Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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I ask that mobile phones be turned off and advise those sitting close to microphones that iPads will interfere with the recording equipment and should also be turned off. Apologies have been received from Deputies Seán Crowe and Dara Murphy and Senator Kathryn Reilly.

On behalf of the joint committee, I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, who has special responsibility for European affairs. The Minister of State will deal with two distinct matters, first, next week's meeting of the General Affairs Council and, second, the review of foreign policy and external relations that will be undertaken by his Department in the next few months. I propose to deal with these subjects separately and suggest we begin by discussing next week's meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels. The Council is expected to consider the European External Action Service, the preparations for the December European Council and the subject of enlargement. When we have concluded our discussion on the Council, we will then turn to the review of foreign policy and external relations.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman for giving me an opportunity to appear before the joint committee this afternoon. As the Chairman has said, I will speak first about the General Affairs Council meeting that will take place next Tuesday, 17 December. I have agreed with the Chairman that in the second half of the session I will run through the foreign policy and external relations review.

As I indicated at our most recent encounter, the last meeting of the General Affairs Council, which took place on 19 November last, was quite straightforward. We received presentations on the European Commission's work programme for 2014, the roadmap for European semester implementation in 2014 and the annual growth survey for 2014. The Lithuanian Presidency put forward a report on implementation of the European Council conclusions. We also had a very preliminary discussion on the agenda for the December European Council. In general, the response to the Commission work programme was positive. There was wide support for its prioritisation of the jobs and growth agenda and the need to complete banking union. The annual growth survey and the roadmap were also generally well received. The Chairman raised the Dutch subsidiarity review at our last meeting.

As planned, there was a short discussion on the Dutch subsidiarity review, which the Chairman of this committee raised at our last meeting, under any other business. The Dutch Foreign Minister, Frans Timmermans, set out some of the Dutch thinking on subsidiarity and drew attention to a conference on the subject in The Hague in January. I confirmed our interest in this initiative and made it clear that we will continue to follow the evolving discussion.

Since the last General Affairs Council, I participated in the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on 29 November and attended the OSCE ministerial council in Kiev last week. Although the meeting in Vilnius was somewhat overshadowed by events in Ukraine, we were pleased that the EU was able to initial association agreements with Moldova and Georgia on that occasion. This was a historic step in deepening the EU's relations with both countries. Members will have been following the subsequent developments in Ukraine. Deputy Eric Byrne asked me specifically about this issue at our last meeting. Naturally, it was disappointing that Ukraine was not in a position to sign its association agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit. The door remains open to the Ukrainian authorities and the decision will be theirs. During last week's OSCE ministerial council, I was in a position to personally observe the protests in Kiev. When I spoke there, I called on all sides to show restraint, respect the rule of law and resolve their differences peacefully. I would like to take this opportunity to call on them to continue to do so.

The Tánaiste and I will attend the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 17 December next. Today's meeting is taking place a little earlier than usual. Preparations for the meeting are well under way. The last agenda was relatively straightforward, but next week's agenda is very full. The Council will consider a review of the EU External Action Service. It will have a detailed discussion on enlargement and the stabilisation and association process. It is also expected to adopt a negotiating framework for Serbia which I welcome. In addition, we will also be asked to prepare the agenda for the December European Council later next week. This important European Council will also have a significant agenda including banking union, the economic and monetary union, the common foreign and security policy, migration and energy. It is a lot to cover.

The review of the EU External Action Service is expected to be the first item for discussion at the General Affairs Council. The Council will adopt conclusions on the matter. As members of the committee will be aware, the European Union's diplomatic service was established in 2010 following the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty. The service has been gradually evolving over the past three years. It is timely to take stock of the progress achieved to date and to consider areas that might be further improved. The External Action Service comprises some 3,400 staff drawn from the EU Commission, the General Secretariat of the Council and national diplomats from the EU member states. It has 139 delegations around the world, which have taken on the task of local EU co-ordination and representation formerly carried out by the rotating Presidency. Much has been achieved over the past three years, not least considering the difficult economic context in which the new service was born. The EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, can point to a number of policy successes, including the historic breakthrough in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and the recent agreement brokered by the E3+3 with Iran in relation to its nuclear programme.

