly bugging the EU mission and member states in New York and its embassy in Washington, as well as the French Embassy in Washington and France's office at the United Nations in New York. It has now been revealed that more than 70 million French telephone calls were recorded in one 30-day period by the National Security Agency, NSA, late last year. It has been found that the interceptions were likely to have targeted people in business, politics and the French Administration, not those who it could be argued threaten America’s national security. The USA clearly is gathering inside knowledge of policy disagreements on global issues and other rifts between member states, particularly on the transatlantic trading and investment partnership, TTIP. Does the Taoiseach intend to raise this issue at the European Council this week? Will he advocate that the TTIP negotiations be stopped due to the USA’s illegal spying? It is ridiculous that this meeting will discuss EU-US co-operation on the digital industry and progress on new European data privacy laws and not face up to this huge elephant in the room. There are a lot of negative consequences of a TTIP for agricultural sovereignty, and ideologically Sinn Féin is opposed to what it seeks to create. However, at a basic level, how can the EU push on with these discussions and negotiations if there is no protection of private data for EU governments or citizens? The US Government has yet to even admit fault and apologise for its actions against so-called allies.

The agenda for this European Council includes a discussion on the progress of the youth employment initiative and the aim to make it fully operational by January 2014. The latest EUROSTAT figures show youth unemployment is at 23% across EU member states but the picture is even gloomier when looking at the jobless rate of under-25s in some crisis-hit countries. For example, it is 55.6% in Spain and 63% in Greece, while this State’s rate is more than 30%. This does not take into account the mass emigration of Irish citizens. It is estimated that over the last five years, 177,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 emigrated. This exodus exceeds even the previous crisis of the 1980s. This is not a lifestyle choice. Families and communities across Ireland and those forced to leave know that for them, emigration is an economic necessity. Although 89,000 people left last year, unemployment fell by just 23,000, which constitutes a 1% decrease in the unemployment rate. It is clear that the policy of Fine Gael and the Labour Party is failing the people and the economy. One way to reduce these trends would be a robust, funded youth guarantee scheme that would create quality full-time employment for those aged 25 or under. Last week the Government announced it was cutting the jobseeker's benefit rate for the under-25s. Those aged 21 to 24 will lose almost 33% of their weekly payment, while 25-year olds will lose 25% of their payment. Basically, the Government is kicking the future of this country when it is down, while wrapping it up in negative spin and blame. One is told that young people are lazy and this cut will shock them into work. One Labour Party Deputy stooped to portraying young people as stuck to flat screen televisions and being uninterested in working.

This illogical cut gives young people just one guarantee, namely, emigration. The meagre €14 million that has been announced for the youth guarantee scheme will do nothing to stop this. The Government seeks to force young people into temporary or precarious employment. Failing that, it will shame them into the JobBridge scam, thereby providing free labour for what would be full-time jobs with negative propaganda that they are lazy and unwilling to work. Cuts in jobseeker's allowance will despatch the rest to another country, thereby passing the buck once again. I take it that nothing else will change after this European Council meeting and discussion except an increase in the empty rhetoric over real investment in young people. The Gathering has nearly finished and 2014 will be the scattering for the young people because of the inadequate responses from the Government at a state and EU level.

Earlier this month, everyone was shocked by the Lampedusa boat disaster that killed more than 350 immigrants and many other similar disasters have occurred with much loss of life. Shockingly, survivors of the disaster were excluded from the funeral ceremony, which also fell short of the full state funeral the Italian Government originally had promised. This must be a massive wake-up for the European Union to increase the support it provides to prevent similar tragedies in the future. A lack of action from EU member states is leading to an increase risk of maritime disaster in the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, further inaction could lead it to become a graveyard for the vulnerable and impoverished. The solution is not to create a fortress Europe or to shove vulnerable migrants into overcrowded, inhuman and prison-like camps.

We need to tackle the root causes of these migration trends and to ensure that the EU protects the dignity and human rights of all people within its territory. Does the Taoiseach plan to raise this issue at the European Council meeting? Does he have any plans to take action to prevent such tragedies in the future, including measures that address their root causes and that place the vulnerability and human rights of migrants at the centre of any response?

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