Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have received word my visitors have arrived so I must depart and I appreciate the Chairman allowing me this opportunity to speak.

I share the Chairman's happiness that he expressed to the delegation on Latvia's ambition to bring forward the €300 billion investment package. I ask the ambassador to elaborate a bit more on the investment and I will read his comments later in the transcript. Allocations will be made to each country. Is the ambassador happy with the design of the investment package and the selection of infrastructure to be boosted? Job creation projects should be left to individual countries to design rather than be too prescriptive. I ask the ambassador to comment on the matter. I am interested the learn the proposed timeframe for delivering the package.

I ask Dr. Apals to comment on youth unemployment. I believe it should be the priority for all governments. Countries must make, in so far as possible, dealing with youth unemployment a big priority. We are happy to have reached 10.7% unemployment now but that level is still unacceptable.

There is a greater level of youth unemployment which needs to be addressed.

With regard to digital Europe, I am interested in the ambassador's comment on how to strike the balance between security and freedom. We must be aware of people's privacy but at the same time maintain security and prevent terrorism. I presume an issue in every European country is cyberbullying through the use of the Internet and various social media sites. Will the ambassador comment on that? Has Latvia considered strategies to eliminate cyberbullying and promote more responsibility in providers to prevent it?

I am happy that Latvia is interested in advancing a European energy policy. Will the ambassador comment on the balance between green energy and the possibility of using more nuclear energy? How safe does the ambassador believe is nuclear energy and are we advancing the goal of eliminating waste? Do more possibilities exist with nuclear energy if the question of waste can be dealt with? I thank the Chairman for allowing me to speak.