The EU External Action Service has also contributed to the development of a more strategic and comprehensive approach to EU foreign policy. It avails of all of the political, economic and developmental instruments and tools that are at the EU's disposal. Ireland has joined other member states in welcoming the achievements of the new service. I wish to comment on the recommendations contained in the review of the service. We have expressed particular support for efforts to streamline the service, maximise efficiencies, and further develop the already good co-operation with the EU Commission. It is important that the member states retain a sense of ownership of the EU External Action Service. In this regard, we welcome the progress achieved in reaching the target of one third member state diplomats at the operational level.

As is usual in December, the General Affairs Council and the European Council will consider the EU's enlargement strategy for the year ahead and adopt formal Council conclusions. This is an area of reoccurring interest for this committee. I have been asked about it every time I have appeared here. I believe this reflects Ireland's commitment to enlargement. This has been a year of good progress, including under the Irish Presidency. Enlargement remains one of the EU's most successful policies. The objective is to examine how we will move forward next year. At our last meeting, Deputy Eric Byrne asked about developments regarding Turkey. As he knows, our Presidency secured agreement on the opening of a new chapter in the accession negotiations for the first time in three years. Our sense is that there is significant support among member states to build on this momentum by opening negotiations on the key issues of fundamental rights and the rule of law, but there is not yet consensus on whether we can open these discussions until other issues are first resolved.

Progress is continuing in other important areas. Talks will start shortly on the issue of visa-free travel between Turkey and the EU. At the same time, accession negotiations with Montenegro are continuing. We expect talks on the two key areas of rule of law and fundamental rights to be opened by the end of December. This will open the way for progress to be made in other areas. Following a decision by the Icelandic Government, accession negotiations with Iceland are currently suspended. We will make clear that the door remains open to Iceland if it decides to re-engage. A key issue for us to consider at the Council will be the adoption of the EU's negotiating framework ahead of the opening of accession talks with Serbia. The Irish Presidency secured agreement in June to open negotiations with Serbia by January 2014 at the latest. This was possible due to the significant progress in that country's relations with neighbouring Kosovo. The further normalisation of relations between the two will be an important issue in Serbia's accession negotiations.

Negotiations are also under way with Kosovo with a view to signing a stabilisation and association agreement next year, which is a significant step on its path towards the EU. TheGeneral Affairs Council will also consider two specific recommendations from the European Commission: first, to grant candidate status to Albania and second, to open accession negotiations with Macedonia. The new Albanian Government has set out a strong commitment to making the necessary reforms for EU membership although some member states believe that more needs to be done before the country can be granted candidate status. Ireland supports granting candidate status to Albania. We also support the opening of accession negotiations with Macedonia although there continue to be concerns about the situation in that country, particularly around freedom of expression. The name issue with Greece also remains unresolved. As a result, it remains to be seen if consensus on Macedonia will be possible. Finally, the EU will consider the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is lagging behind its neighbours. The EU is working hard to facilitate agreement among Bosnia's leaders on necessary reforms but we recognise that an agreement must come from among the leaders themselves. The EU cannot impose a solution. Unfortunately, as a result of the lack of progress in Bosnia's accession process, it risks losing pre-accession funding. Ireland is committed to Bosnia's EU perspective and we are very concerned at the lack of progress. Overall, I look forward to an ambitious EU enlargement strategy for 2014 and a good discussion at the General Affairs Council.

The other issue on the agenda next Tuesday is, of course, the preparation of the European Council, which will take place on 19-20 December. As I mentioned earlier, the Council has a particularly heavy agenda, including many issues of importance for Ireland. Banking Union, of course, remains a priority for this Government and we want to see decisions taken on the outstanding issues, including putting in place a single resolution mechanism. As the Taoiseach has repeatedly made clear, we need to follow through on the 29 June 2012 statement by heads of state and government and break the link between the banks and the sovereign. The markets have priced in the banking union and we need to adhere to our timetable and deliver in full. Finance ministers are discussing this in Brussels today and, if necessary, I expect that they will continue to do so in the run up to the Council. This is an urgent task.

Parallel to this, work on strengthening the EMU is continuing and the December European Council will discuss proposals for contractual arrangements. While good progress has been made, we believe that greater clarity is required as to how such contracts would operate, and in particular, how solidarity mechanisms would be designed and funded. It will be important to approach the debate from the perspective of adding value to the existing framework and avoiding duplication. We would also want to see new arrangements operating within the framework of the European semester process. I believe that this issue is now close to being agreed. The Chairman asked last time about the social dimension of EMU and the use of social indicators. The December Council will revert again to this issue. As the Chairman is aware, Ireland supports the social dimension of EMU and the development of the new employment and social scoreboard.

