Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests and thank them for their presentation. It is very good to see young people thinking about the future of Europe because that is what everybody has to think about. The founding fathers of the European Community were specific in thinking about the future of Europe and Deputy Haughey referred to the impact of wars in the past. I think young people need to focus specifically on that issue and its implications. As we all know, regardless of age - I have no reason to believe that reducing the age of franchise is not a good thing and it may well be a good move - what is important is for whom one votes. It will be important who that age cohort will vote for in the future. Recent events tend to support that sufficient thought was not given to that in more than one instance, where the decisions of people who were elected had a very negative bearing on global events. We no longer live in a narrow community but in a global community. Modern communications has changed everything. Travel has changed that. The decisions taken today in one part of the globe may well affect all of us on the next day or very quickly afterwards and can have a very positive or negative effect, depending on the situation. I will make a comparison. Much focus has been made recently about tax equalisation throughout the EU and a case is pending before the European Court of Justice. Many people think the outcome will be of benefit to Ireland if the court finds against Ireland. That is not the case. It will seriously disadvantage us and require us to collect taxes on profits earned in other countries. That is something we should not do under any circumstances. It will obviously make Ireland a negative area for foreign direct investment, which creates many jobs. For example, 150,000 jobs in Ireland are funded directly through US foreign direct investment and we are grateful for that. What few recognise readily is that about 85,000 jobs have been created by Irish direct investment in the US. Let us remember that the population in the United States of America is 60 times the Irish population. When we talk about foreign direct investment, and Ireland is a beneficiary particularly, we should remember also that Irish investors have been investing abroad and have created jobs in many jurisdictions but we do not get any recognition for that. The pressure on Ireland to act collectively is not necessarily in the best interest of the country. I agree entirely in respect of a two-speed European Union. Smaller countries will come off worse except for those countries that are fostered in particular by one or two of the larger countries. We have to fight our own corner.

The voice of youth in the European Union is of major importance, as has been pointed out by other speakers. The younger generation are thinking of their lives ahead and how decisions will affect them. That is how it should be. I think the older generation should also be thinking about their lives ahead but that does not always follow. I think the concept of a social Europe has been on the back burner for a number of years, for the simple reason that the economic situation was not good. Economic turmoil prevailed. I have been a member of the Committee on European Union Affairs during all of that period and it was sad to see it happen. When the economic resources go out the door, thinking falls on to the back burner. I think as the economies throughout the European Union improve, social Europe will also improve. The European Union did not cover itself in glory in the way it dealt with refugees. I think that was appalling. Yet, if one conducts a vox pop of the so-called man or woman in the street, one will find a little reticence, people will say they are not anti-European or anti-immigrant but they need to protect their own society. It is correct to state we need to protect ourselves but we need to do so globally. We need to protect all of us and not to think as if we were looking in on something. We, the people of Europe, need to think European and take ownership of the European projects and do as these young people are doing, which is to take ownership of the future. If we isolate ourselves from that, we will be going the wrong way. Many people believe the answer is to have a directly-elected president of the European Union, but I am not so sure about that because one can always fire a person who has been appointed to a position, but one cannot readily fire the person who has been elected. That point is always in the back of my mind.

This generation has a role and responsibility in the formation of the European Union of the future. By virtue of its population mass the European Union will have a significant impact on global economies, the social economies and the way people coexist in the future. I think now is a good time to focus on this concept and to relay those particular objectives and goals to our European leaders and those whom we elect to represent us in the European Parliament.