Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste. It is hard to believe that only seven weeks remain before the end of the Presidency. While it appears to have gone so fast, it has been a busy time, and as the Tánaiste indicated, significant progress has been seen in many areas Ireland prioritised, including the MFF, banking union, trade agreements with the Far East, the United States and Canada and of course the youth guarantee scheme. The joint committee is putting together the final details of the COSAC plenary agenda in June and we will cover many of the economic issues the Tánaiste outlined. However, I wish to ask a couple of questions regarding two particular sessions we will hold. The first is on enlargement and the other pertains to development aid. A meeting has been scheduled at the COSAC plenary meeting in which we will hear from experts such as the philanthropist Mo Ibrahim. We also will hear from Barry Andrews of GOAL and others about the European Union's aid policy. Can the Tánaiste provide members with an update on how matters are progressing on the budgetary issues surrounding the specific development aid budget?

My second question pertains to enlargement. There has been progress with regard to many countries and the Tánaiste referred to the recent agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, brokered by the European Union, which is good news. I have two questions, one on Turkey and the other in respect of Macedonia. As for Turkey, we were hopeful about opening up a chapter and the Tánaiste recently spent some time in Turkey on a trade mission. How does he expect progress to be made in the remaining seven weeks? Does he expect to see a chapter opened? Finally, Macedonia seeks a date for the commencement of talks on accession, but the issue of the naming of that country remains outstanding. Is there progress to report on the finding of a common way through that issue?