Ms Barbara Nolan:

I will start with the questions on the investment package. It is correct that the Commission has proposed that when it comes to assess countries' public finances under the Stability and Growth Pact, contributions that have been made to the investment package will be assessed favourably. This means they will not be taken into account for countries in either the preventative or corrective arm of the pact. However, there has been adverse discussion in the ECOFIN Council about this proposal, but as we are talking about guidance on the existing framework - that is how to apply the rules rather than changing the rules - it was agreed that the Council does not necessarily need to approve these steps by the Commission. Following the ECOFIN Council, the Presidency said it would seek consensus on this issue, rather than a formal adoption of it.

This is the way we propose to do it. Ultimately, this package is a relatively modest amount of funds that will trigger much more funding. It aims to get member states to crowd in with funding and also to raise private sector funding. We want to make the conditions as favourable as possible and to ensure the most viable projects to trigger that. That is how matters stand currently. The Chairman is right when he says there is disagreement. Some countries have a positive view on this, while others do not. For the moment, it stands as it is and the plan is to approach it in the way described.

Deputy Crowe has doubts about where the funding will come from. We must wait and see. We are involved in a marketing operation currently to try to crowd in the funding which will, hopefully, make this proposal work. This is being operated not just by the Commission, but in close co-operation with the European Investment Bank, and they believe it has a strong chance of working. The multiplier used was based on other operations of a similar nature. We must give it a chance and see what happens. Vice-President of the European Commission, Jyrki Katainen, is trying to travel around the member states to sell this idea and we hope it gets the reaction we want. So far, the reaction has been relatively positive. When Vice-President Katainen speaks to bankers and people who understand the concept and how it works and the importance of having seed capital on the table, this encourages others to come in with funding. We hope it will work and everybody wants it to work.

I do not have any detail on the aviation package as it has not yet been presented to us, but it is important we keep the issue of connectivity in mind. It should be acknowledged that the Single Market has already produced a revolution in the aviation sector, mostly to the benefit of consumers who now pay lower prices for travel between other European member states. We have yet to see what will be in the package, but if the committee has strong views on connectivity, perhaps it would be a good idea to communicate those views to the Commission while it is still working on the proposals. It is important to get in on this as early as possible, before the proposal is finalised. If the committee has particular concerns, I am sure they would be a useful contribution to the work going on in the Commission.

Deputy Byrne raised the issues of youth and long-term unemployment. These are not new issues for the Commission. For decades, we have spent considerable funding, through the European Social Fund, to try to cater for these two particular problems of the labour market and we will continue to do so. We will continue to keep a significant focus on young people in particular and on the long-term unemployed. Jobs and growth remain central to everything we are doing and there is no exception to that when looking at social and employment policy.

There are a number of elements in the labour mobility package, which concerns labour mobility between the member states rather than outside of the European Union. We have millions of vacancies in the Union and significant numbers of unemployed people, particularly young people. The issue is whether there is a way of making the market work more effectively. If we compare the European Union with the United States, labour mobility is very low. We have a link-up between the public employment services of the member states, and members may know about the EURES network, which tries to link people looking for employment with jobs in other member states. We want this to work better. We also want to ensure the social security dimension concerned with when people move to work better. We will look at all of these issues as part of a package of measures for the labour market.

Deputy Durkan asked several questions, but I will not be able to deal with all of them. In regard to the banking union, if I understand his question correctly, he was asking whether this would absolve national central banks of their duties. I do not think so. What it will do is gear up for integration of the market where there are overlaps or where something needs to be regulated at European level. We are not trying to take away from what national central banks should be doing. Therefore, I do not believe the proposals will absolve national central banks in the event of a crisis.