Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind members and those in the Visitors Gallery to ensure mobile phones are switched off completely for the duration of the meeting, as they cause interference with the recording equipment, even when left in silent mode.

I welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, and his officials. It is great to see a good turnout of members and a packed Visitors Gallery. The Tánaiste is accompanied by Mr. David Donoghue, political director at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Adrian McDaid, Europe division - enlargement and eastern Europe, and Mr. Dónal Denham, director, Europe division, with responsibility for Presidency planning.

Members and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the foreign affairs priorities for Ireland's EU Presidency which has got off to a great start. We will be interested to learn about the Minister's approach to supporting the work of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European External Action Service. The European Union has an important contribution to make to conflict prevention and resolution and must ensure it finds an approach that maximises its effectiveness and coherence. The challenges facing the Union in its external relations are considerable. The joint committee has been monitoring with great concern the humanitarian crisis in Africa, the deteriorating situation in Syria and developments which are making the prospect of progress in the Middle East peace process much more remote. We are interested to hear what the Government has to contribute during the Irish Presidency in the search for solutions in these areas.

The committee will also meet the EU Special Representative for Human Rights in February. We are interested to learn how Ireland will contribute during its Presidency to the promotion of human rights, including through the Office of the Special Representative.

Development co-operation has long been a key component of Irish foreign policy and the record of the Department in this field is one of which we are justly proud. The Presidency offers us an opportunity to help to make progress in this area and the Tánaiste may wish to elaborate on his plans to contribute in this regard.

An informal meeting of Ministers with responsibility for trade will also be held during the Presidency. I ask the Tánaiste to provide an update on the United States-European Union trade agreement and progress in the recently commenced process aimed at achieving a trade agreement between the European Union and Japan.

In the context of the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency, the joint committee, in conjunction with the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, will host the interparliamentary conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy at the end of the March. We hope this will be an opportunity for parliamentarians to make a contribution to policy-making at EU and government level. We look forward to the participation at the conference of the Tánaiste and Baroness Ashton. Without further ado, I invite the Tánaiste to commence his presentation, after which we will have questions from members.