At their meeting next week, Heads of State and Government will also discuss the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP. This will be the first such discussion in five years. It is taking place in response to a request by the European Council in December last year calling on High Representative Ashton and the European Commission to develop further proposals and actions to strengthen CSDP and improve the availability of the required civilian and military capabilities through a strengthened European defence industry. Ireland has been actively engaged in the preparatory process for this discussion which included the recent agreement of very comprehensive CSDP conclusions by foreign and defence ministers, including the Tanáiste and the Minister for Defence. These conclusions together with earlier reports by the Commission and High Representative Ashton have been sent to President van Rompuy to allow him to prepare next week's discussion. The CSDP as set out in the Lisbon Treaty is intended to equip the Union with an operational capacity for missions outside the EU aimed at strengthening international peace and security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. After ten years in existence, however, it is generally accepted among EU member states that the CSDP needs to be reinvigorated if it is to remain an effective and credible tool. The European Council is likely to suggest ways in which this can be achieved. Ireland supports this effort. We currently participate in six civilian CSDP missions and three military CSDP missions. It is important that we continue to improve and develop the capabilities for future CSDP missions and that we work closely with partners, notably the UN.

Economic and social policy also features on next week's agenda. Heads of State and Government will consider the Commission's annual growth survey as well as implementation of the compact for growth and jobs. Deputy Durkan asked at our last meeting to what extent the EU was studying ways to promote growth. This is being done actively, including through the compact, which was a key political commitment to support recovery in the real economy right across Europe. On this occasion, I expect that there will be a particular focus on the further development of measures to underpin the financing of the economy. This follows the investment plan agreed in June mobilising the €10 billion increase in the capital base of the European Investment Bank, EIB. This will support a 40% increase in lending capacity over the period from this year out to 2015, bringing annual EIB lending volumes to between €65 and €70 billion. The report from the Commission and the EIB that was presented in June indicated that the bank had already identified new lending opportunities of more than €150 billion in agreed priority areas. These are innovation and skills, SME access to finance, resource efficiency and strategic infrastructures. These are projects that would be unlikely to proceed without EIB support. The investment plan agreed by the European Council in June also develops important synergies between enhanced EIB lending capacity and the new and settled EU budget. Resources here will be combined to support a significantly expanded volume of new SME loans across the Union. Work being led by the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance will see almost €1.2 billion worth of project signatures and loan approvals through the EIB in Ireland in 2013. This represents an increase of just over one-fifth on 2012 levels, which were in turn up more than four-fifths on the previous year. We also see room for further progress here. Under the economic and social policy agenda item, the European Council will also look at taxation and review progress in this area since it was discussed by heads of state and government last May. This is an issue of domestic concern and sensitivity and we will follow the discussion closely.

Finally, rounding out a very full agenda, the European Council will also discuss migration, enlargement and energy. As in October, the migration discussion will take place against the background of the recent drownings off the coast of Lampedusa and with the objective of working to reduce the risk of similar tragedies in the future.

Ireland supports the Council in its efforts to deal with this extremely complex and difficult problem.

The discussion on energy is expected to be relatively short and will emphasise the need to implement the guidelines agreed at the European Council under the Irish Presidency last May. The February Council meeting will revert to this important issue.

This has been an overview of discussions both at the GAC and at the European Council. Next Wednesday the Taoiseach will make a statement to the Dáil on the European Council. I look forward to questions from members.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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We also share the Minister of State's disappointment with regard to the situation in Ukraine which it is hoped will be resolved satisfactorily. The EEAS is a very important result of the Lisbon treaty. I was concerned to read reports in the newspapers about the level of expenditure on the EEAS since its inception. The figure is currently €400 million a year for 139 embassies or about €3 million per mission. Ireland runs missions for one tenth of that sum. I am glad to hear that we will be looking at a review of the efficiencies. The average European citizen would expect no more.

I refer to the Minister of State's comments on a review of the visa regime for Turkish citizens and that is welcome. I have met some of our Turkish colleagues recently and I am aware that this matter is one of their concerns. They hope to see some form of lifting of the visa restrictions so that they can become more integrated with the European Union.

We share the Minister of State's concerns about the lack of progress on Bosnia and Herzegovina. I acknowledge the situation is complex. The committee visited the region about 15 months ago and we would hope to see improvements in the situation in the near future.

