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

I welcome the ambassador and thank him for setting out the priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency, which members strongly support. They also wish Luxembourg well with its Presidency. The Vice Chairman started his discussion with the ambassador by asking about the specifics concerning migration, to which the ambassador in turn replied. Similarly, what might he say by way of specific measures regarding terrorism? I acknowledge it is an extremely difficult and complex area, requiring a multifaceted approach. That said, the ambassador should set out what are his thoughts and those of the Luxembourg Presidency on specific actions, both by way of controls, etc., and societal changes to eliminate or reduce terrorism as a risk.

I will turn to another issue that has not been referenced by my colleagues and, therefore, merits reference. The ambassador correctly identified the forthcoming conference on climate change in Paris as being of enormous importance. His submission further mentioned Luxembourg's desire to make Europe an even greater player on the global stage. How successful does the ambassador think Luxembourg could be in getting our international partners to buy into the notion of climate change, solutions to climate change and to the question of carbon emissions? How persuasive, as a moral force, could the European Union be in this regard in respect of its international partners and perhaps otherwise? What things could be done to achieve this goal, which would be a great and necessary use of global influence given it is a reasonable proposition that we in the European Union accepted? In the context of climate change, the ambassador should comment briefly on the areas of solar and wind energy. While Ireland has a considerable number of wind energy options and turbines under development, I do not believe sufficient solar energy has been developed. Does the ambassador wish to comment on that and on the wave energy issue? Lastly in that context, the ambassador should comment on the state of nuclear energy and the current position with regard to dealing with the waste therefrom. Does he envisage nuclear energy providing part of the solution into the future?

Finally, with the Vice Chairman's indulgence, we are very proud in Ireland of having reached an unemployment rate of 9.7% while, of course, not being happy with that percentage. This is because nothing better achieves social equalisation, social fairness, the liberation of people and a fair society than giving everyone the dignity of work and the ability to participate in the economy through the opportunity to work. This is the great social equaliser and is the catalyst rather than any kind of paternalistic injection of benefits. While we are proud of the position we have reached in that regard, as we want to go further and reach full employment, we have another few percentage points to go. In that context, the commitment of the Luxembourg Presidency to developing the whole jobs area is important, as is its commitment to developing on the €315 billion proposed investment by the Commission in this regard.

Could the ambassador be specific about where he sees those jobs and what he thinks the Luxembourg Presidency can achieve practically? If people outside here are watching this meeting, the one thing they would want to get from Luxembourg’s Presidency is jobs. Although every objective the ambassador spoke of is important, nothing takes precedence over job creation and giving everyone the dignity of work. Nothing is a greater scandal in the EU than youth unemployment. That is the great scandal of our age. People who have retired are back at work and there is massive youth unemployment across Europe, which needs to be addressed. I look forward to the ambassador's comments. I am asking him to flesh out some of his thoughts, the specifics of how the objectives will be implemented.