Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I might start at the back end, if I may. Yes, I did see that article. I do not think it reflects the work and ongoing engagement Ireland has had and continues to have. It is premised on an assumption, which I believe to be incorrect, that the portfolio that Michael McGrath has received does not have significance or importance. I could not disagree more.

At the heart of the European Union and its very essence is the rule of law and democratic structures. While that was not tested, questioned or contested perhaps ten years ago, it has not been more contested than since the Second World War. The rule of law is the basis for the protection of minority rights, rights of women, homosexual people and minority religious groups because it protects fundamental freedoms, as well as independent courts, predictable parliaments, predictable open transparent media, the ability to criticise government and to have active civic society, which in Ireland is funded by the Government and where there is engagement all the time. This could not be in more contrast to, for example, Hungary, Slovakia and other concerns around different parts of Europe, which the Deputy has mentioned.

Michael McGrath takes this portfolio at a time when the Presidency itself is under ongoing assessment and to the withholding of funds in relation to democratic back-sliding in the rule of law. We have seen a transition from Poland back to rule-of-law principles, but there is a body of work to do that. Slovakia and our accession countries are going into difficulties. Being honest, it is one of the most important, difficult and significant portfolios for the next five years. I say that with regret because of course I wish that the situation of underlying rule of law was not as contested as it is but unfortunately it is.

That matters for business as well because of the ability to have predictable courts, to be able to contract with certainty and to be able to have courts where you can test those contracts. It is important in situations where you are operating in an environment that does not have that. It does not happen here now at all but there are other countries that are being taken over by organised crime and by oligarchs. The provision of contracts has gone completely away from the values of the rule of law and predictable court processes. I personally believe it is an exceptionally important portfolio but never more than now. I wish him every success with his work. He has a body of work to do and an engagement with difficult countries. He should receive every support from us as he goes through the process of being ratified or confirmed by the European Parliament. I believe it is really important and perhaps that perspective is because of my spending so much time on the rule of law piece, but I cannot state it more strongly. I wish him every success with it.

As for our influence in Brussels and the work that we do, Ireland has approximately 550 people working in the Commission out of 30,000 people. We would like it to be closer to 600 and the Deputy is right to identify that while we have had people working at every level of the Commission, including two Secretaries General to the Commission, many of those are reaching retirement stage. There has not been the same follow-through with younger people taking opportunities in Brussels. That is a strategic problem for us. We want people to work in Europe and be part of Europe. It is not where we want it to be or where it could be. We have had an EU jobs programme for the past while but we have given it an extra impetus, I hope, since September. I did a media campaign around it nationally and on local media. I will be going to the different graduate and jobs fairs, all with a view of telling younger Irish people and indeed, mid-career professionals, of the opportunities in Europe.

To be clear, they are not just jobs for linguists or lawyers but for vets, people who work in aviation, people who work with chemicals and so on. The head of the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki is an Irish person. There are Irish people working throughout that organisation. She has traineeships whereby people take a position there for a short period, generally three to six months, and once they are in the system, they have the opportunity to work elsewhere. Ireland is a full-employment economy, let us not forget, and has been for a few years now and Irish people are not necessarily considering moving into European positions in the first instance so it is our job to do better and to tell them about the opportunities that exist. There is a competition coming up either at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. There has not been such a competition since 2019 so there is a particular focus on trying to get as many Irish people as possible to participate. We know that for the 900 jobs that might be available there will be 300,000 applicants from across Europe because these are such good jobs. They are extremely well paid jobs that are at the heart of policy making in a global bloc. Exceptional careers can be developed in Brussels and more broadly throughout Europe and we would like to see Irish people getting those jobs. We have a team in the Department of Foreign Affairs who will provide preparation support for the exams and the interviews but again, we have to tell the sons and daughters and the brothers and sisters of Ireland that these jobs exist and that there are great opportunities. Often in Ireland when people are considering leaving to get experience elsewhere they think of the Anglo-Saxon world first and fly across Europe to get to some of those places but there are phenomenal opportunities available in Europe and we will actively support Irish people to do well in this process. Anything members can do to help me to tell this story would be greatly appreciated. Just by way of illustration, the starting salary for a graduate is €5,100 per month, net, in one of these positions, which is not bad.