Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I will try to go through those points. On qualified majority voting, and the MFF and the EU budget, we are firmly of the belief that Ukraine is a special case. We have to really work to ensure it gets access to the finance it needs and enhanced loans and grant support. If we look at the trajectory and the time it took to agree the current strand of the MFF to 2027, it was a very long negotiation process. It took significant time and effort to reach that agreement. The budget is coming under pressure in a number of areas. Interest rates have increased so interest payments are causing more absorption. There is REPowerEU, which is a huge area in which the EU is trying to look for finance. The administration side of the Commission is also looking for more money. However, Ireland is very clear that there are flexibilities within the current budget. There is potentially €1 billion of undrawn down recovery and resilience facility, RRF, loans, approximately €4.2 billion in the flexibility instrument and €2 billion in the Single Market instrument. These are all areas of the budget that have not been exhausted as of yet. We are of the belief that instead of going through a new negotiatory process, we should exhaust the current provisions within the existing MFF budget as I have outlined.

Regarding the three languages, which I understand are co-official languages in Spain, we have worked with my Spanish counterpart who signalled before the GAC that this proposal was being brought to the table. The provision is now with the council, which is the forum where it is to be discussed. It is going to the committee of the permanent representatives of the governments of the member states to the European Union, Coreper, to get some detail around any potential legal issues and if there is any precedence that could be established. Ireland has been very supportive of the Spanish position. I understand it is the intention of Spain to bring forward Catalan as the first language and not to take all three languages together. Spain has said at the GAC that it will absorb the cost to have the languages translated and for the work the institutions would require on that front. We have been very supportive and I have been very strong in my discussions with my counterpart in saying that we are very much of the belief that the more access people have to understand their EU institutions in their own language, the more positive it is for Europe. We will continue in that vein.

Regarding the budget, we are looking for more flexibilities within the budget.