Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Chairman, for your expression of thanks. I acknowledge the strong diplomatic presence at the meeting. I also thank you, Chairman, for your recent assistance in providing a pair for me which was very important and also for the excellent job you did two weeks ago when virtually every committee member was in Brussels. I am more than happy to answer questions and make my statement, but, equally, I am interested in hearing the observations of members following their meetings. I am aware, for example, that Senator Terry Leyden was in Valletta recently. There is very good engagement with the committee. I am delighted to be back before it and appreciate the agreement of members to having a slightly shorter format. Many of us will attend the Taoiseach's keynote address this afternoon entitled, Ireland at the Heart of a Changing European Union, which will take place in little over an hour. I will keep my intervention a little more brief than usual to allow time for interaction.

There have been two General Affairs Council meetings since my last appearance before the committee. The first of the General Affairs Councils I attended and the first under the Maltese Presidency was held in Valletta on 23 and 24 January. There were two agenda items, the first of which was on the Maltese Presidency's priorities - migration, the Single Market, security, social inclusion, Europe's neighbourhood and maritime issues. We very much support these priorities. We strongly believe they are realistic and achievable and address most of the key challenges facing the European Union.

Of the six priorities, the Maltese highlighted migration as being the No. 1 priority. The migration crisis may have faded to a certain extent from the media headlines in recent months, but it is far from being resolved. On the contrary, it remains one of the biggest challenges facing the European Union. A total of 180,000 migrants entered the Union last year via the central Mediterranean route - essentially from Libya to Italy. Behind this headline figure, sadly, hundreds drowned and many lives were shattered. Migration will and must remain high on the EU agenda for the foreseeable future and the March European Council which will involve Heads of State and Government will address it again, as it has done continuously since the crisis developed in the spring of 2015.

The second item on the agenda of the January General Affairs Council was the future of Europe. To frame discussions, the Maltese Presidency produced a short paper highlighting the need for citizens' trust to be re-established in the European project and for the delivery of a realistic agenda focused on practical issues.

Ireland strongly supports this approach. We want to see the Bratislava process which was launched in the aftermath of the British referendum and the focus of President Tusk's informal summit of Heads of State and Government held in the Slovakian capital in September concentrate on practical issues which improve the lives of citizens through measures such as increased investment and the creation of more job opportunities. Progress in implementing the Single Market, in particular, the digital Single Market, will be of vital importance in achieving this goal.

On 3 February the leaders of the 27 member states had another meeting to discuss what they envisaged for the Rome summit on 25 March, which will mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of the European Union when the Treaty of Rome was signed. While no written conclusions emerged from the meeting, as I indicated, it broadly agreed that this was not the time for bold new initiatives, still less consideration of treaty change. However, it was also agreed that we had to work on existing priorities in a much more energised fashion. Given the ever-changing geopolitical landscape, there was also a strong view that the importance of the European Union in protecting and promoting European values internally and globally had to be prioritised.

The Commission indicated that it viewed the March European Council as being about consolidation and restoring the security of citizens from both internal and external challenges. At the meeting I stated that, from Ireland’s viewpoint, the March European Council would be an important step in refocusing the European Union. As we are all aware, there are a myriad of items competing for attention. However, we must also ensure adequate attention is given to economic issues. Sometimes, given the capacity of people to focus on other key matters, there is a danger that these bread and butter issues will become marginalised. They remain, however, issues of immediate concern to citizens and addressing them would improve their lives. If we want to seriously address the gap which many EU citizens see between the European Union and the lives they lead, this is a pragmatic way of doing so and showing the link. I hope the next meeting of the European Council will provide a tangible demonstration of the European Union's determination to focus on and deliver measures that will improve the lives of European citizens in a concrete and specific manner.

To be clear, the decision making will take place at a political and at European Council level between the 27 member states. While there will be some additional meetings, the General Affairs Council will meet on a monthly basis and our ambassador will be involved in weekly meetings of the working group which will also have officials from Ireland in attendance. The various groups in Ireland will meet perhaps twice each week. There will, therefore, be a high level of engagement. Having met Ambassador Kelleher and some of our team of officials in the Permanent Representation in Brussels, I hope the Chairman is satisfied with their level of expertise and engagement.

Given the way in which politics in Europe works, I restate the very important role the political groups in the European Parliament will play. The group to which the Fine Gael Party belongs, the European People's Party, has a role, as do the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, ALDE, to which Fianna Fáil belongs, the GUE/NGL group, the Socialist Group and Independents who also have a strong presence.

I hope the engagement by members the week before last will mark the start of a process of continued engagement. I understand the committee will continue to be a forum European Union officials will attend. I have visited 15 member states in recent months and one of my key objectives has been to speak to committees such as this one in other countries, not only to make Ireland's views known on key issues with respect to security, the peace process and the free movement of people but also to listen to the concerns of other countries, many of which have similar concerns to ours. I also wish to identify possibilities for building alliances and strategic partnerships. Many of those with whom we engage are members of other political groupings and relationships with them will be very important. The term "green jersey" is sometimes viewed as being a little fluffy, but we should not underestimate the links and influence we have. This will be a long game. Changes in the governments of member states will continue to take place on a cyclical basis.

I compliment the work done by the joint committee. I will be pleased to take questions from members and listen to observations they may have following their recent visit to Brussels.