Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

General Affairs Council: Discussion

2:30 pm

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for having to pop out for a vote in the Seanad. I welcome the Minister of State back to the committee for one of her regular and appreciated updates on a range of areas ahead of next week's important GAC meeting. I will start at the finish and work back to the meatier subject of Brexit.

Needless to say, what has been happening in Hungary in recent days is worrying. The Irish Government has repeatedly raised the matter with the Hungarian Government at official and political level. However, we now need to do more than simply voice our concerns with the Hungarian Government. I welcome the measures taken in Poland and the efforts that the European Commission and Council have made in that regard. We need to step up the pressure on the Hungarian Government, and the sooner, the better.

Looking ahead to the key Council meeting in Romania where everything about the future of Europe has been compiled for discussion, has the Minister of State an insight into what the results might be? Given the report that she produced and launched, what will be the key aims of the Irish Government and how will we work to influence other member states? She mentioned her Austrian partner at the launch.

Regarding the multi-annual financial framework, I will leave the issue of CAP to colleagues who have a more rural focus in their constituencies. I am greatly enthused by the potential increases for Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020. However, they pose a unique challenge to our Government in our approach going forward. We are under-represented in Erasmus+ receipts at academic and civic society levels. We could be doing much more. Compare the number of French students coming to Ireland under Erasmus+ with the number of Irish students going to France. There is a large deficit. We need to plug those gaps and encourage more young Irish people to take up the opportunity of an Erasmus+ place in third level and, through that, develop their European language skills. We could also work that into the EU jobs campaign. We need more Irish people taking the concoursand taking up positions in European institutions.

I acknowledge the massive efforts made by the Minister of State and her Department in encouraging EU jobs. That has been vital.

Horizon 2020 will pose a unique challenge after Brexit. Many of the co-ordinated efforts of the Irish third-level institutions in the research area involve British alternatives. Many institutions are receiving grants in respect of work they are doing in partnership with British universities. It will be difficult for them to replace their British partners with universities from continental Europe, particularly those that do not use English as a first language in academic terms. Obviously, no other remaining member state uses English as a first language. We need to be alive to this. It is great that the multi-annual financial framework will award more funds to these two really important programmes, but there is no point in increasing the funds if Ireland is not in a position to avail of them. I know the Minister of State needs to work with the Ministers, Deputies Zappone and McHugh, in this regard. We need to be poised to take those funds and use them in the best possible way.

It is very difficult to know where to start when it comes to Brexit. The ongoing pantomime at Westminster is proving to be quite a distraction during the overall management process. The UK reaction to the withdrawal agreement package, which is quite simplistic, is in marked contrast to the reaction here and on the Continent. When we see some of the rhetoric and revelations, for example in respect of court rulings and UK Attorney General advice, it seems that this is new news for certain people. Much of this stuff has been known and has been on the record for a long time. I appreciate the consistent approach to this matter that has been taken by the Government and the EU as a whole.

I am interested in a finding that has been produced by JP Morgan today. It has changed its prediction significantly. I know that analysts in many countries have to be very wary with their predictions. According to JP Morgan, the likelihood of an orderly Brexit has decreased from 60% to 50%, the likelihood of no Brexit has increased from 20% to 40% and the likelihood of no deal being reached has decreased from 20% to 10%. It is welcome that JP Morgan believes we are moving further away from a no-deal scenario. The Minister of State rightly spoke about preparations for all scenarios, which is something that has been mentioned by Donald Tusk. Senator Craughwell has also gone into detail on that. I know that work is being done as part of a whole-of-Government approach.

I am of the view that an orderly Brexit is where we are going. It is quite clear that there is just one deal on the table. It is a question of this deal, no deal or no Brexit. I presume it is taken as a given that no Brexit would be welcomed. If the UK were to change its mind at government level, obviously Ireland would be the first EU member state to say "Stop the rollercoaster and get off". It would be difficult, but we could go back to a relationship with an EU of 28, and hopefully of 29 or 30 in due course. I continue to believe fundamentally that there is no such thing as a good Brexit. It would be far more beneficial for the UK to remain within the EU than to leave the EU under any deal at any stage.

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