The committee completed its work on the social dimension of EMU at a recent meeting last Tuesday and has compiled a report which has been issued to the Commission as recently as last Thursday. We will provide the Minister of State with a copy of the report in advance of the GAC meeting where it may be discussed. It would be useful for the Minister of State to be informed of the committee's comments.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his very comprehensive presentation. As always, he sets out issues clearly and concisely and often detailed questions are not required. However, I have one or two questions. I ask the Minister of State to expand on the banking union. He rightly identified the heads of state and government Council decision of 29 June 2012 to break the link between banks and the sovereign. Mr. Klaus Regling is very familiar with the situation in Ireland as he carried out a detailed report in 2010 on behalf of the then Government in an effort to understand the reasons for the banking collapse. He is now chairman of the ESM. In a recent statement he has indicated that the process of retrospective recapitalisation by the ESM is less likely. I ask the Minister of State to comment although I accept he may not have all the details to hand and he may be prepared to provide those at a later stage.

I refer to other reports that seem to emanate from the European Commission that it will retain some form of surveillance on the Irish economy up to the year 2031. The media are making a certain amount of this statement. The various agreements such as the six pack and the two pack have been agreed with all members of the European Monetary Union. Is it not the case that the Commission is undertaking a level of shared co-operation and shared surveillance of various budgeting processes in particular? I ask if the Minister of State has any further insight into this surveillance which will last until 2031.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State. I will get the simple questions out of the way and then ask the more substantive questions. I fully agree with the European Union that the new government in Albania has made huge strides in reforming the judiciary and the institutions of state. I applaud the direction in which Albania is moving.

I have previously raised the old chestnut of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I had the opportunity to raise it with the United Nations military representative at the COSAC meeting in Dublin Castle where he spoke about Bosnia and Herzegovina. He admitted in a public forum that the UN had failed the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that it was assumed over the years that the countries would move in tandem with Serbia and Kosovo and that beautiful country, Croatia - where it is planned to locate an embassy. It was acknowledged that the UN had failed. The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is now very dangerous and volatile and there needs to be constitutional reform. Will this issue be recognised with an intensity that has been lacking to date?

I refer to the 2,500 scientists and academics meeting in the National Conference Centre in Dublin to talk about an €80 billion fund for science and research, of which it is hoped that €1 billion will come to Ireland. With that as the backdrop and applauding the European Union I wish to tease out with the Minister of State his personal views and those of the Department on our attitude towards the Ukraine. I have formed the distinct impression in the past five years at least that the EU and the West sell the EU in a very improper way in the context of the divisions which are indigenous to Ukraine, the east-west divide, the Russian-western link, Tymoshenko and the party of the regions. Is the Minister of State happy that the EU has sold the message of the benefits of EU alignment to the Ukraine, to the extent that the mission has been extended into the Russian-speaking, eastern region of Ukraine? All I ever hear in Ireland - it is probably replicated in the international media - is the name of Tymoshenko Ukraine is more than Tymoshenko it is a unitary state not a two-state nation. Given the eastern partnership and that we were all sold the line that it is nearly sure that Ukraine is over the line, I noted the palpable sense of disappointment when the talks collapsed. The Russian diplomatic corps at that stage had sent out warnings with regard to the reasons for Armenia pulling out. Ukraine subsequently gave its reasons for pulling out. The Russian form of diplomacy is extremely strong on the issue of energy resources. Is the Minister of State focusing too much on that half of Ukraine which is pro-West, and neglecting the diplomatic programme that must be carried out in the eastern region?

We have been rather dismissive of the role of Russia and we know its negative role.

For example, it has been supportive in Iran. When the Americans were going to bomb Syria over weapons of mass destruction, lo and behold the Russians came to the rescue and succeeded in implementing a policy of discussion.

I ask the Minister of State to review the role of Russian diplomacy in Europe and the world, which has often been negative in terms of influencing decisions through fear or the deprivation of resources, but which appears to be playing a more important role in greater world events. I would be interested in hearing the Minister of State's comments.

Reverting to the question of the EU as an entity, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia must be called that despite the fact we all know it as Macedonia. What progress has been made with the Greeks on what is a sensitive issue for them? Macedonia submitted its application for EU membership in 2004, making it one of the longest application periods. The name seems to be the issue delaying matters.

