Mr. Patrick O'Riordan:

That is right. It is a pleasure to be here. I will make some introductory remarks about the annual growth survey. As members will be aware, the survey launches the annual cycle of economic governance, sets out the European Union's economic priorities and gives member states policy guidance for the following year. The role of the EU in this regard is to provide policy direction and country-specific recommendations and to ensure respect for commonly agreed rules.

The objective is to ensure that the structural, fiscal and monetary policies are combined in an integrated, growth friendly way to effectively tackle pressing challenges - acting on both the demand and supply sides of our economies. This requires action at all levels of government, from global to European, national, regional and local levels.

For 2015, the Commission recommends that countries pursue economic and social policy based on three main pillars, as alluded to by Ms Nolan, including a renewed boost and focus on investment, a fresh commitment to structural reforms and fiscal responsibility. Simultaneous action is required in all three areas as it is critical to restore confidence and reduce the uncertainty that has been impeding investment and to maximise the strong mutually reinforcing effects of all three pillars working together. This is a new emphasis in the strategy this year. The Commission also proposes to streamline and reinforce the European semester and to improve ownership of the process and simplify the procedures, starting with the semester starting now.

With specific regard to structural reforms, deepening the Single Market is the overriding priority at EU level. For this we need to break down regulatory and non-regulatory barriers in energy, transport, telecoms and the Single Market for goods and services to ensure that the EU regulatory framework supports jobs, growth and investment. The Commission will also prioritise work to make EU laws lighter, simpler and less costly for the benefit of citizens and enterprises. It will further strengthen its regulatory tools such as impact assessment. This relates to the discussion we had earlier and is an important tool to ensure the rules adopted are fit for purpose and appropriate. Employment and social indicators will be increasingly used to give a more rounded view of countries' economies.

At member state level, for 2015 the Commission recommends focusing attention on a number of key reforms. The areas chosen are relevant for all member states, but will be fine tuned to meet the particular issues and concerns of each country. The areas identified for reform are the following: making labour markets more dynamic and inclusive and tackling unemployment; making pensions and social protection more sustainable; developing more flexible product and services markets; improving business investment conditions; enhancing the quality of research and innovation; and improving public administration.

On the fiscal responsibility side, member states have made significant strides to cut their fiscal deficits. Deficits have declined from almost 7% of GDP in 2009 to 3% in 2014. The number of countries under the excessive deficit procedure has decreased from 24 in 2011 to 11 in 2014. However, there is a need to continue with responsible and growth friendly fiscal policies. Meanwhile, countries with more fiscal space should try to promote more domestic demand and stimulate investment.

The European Commission also assessed 16 euro area countries' budgets for 2015, focusing on their compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact. In that respect, the Commission concluded that Ireland is compliant with the provisions of the so-called corrective arm of the excessive deficit procedure and is expected to bring the general government deficit below the 3% of GDP reference value of the treaty in 2015.

In regard to the European semester, the aspects we have mentioned are designed to streamline and reinforce the European semester by giving it a sharper focus and a more political role. A more focused European semester should strengthen the social market economy and increase the effectiveness of economic policy co-ordination through increased accountability and improved ownership by all actors, including national parliaments, social partners and others.

The new economic policy cycle will also simplify Commission outputs and reduce reporting requirements of member states, while making the process more open and multilateral. The discussion on the European semester is also important in view of the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy, which will be presented in time for discussion at the spring 2015 European Council. For the EU to succeed in meeting its jobs and growth challenges, there is a need for broad consensus on the right policy direction and strong stakeholder support for reform efforts. This means that national parliaments, the social partners and civil society at large all need to be more involved in the implementation of policies decided at EU and national levels.

In this context, I have this committee's excellent report here. There is much appreciation for its work in this respect and on developing this political contribution to the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy. I attended the launch event and I believe that the reforms introduced in the European semester process already reflect some of the Committee's aspirations. I trust that more aspects of its contribution will be addressed in the mid-term review proper. The committee's call for moving away from any "centre driven, top-down, non-inclusive approach" is well noted and the improvements outlined in the annual growth survey under discussion today go very much in the direction of the inclusive, bottom-up approach that we all want to see.

We hope and trust that this process will succeed and work as well as it can to help Ireland to strengthen its recovery. I look forward to contributing and working constructively with the committee to that effect.