Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and I applaud his rapid understanding of the brief he has inherited. The committee discussed stability and the disturbing circumstances during the time when we thought the country and Europe was going belly-up and there was a danger that the euro would not survive. It is great to wake up in the morning now to hear that the euro is rated at €1.35 to the dollar and seems to be climbing. I hear it is €1.35.6 at the moment, which is very encouraging as it means that the euro has stabilised and is a really attractive currency. Those who were panicked by the near collapse and who purchased silver, gold, dollars and sterling would be advised to revert to the euro as quickly as possible.

The Minister of State informed us that the digital economy will be on the agenda of the Council meeting. It is a fascinating subject which has been on the agenda on previous occasions. Ireland is ideally located and suited to giving leadership to and benefitting from the digital economy. It is very welcome that in County Kildare, after two years of research and development, Irish Intel engineers managed to design from scratch and manufacture the next-generation chip for computers. They had to compete with other Intel plants in New Mexico, Israel, California and other countries in order to tender for its production. The successful digital economy makes me very proud to be Irish. Irish engineers won the contract for the manufacture of this chip, which is at the forefront of innovation. Those of us who know Dublin are familiar with the Digital Hub, where entrepreneurs are working with mentors to produce a wide variety of digital products. I am not very familiar with the digital world; I am still trying to learn how to use my mobile phone.

It may not be politically correct to say so, but Denis O'Brien has digital facilities all over the world. His company is in Jamaica, for example, and every Jamaican has a mobile phone. His company is also in Haiti and in South Africa and other African countries. He is providing digital solutions to many of the communications problems in Third World countries. I have a question about GPS. I understand this was originally an American military system and that GPS information can be controlled by forces in America. Is the EU working on having its own GPS system which would be independent of the American system? I understand that the Irish troops on UN duty in the vicinity of Israel and in the Golan Heights do not use the GPS system when on patrol because it can be manipulated by outside forces. Instead they use regular compass readings.

The issue of youth employment is very important because of the levels of youth unemployment in Europe generally. I concur with the Minister of State that the Turkish issue is of key importance in the development of European stability. I encourage Ireland to take a leading role. Notwithstanding the religious composition of that country, it is a very important strategically located country which borders East and West. Moldova and Georgia are counties which could benefit from closer association with the European Union.

The Minister of State referred to the Eastern Partnership. Turkey is one of the most strategically important countries. In the case of Ukraine, I ask the Minister of State to use his good offices to encourage the Ukrainians to bite the bullet on Yulia Tymoshenko, and I think they have begun to release some prisoners who were imprisoned around the time that Tymoshenko was taken in. Europe would benefit immensely if that issue could be concluded and if Tymoshenko were released to go to Germany for medical treatment for her back problems. The Russians are applying increasing pressure. They have already succeeded in seducing Armenia away from the European programme and they are putting great pressure on Ukraine.

I am very concerned about Spain, given the regional structure of that country. I note that in Catalonia, which is the economic engine of the country, over 1 million people marched in support of Catalan independence. The Basque region is another issue. I ask the Minister of State to give the Irish Government's position on Spain. I hope that position is that under no circumstances does Ireland support the breaking-up of the regional structures. I find it very worrying in this day and age when we are hoping to create a unified Europe that these forces are at play in Spain. This may also be the case in Italy to some degree in the northern region. I always compare such situations to that of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Attempts are made to grab hold of the oil or mineral wealth or the wealthy industrial regions and other regions are regarded as being poor and not entitled to benefit from the wealth of the richer regions. I ask for our position on the situation in northern Italy and the growth of a certain political party there.