What is the Minister of State's brief opinion of events in Slovenia? We always suspected that it was heading towards a bailout. Today's or yesterday's The Irish Timesreinforced that suspicion. Does the Minister of State have advice? Does the Government act in a bilateral way with the likes of Slovenia, which is confronting economic difficulties? Given our experience as a nation, have we extended a hand of support to help Slovenia in its crisis?

We can attempt to solve all of the problems of the world from Macedonia to Albania, but why do we never mention issues on our own doorstep? A member of the EU, Cyprus, is a divided island. Famagusta, a major port and city in Cyprus, is lying in mothballs. Is it not time that we as Europeans began discussing a resolution to some of our own conflicts in more depth?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank members for their questions. I will take them in the order they were asked.

Regarding the Chairman's question on the review of the European External Action Service, EEAS, it has achieved much despite the youth of the organisation and the difficult circumstances it confronted during its establishment. I understand the Chairman's concern about the service's cost. Like him, I am well familiar with the general concerns that people articulate regarding the cost of any public service. For this reason, the review is a valuable process. We must ensure that, for the amount of resources and number of people involved, it achieves its objectives.

Two areas are important. First, the EEAS supports through complementarity the effort of member states to deliver on the agreed objectives of the EU. Second, it represents those interests that have been agreed by member states and are articulated through European institutions, for example, the Commission. I am certain that the role of the EEAS, which has been good in many respects, can be enhanced once the review has been completed with a view to ensuring value for money. We should all be concerned about the money spent in any public service, be it in Ireland or abroad.

Regarding Turkey and visa liberalisation, Ireland is working hard to support Turkey in its journey through negotiating with the EU. We will participate in those negotiations in a positive way. Turkey and its Government recognise this, given the role that our Government was able to play in opening up the chapter for Turkey during our Presidency.

A common theme raised by a number of members was that of Bosnia-Herzegovina, BiH. The October European Commission report recognised that progress was at a standstill. We need time to evaluate how to proceed, particularly in light of the fact that, as Deputy Byrne mentioned, many of its neighbours in the region have found a way of engaging with the EU in its processes and satisfactorily meeting the benchmarks laid down by the Union and their own governments. Therefore, the issue about BiH is a visible and important one requiring our engagement. However, I must emphasise that ultimate responsibility for the process sits with the home country. A country must be willing to embrace it and take ownership of it. A mantra used in respect of other challenges facing us is often used in this respect, namely, the EU cannot impose solutions on anyone. Similarly, we cannot impose ownership of a process on anyone. I hope that the opportunity to take cognisance of where we are will be grasped within BiH as it will be within Europe and its member states, including Ireland.

I am delighted to hear that the report on the social dimensions of the economic and monetary union, EMU, has been finished. I was a member of the committee during the report's early phases and look forward to reading it. We strongly recommend the inclusion of social indicators within the scoreboard, as we cannot achieve an evaluation of the situation within the Union without considering the social consequences of decisions alongside the economic ones. However, we will continue to emphasise the need for caution about treating such indicators like economic indicators. In other countries, deficits and debt levels have clear spill-over effects on other EU member states, effects that are of a different nature to the spill-over effects picked up by social indicators.

I thank Deputy Dooley for his two questions. I am aware of the comments of Mr. Regling, whom the Deputy acknowledged did some valuable work in Ireland by conducting one of the inquiries into what happened within our banking sector. The Government will continue to emphasise the statement made by the Eurogroup in June setting out the role of the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, in direct bank recapitalisations and making it clear that this must be agreed by all member states on a case-by-case basis. Our Government will continue to pursue such a mechanism as an option for ensuring that we can rebuild our banking system and, importantly, the health of the sovereign.

The Deputy raised a topical point about the role of the Commission post bailout exit. While Ireland remains inside the excessive deficit procedure, EDP, which members will be familiar with, we will continue to be subject to an additional layer of monitoring.

I have always felt that if the challenges which Ireland faced had been relative to Ireland alone, regardless of how bad they were, we would have had the measure of them quickly. Not only did Ireland have to deal with its own intense difficulties but it also had to deal with the confluence of other problems which arose in other member states at or near the same time. This put Ireland in a very vulnerable position. This is the reason we campaigned with the support of Fianna Fáil through the chairmanship of Deputy Dooley for the fiscal governance treaty. We believe that for the euro not only to survive but to be stable and prosper it must be acknowledged that the difficulties being experienced by any one country can have a huge affect on every other country. These types of mechanisms are to ensure that does not happen.

