Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his thorough overview and explanations which were very helpful. I salute his huge work in this area and the effort he is making to do the job very well. I want to raise a few questions or observations. First, the likelihood of an historic free trade agreement between the US and the EU is welcome and will bestow many benefits on this country, but one of the risks of such an agreement is that it could damage our agricultural sector. I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's comment on that and what steps he might be able to take to help us protect that sector in the face of a trade agreement. That is very important to the people I represent and for our economy.

Second, the Minister of State rightly cited the situation in Ukraine as being grave and he spoke of the need for Europe to develop its energy capacity and reduce its dependence on imported energy resources in certain sectors. It appears to us as observers that the situation in Ukraine is deteriorating by the hour and by the day. Will the Minister of State comment on the situation there and what steps the EU collectively can take to deal with it? The situation there is very depressing and appears to be getting worse. I would be heartened to hear a view to the contrary but it seems that is the case.

The Minister of State made a good observation regarding euroscepticism. I note from some national polling data in the media across the water that, frighteningly, UKIP is polling extremely well. That brings up the question of the risk of the UK opting out of the European Union by, first, having a referendum - as it will - and, second, by opting out of the Union. I know the Minister of State has been proactive in this area and he is concerned about it. What ongoing steps is he taking to use our good offices and influence to ensure that sanity will prevail in the UK? The implications of such a change for the Border area I represent are quite frightening.

The Minister of State made a good point, and it is important to get it across and get it onto the national agenda, namely, that the European Parliament has much increased powers and is a very relevant body and legislative assembly relative to its previous status. While I do not expect him to comment on individual candidates, I believe he would agree with me that this makes it incumbent upon this country to elect candidates to the European Parliament with proven records, parliamentary experience and with the capacity to contribute to this country's welfare abroad, irrespective of from what side of the political divide they come. It certainly suggests to me, and I know it is difficult for the Minister of State to comment on this, that there is no room for electing people who lack experience and who simply grandstand and produce platitudes with no capacity to back up what they say. We need to elect very experienced people with parliamentary, and indeed ministerial, experience.