Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his presentation. On the General Affairs Council, GAC, meeting and the work it will do in the preparation of the agenda for the June European Council and with particular reference to the foreign policy element, is there any potential to discuss the situation that is developing in Nigeria where Islamic militants, the Boko Haram group, have kidnapped in excess of 200 young female children from a school and the leader of that group has indicated that he intends to trade them into slavery? That is an appalling situation and one on which Europe should take a stand under its foreign policy remit. Clearly, the United States has taken a very public stand on it and I would hope the European Union could certainly play a role. There is room for active participation here rather than soundbites or platitudes because, clearly, this group is not going to respond to commentary from the United States from the President's publicity machine or from his public relations side and neither will it respond to similar outpourings by various different state leaders across Europe. Is there a potential for some level of support that could be provided to the Nigerian Government in an effort to try to deal with the situation that is evolving?

On the European elections, while I share some of the concerns of my colleague, I do not believe any of us is in a position to lecture the electorate in advance of elections and we must await the outcome of the democratic process. My concern around the issue of the disengagement with the European project by citizens across the member states and the development of support for UKIP and others, and perhaps for some within this jurisdiction, has more to do with a belief by the majority of citizens that Europe has not been working for them to the extent that it might. While the Minister of State spoke about the polarisation developing between the two bigger parties on the one hand and the extremes on the right and the left, the fact of the matter is that, effectively, the two big parties do not appear to have been delivering, particularly for countries that have suffered to the greatest extent.

To take the example of our own country, many of our citizens believe the ECB has taken political guidance, especially from members who would be aligned to the EPP and, in particular the direction, to some extent, from the German central bank whereby we have been forced to pay all the senior bonds, which has impacted very significantly on the services and level of taxation Irish citizens have had to endure. In addition to that and while I do not want to be political, promises were made in June 2012 when the parties in government believed a decision had been taken that would effectively be a game-changer in terms of the way in which our finances were structured or restructured. We are still waiting for flesh to be put on the bones of that decision.

I accept that banking union is a slow beast and that it will take some time to put the architecture in place but, notwithstanding that, our citizens are looking on and they still see the austerity programme, which I accept was necessary, although some do not, to resolve to some extent the crisis that has developed across Europe.

The prospect of light at the end of the tunnel, in terms of giving back to the State some of the moneys committed to the pillar banks, which is often referred to in the context of retrospective recapitalisation of our banks, has not come to pass. That is not necessarily the Minister of State's fault but somebody is holding out. If people saw European member states working together to deliver better outcomes for countries like Ireland and for citizens, it would make it easier for those of us who are anxious to maintain and develop the European project to explain during elections how this State benefits. People are currently saying to us that all we appear to be doing is making good the gambling debts of others.