Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Detailed questions covering a number of areas have been raised. I will start by responding to the measures taken to deal with the migration and the humanitarian crisis. We would all acknowledge the loss of life in this crisis and Senator Leyden contrasted such loss to the centenary commemoration of the loss of life on the Lusitaniain Cork last week, and we had the recent centenary commemorations of the loss of life on the Titanic. A clear comparison can be made between those events. Given the different circumstances of those two tragic events so long ago, the reality with respect to the events in the Mediterranean is that the European Union has a very important role to play to work towards reducing, to the absolute minimum, the number of people who will find themselves in circumstances where their lives are at great peril or ultimately lost. Several factors feed into that. At the most basic, there is a requirement to assist states that have arrived at a point, through conflict, bad governance or a broad range of issues, some economic and some religious, that have allowed people be of the view that while there is a risk to their lives in migrating, there is a greater risk to their lives in not migrating. This involves not only the European Union but countries of the developed world and the developing world working together. We have had meetings recently of the joint Council, involving justice and home affairs and foreign affairs Ministers, which was followed up by discussions at the General Affairs Council the following day, which I attended, and at the European Council meeting two days later.

This item is at the top of Europe's agenda. Deputy O'Reilly requested that there would be a co-ordinated approach to dealing with this issue, and this is happening. An Irish naval vessel will be deployed hopefully on Saturday. We have contributed significant moneys and, as the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, said last evening, we will be taking in an additional 300 refugees. There are different elements to and objectives within the proposal that has been made with respect to the next few months but members can be assured that Ireland, and the other member states, will continue to work to achieve some respite to the crisis. As I said, a ten-point plan was agreed on 20 April and it will be discussed again in great detail next week.

I am taking the points raised in order and am moving from the serious humanitarian crisis just discussed to the question the Vice Chairman raised about the digital single market and the potential opportunities it will present for Ireland. As he will be aware, significant moneys are being committed under the national broadband strategy. The digital single market has three key areas. To answer the Vice Chairman's question directly, the reason we can benefit from this single market is that we have 29 of the top 30 digital companies based in Ireland. I wear another hat as the Minister of State with responsibility for data protection. If one goes through a list of these companies, one will find they are nearly all large American companies. That reminds us that in the broader digital economy, Europe has not managed to produce or to be significantly innovative. The development of the digital single market along with the services single market presents an opportunity for Europe to regain the competitive advantage it has lost and continues to lose. The digital single market strategy targets include simplifying access for consumers and businesses such as through harmonised consumer and contract rules, more efficient and affordable parcel delivery, tackling geo-blocking of digital services, further copyright modernisations and simplifying VAT rules. Another target of the strategy is shaping the environment for digital networks and services to flourish such as reviewing telecoms and media rules to encourage investment in next generation infrastructure, management of the wireless spectrum and reviewing the role of online platforms such as illegal content and a review of e-privacy issues and, finally, maximising the growth of potential of the digital economy.

That includes having the right regulatory standards for big data and cloud computing and ensuring interoperability of e-services for the consumer, including through e-government and e-health services and also strengthening digital skills. There is huge potential for every European country but Ireland perhaps is better placed than most in that regard.

I will briefly come to another area, namely, the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP. The vote on Tuesday night should send the positive result we in Ireland would like to see, and I believe they will be voting again today. President Obama has personally engaged with this issue. When the Taoiseach visited Washington on St. Patrick's Day it was at the top of the agenda and they discussed the issue in great detail. We are absolutely resolute with respect to the protection of our agricultural industry.