Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Vice Chairman. If I miss any questions I ask committee members to alert me and I will try to come back to them. I thank all of the members for their contributions and questions. To answer Senator Richmond on the debate on the future of Europe, which is starting next week, it has been catapulted forward because of what is happening with Brexit. While Brexit is one of our key priorities, we will not be left behind on the discussion on the future of Europe. However, we are very much at the beginning of that process. While I understand that people want the Taoiseach to make a speech that is one or two hours long to set out where we are going, this is much harder while we are at the beginning of the process. He will speak next week, obviously, and set out some of the priorities, but we are at the beginning of this process and what we hope to see following next Wednesday is this initial phase bringing us up until May and that it will have two elements.

Probably the most difficult issue, and I am sure our French colleagues and those from other member states would agree, is to engage people who would not normally engage on politics and European issues. Getting the conversation going will be the challenge, but we very much hope we will be able to do this with the support of members here and through our various institutions, schools, colleges and local authorities, so that throughout the country we will be able to engage on all of the issues we have discussed today, including jobs, growth, opportunities available for our young people, environment, security, defence and migration. People need to have a say on all of these key issues.

What I would like to see happening throughout the debate is that we have a very positive discussion on the benefits of Europe and how Ireland has already benefitted. The statistic that most surprised me recently was that more than 50% of people here were not born when Ireland became a member of the European Union. For most people, it is the status quoand it has always been there. Senator Craughwell spoke about social issues and our young people. We receive €610 million from Europe to add to our programme on employability and training. We have additional funding for our youth guarantee scheme, which is for those under the age of 25. We have the Erasmus programme, which allows our young people to live, work and travel abroad and allow people to come to us here. We must get all of this positive message out, build on it and ask how it can be improved and work better for our citizens. I thank the committee for its work to date on this, and I look forward to working with it, all Members and our MEPs as the debate moves forward. We are engaging with other member states to see how they carry out this process. While there needs to be a discussion within countries and among leaders, there also needs to be a discussion among citizens. Some member states have already started this process. They have already started their engagement and debate, so it will be very interesting to see how we can work with them on these areas.

With regard to Brexit, Senator Richmond touched on our engagement and the fact we are losing our nearest friend and closest ally and how will we look to make new friends. It is very positive that the Taoiseach was asked to join the Nordic and Baltic meeting before the Council meeting. Denmark was also invited. In the past week, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, had a meeting with similar member states at an informal lunch prior to the finance committee meeting. We have a very high attendance rate by Ministers, at almost 100%, at all of our Council meetings. We are also engaging with all of the other institutions. Between now and next June, we will have at least one Minister attending all of the European Parliament sessions. It is very important that we engage with our MEPs and MEPs from other countries. This is something we see as a priority and something we can build on and improve with time.

In the context of the Minister being quoted as seeking a five-year transition period, I do not believe that is the case. The UK has suggested two years. We have all seen how things have taken a little longer than the British would like. Given that start talking about a transitional period and what that might look like, it would be unwise to give an exact timeline until we know what it actually might be. There is a suggestion that it could take up to five years or anything around that amount of time. There is no specific timeline at this stage.

In phase 2 of the negotiations, consideration will be given to different industries and scenarios. We will do as much as we can to prepare ourselves in the absence of knowing what phase 2 will look like. The all-island civil dialogue has taken place a number of times. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, will chair the cross-party civil forum, which is a smaller version of the dialogue group. It will bring together the various stakeholder forums, representatives bodies and organisations. We want this process to remain as open and transparent as possible but it is a two-way system. We inform the industries and bodies about our work and what is happening but we also want them to give us feedback on what they feel we should be doing and on what is happening to them. In the absence of any clear vision of what phase 2 will look like, as much work as possible is being done in that regard within each Department.

A question was asked about a hard Brexit scenario and whether the Government in the UK pushed for that. My view is that the latter was not the case. That is just on the basis of the engagement I have had with Members of Parliament across the board in the UK. Again, it is very difficult to identify what that might be when we are not in that scenario.

Senator Craughwell discussed a more socially aware European Union. When we talk about the future of Europe, we often hear about the Single Market, the digital Single Market, security and defence. We will also focus on and debate opportunities for our young people, what the Single Market means and how its full implementation will transpire into jobs. We have seen that ourselves in our economy and with the number of people back in employment. This is proof of how that can have a massive impact on the social aspect of people's lives. When a Government spends more money on those elements, there is a huge impact. All of these aspects feed into that element. Obviously, we need to ensure that people are aware of that. The Taoiseach, possibly, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and I will attend the EU Social Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth in Gothenburg next week and I hope that signals our commitment in this area.

