Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner to Dublin and Ireland. I understand a hard Brexit would leave a €200 million per week gap in the European Union's budget. Essentially, it would make a major hole in the Commission's budget. On the options being examined, can the Commissioner tell us how it is proposed to fill the hole in the budget? He has talked about increasing the contributions made by member states from 1% to 1.1% or 1.2%. Will he clarify where his thoughts are focused at this time?

Another option is creating an entirely new income flow from new forms of taxation or changes to rates or by achieving efficiencies in the case of existing taxes.

For example, we know that a group of member states are now having very advanced conversations about digital taxation. I do not know how the Commissioner views the matter. If there is such a development, how does he anticipate it would impact on the Commission's budget? Increasing the existing VAT contributions is another possibility. Ireland is now in an economic recovery period but we still have major financial obstacles to overcome in order to get us back to where we were ten years ago.

I have a few questions on specific programmes. One of the greatest threats to the European Union, as a political entity, is the spectre of youth unemployment right across the European Union. The youth unemployment rate is appallingly high in Greece and, to be honest, it is quite shocking in Italy. When I was the Minister for Social Protection I introduced a lot of youth employment measures in Ireland in the course of the last Government. As a result, we more than halved the rate of youth unemployment in that period. Why is youth unemployment a persistent problem in so many countries? Does the Commission have further plans to assist young people who are shut out of the jobs market? I compliment Senator Dolan on his remarks because what has happened to many young people has also happened to others who suffer from a disability but would really like to be part of the workforce.

Young people are very concerned about the future of the ERASMUS programme in the event of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. The free movement of young people in Europe is critical to their sense of Europe and the ERASMUS programme is very important to those who go to college. I ask Commissioner Oettinger to tell us how he foresees this matter unfolding. Will a special side deal be negotiated for the ERASMUS programme, as suggested by many of the British universities?

I have two more questions on a hard Brexit. Does the Commissioner have a sense of the areas where the European Union might assist Ireland? I am aware that the Union does not want a hard Brexit in Northern Ireland but I am sure he will appreciate that the matter is a very pressing political issue for us. It also means that if there was a hard border we would have to develop our ports in Dublin, Cork and Rosslare. Has the European Union considered plans to counter that eventuality?

Finally, as the Commissioner will know, Ireland is a neutral country. Recently, the European Union has indicated that a 2% target for defence spending is desirable. Germany, which is the Commissioner's own country, for a number of reasons is not necessarily an integral part of military alliances. People in Ireland really value the fact that their country is neutral but we participate in peacekeeping missions around the world under the auspices of the UN and the Irish Parliament. Will the new defence configuration pose a challenge to Irish neutrality?