Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues, I welcome the delegation. All of us, including the Chairman, have encouraged similar visits in the past as they help us to ensure we have a better understanding of each other's positions when dealing with issues at European level. I have felt for a long time that the level of interaction between the Members of national Parliaments is not nearly sufficient. Such interaction takes place at Government level, at Civil Service level, at European Parliament level and at Commission level, but it does not take place at national Parliament level. One of the bulwarks of the Lisbon treaty was that extra powers and strengths were to be given to national Parliaments. I saw it as a contradiction in terms to be looking for greater integration which would, in effect, give more power to the European Parliament and the other European institutions, while trying to give more power to national Parliaments at the same time. It was obvious that these two goals were on a collision course.

Like other speakers, I express my feelings on these issues by examining Ireland's position on the Common Agricultural Policy. The food industry is to the economy what wine and cars are to the French economy, or what engineering is to the Italian and German economies. It is vital. Almost 90% of our produce is exported. It is often said there is not enough food to feed the population of the world, but it is interesting to note that there is adequate space and potential to produce food for at least 3 billion more people. That is a fact. It could be done if the space available was utilised properly. Rather than curtailing agricultural activity in areas with the climate best suited for food production, we should be developing and advancing the agriculture industry in such locations. That is the upside.

Like everybody else, we need our vital interests to be maintained in the discussions on the Common Agricultural Policy, the budget and the multi-annual financial framework. If the European Union does not have a budget, it will have a problem. It is obvious that in such circumstances, the largest countries with the most resources will ultimately win out. It is in the interests of the smaller countries, in particular, for a strong financial commitment to be made in terms of a budget. That should not be undermined further in discussions that might take place in the context of the WTO. That has happened in the past also. Major players on the European scene have entered into arrangements with third countries which have benefited certain regions of the Community more than others. I am not sure that Ireland or Latvia will be high on the agenda when such negotiations take place. We have common cause in such areas.

I would like to put Ireland's economic downturn in perspective. We were faced overnight with a situation where two thirds of our annual revenue disappeared. In 24 hours 66.66% of our revenue, because it was coming from the construction sector, disappeared overnight. It continued to fall afterwards and still continues to do so.

My colleagues have made interesting comments about job creation, an issue about which we have spoken at meetings of these committees for a long time. It is of fundamental importance that we get back to creating jobs. How will that come about? Do we feed money into it directly, or do we encourage growth? It is obvious that we will need growth. I predicted two, three or four years ago that there would be a contraction because of the direct hit the economy had taken. I thought everything would have to close down and we are lucky we did not go far. At the same time, there is no growth.