On security and defence, we have been very insistent. Previously, the debate tended to focus more on defence. Security has come into the equation more. In fact, so much so that the term "security and defence" is now being used. I agree with what Mr. Brian Hayes, MEP, has said. We cannot stand by and say that we are neutral because we know that in certain areas this is not and should not be the case. We need to discuss the matter with citizens. We must discover, if we are to keep our military neutrality, where we stand when it comes to terrorism online, supporting other member states and supporting our families and friends in the UK when attacks take place, as was recently the case. Where do we stand when it comes to people being attacked indiscriminately in the middle of the street? How do we work together in such circumstances?

In terms of PESCO, it is something that we will working towards at the December Council meeting. It will allow us and enhance our capability to engage in crises management around those key issues. We are very keen to bring that debate back to the Dáil and the Seanad and I hope we can reach agreement in respect of it. Again, that feeds into better police co-operation, integration, etc.

I accept the comments that were made on the nuclear deal. Deputy Brophy mentioned the federal future of Europe and other member states. It is any member state's prerogative to set out its ideas. There have been some strong statements on some key issues with which we might not necessarily agree. Again, they are just member states setting out their priorities and agenda. Jean-Claude Junker's priorities, agendas and scenarios are not exclusive or exhaustive. They can act as a springboard or a mechanism to commence debate. We can participate in the debate. While we might not agree on areas of taxation, or changes to our institutions, we must have that debate ourselves and bring it forward. A number of countries of similar size - and with similar priorities - to Ireland would probably agree with us in other key areas in respect of which some of the larger countries, for example, France and Germany, would not agree. While we may be small we have shown in the past that we conveyed our views across and our voice was heard.

Members asked what happens if negotiations fail. We are working to ensure that does not happen. All 27 members states are making every effort to ensure that negotiations do not fail. To see the unity that has remained among the 27 member states on all issues, particularly on those relating to Ireland, has been wonderful. This shows that while some thought the European Union might crumble and fall apart following Brexit, the EU has actually become stronger. At the same time, we are not there to strong-arm the United Kingdom or put it under pressure. We have reached the current stage based on negotiation, having a mutual respect and through co-operation. The negotiations must continue in that manner. We have shown a willingness to move on to phase 2 and to discuss the transition period again. I hope that all shows we are willing to engage and are ready to move on to phase 2.

In terms of our exact views on the Border issue, we have made it very clear that no physical infrastructure can be put in place on the island of Ireland. This matter is not just about customs and trade, is a political issue. We very much feel that the United Kingdom needs to come forward with a solution. We welcome its commitment to having no frontier but it is a contradiction for the UK to leave the Single Market and the customs union. Our preference would be for the UK to remain within the Single Market and the customs union in order that there would be no hard border. In the absence of that, it needs to be acknowledged that the scenario in Ireland is very unique and thus requires a unique and imaginative political solution. Nothing needs to be fully resolved by the conclusion of phase 1 but further progress needs to be made than heretofore has been the case.

In terms of Brian Hayes, MEP, and doubling our footprint, the Taoiseach has given such a commitment, as has the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It was announced in the budget that Ireland wants to double its global footprint. I think we gave a very clear commitment during the economic and financial crisis here that we did not close any of our missions within Europe or any of our embassies. We did not close them because we understood the significance and importance of maintaining close relations and ties with all of our European counterparts and those further afield. As things change and we seek to expand, we have already increased staff numbers at our various offices in Brussels and Paris. However, we are also looking further afield. The President announced a new office in New Zealand. We already have an office in Vancouver and other offices will be opened. We have an ideal to establish an Ireland house in countries where we may be weaker and in places where our institutions and bodies, such as Bord Bia or Enterprise Ireland, do not have as strong a footprint. An Ireland House would allow them to work together under the same roof thus ensuring a stronger connection to the host countries. We are working on the initiative and funding has been made available. We hope to develop the initiative further in the new year.

On the 18-month dialogue, we agree with President Tusk's view that it should be up to a two-year process, which we are starting now. When we have that engagement, we will be able to see where we need to move on from, what we need to consider in greater detail and whether we must consult the citizens of Ireland on any key specific issues.

In terms of the five reflection papers, so far the Minister for Finance is the only member of Cabinet who has done specific work on one of the papers. We have asked the Institute of International and European Affairs, IIEA, to analyse all of the five papers and report back to us in the near future. I shall keep the committee updated on all of them.