I thank Deputy Eric Byrne for his questions. I take his point in regard to Albania. Ireland is strongly disposed to supporting it on its journey. I have already responded on the issues relating to Bosnia Herzegovina. Deputy Byrne also posed a number of important questions in relation to the Ukraine. I had the privilege of attending the partnership summit in Vilnius, at which these discussions took place. I also attended some of the private meetings in this regard. I also had the privilege of representing Ireland last week at the OSCE conference in the Kiev where the consequences of all this were visible. I took the opportunity of my visit to Kiev to meet with and talk to the protesters in Independence Square, which allowed me to gain a better appraisal of where things stand. We now need to develop a model of association that is not seen by other countries as being mutually exclusive or binary. In other words, we must ensure that countries can further develop their relationships with the European Union in such a way that is not either-or. We need to reflect now on how to move this forward. In doing so, we need to make clear to the Ukrainian Government, as we did last week, that it is its decision to make, while recognising that we must continue to find a way to develop our relationship with the Ukraine. Despite the difficulties being experienced by the Ukraine we expect all sides to be aware of the impartial rule of law and to uphold their responsibilities in that area. Following the developments over the weekend and, conscious of the depth of feeling in the Ukraine in this regard, the coming days and weeks will be a hugely important time for the Ukrainian Government and its people.

Mention was made of the significant role played by Russia, particularly in the discussions which took place in Geneva in regard to the nuclear negotiations of Iran. My response would be to dovetail that situation to the point I made in regard to the Ukrainian situation. We now need to focus on relationships and how best we can work together in the same region. As part of this process, there will be greater direct engagement with the Russian Government and its foreign Minister and the foreign Ministers of the European Union in the near future. It is in the mutual interests of Europe and Russia to have a good relationship and to ensure that the region in between is stable, secure and prosperous. Both parties are aware of the challenges in that regard.

On the question of Slovenia, we are very much aware of the challenges that Slovenia and its people face. It was asked if we should offer advice to Slovenia. I am regularly asked in the context of my work abroad about how Ireland deals with other countries, particularly given where Ireland now stands in terms of the bailout programme. My response always is that every country is different. Therefore, the needs of each economy are different. We are very much aware of the difficulties which a country can experience. In the same way as other countries worked with Ireland we, through the European Union, ECOFIN and the Eurogroup, will support Slovenia in the changes it may need to make. We will use our experience in this regard to try to support it and any other country.

With regard to other conflicts within the European Union, I am very much aware of the level of difficulties being experienced in many member states, particularly those member states that are engaged in neighbourhood or accession policy discussions and negotiations with the EU. The Union at that point is as much a process based on values that hopefully will allow and enable people to resolve their internal difficulties and other difficulties which they may have with other countries. I believe that the accession discussions and neighbourhood policies are important because they put in place a fora that requires that all members of society talk to each other. This is the most important mechanism for dealing with the type of difficulties to which the Deputy referred earlier.

I hope I have responded to all of the questions asked.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I have a final question for the Minister of State in regard to Moldova. I worry about its vulnerability given the current state of play between the eastern partnership. Can the Minister of State reassure me that now that Armenia and the Ukraine have gone their way he will redouble his efforts to secure Moldova's status, which is very weak?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I had a bilateral meeting a week ago with the foreign Minister of the Moldovan Government and also met with him during the partnership summit in Vilnius. I also met last week with representatives of the Government of Moldova. During the partnership summit I expressed the view that while the focus on the difficulties being experienced in the Ukraine is important, it is also important we do not lose sight of the commitments made by Georgia and Moldova in what could be a challenging external environment. To do this - I had this discussion with the foreign Minister - we need to ensure that the European Union puts in place methods of supports for those countries in the coming months, in particular throughout the winter. I believe this will be done in two ways, namely, support for Moldova in moving beyond initialling of the agreement to signing of it in as prompt a manner as possible and address of its concerns in relation to visas in the context of its people being able to move around with greater ease. This must be given careful consideration. It would be a pity if in the midst of engaging with one country that did not decide to go down that path, which is its right, we did not continue to support it directly.

I have engaged with Moldovan representatives twice in the past week and a half and we will give them any support we can. In the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, along with many of our neighbours we will be saying we need to support them.