Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

We have listened to the laudable list of objectives set out in the Lisbon Agenda. Does the Minister of State accept that the outgoing European Commission President, Mr. Romano Prodi, has labelled the process a big failure? Does he also accept that the expert group, chaired by the former Dutch Prime Minister, Mr. Wim Kok, published its report in the past few days indicating there is a lack of commitment and political will towards the process? It warns that the process could become a synonym for missed objectives and failed promises. In that context, is the process still on track?

What does the Minister of State propose to do to deal with Mr. Wim Kok's recommendation that member states prepare national programmes to commit themselves to delivery on the process and to engage citizens and stakeholders in it? Does he agree with the recommendation that far more emphasis must be placed on involving European social partners and engaging European citizens with the case for change?

The Minister of State has listed all the positive achievements for Ireland. However, does he have anything to say with regard to the objective of social cohesion, in particular, the finding in the analysis that Ireland has 21% of its population at risk of poverty, in comparison to the European Union's average of 15%? Despite our growth, success and employment rates, 6% more of the Irish population is at risk of poverty than the populations of any of our European member state countries.

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