Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I sincerely thank my colleagues for their contributions to this debate. While we may not see eye to eye on everything, I believe there is broad consensus among us on the overall goals of the Lisbon agenda and on the particular priorities for Ireland.

We are at an interesting time on the European journey. On the one hand, the results of the referenda in France and the Netherlands on the European constitution are evidence of the need to make Europe more meaningful to the man and woman on the street. At the same time the member states must work together to address globalisation. Failure to do so risks holding back or undermining economic and social progress in Europe.

I would like to respond to some of the issues raised by various speakers. Deputy Neville spoke about his experience in the food industry and about product development. The firm programme operated by the Department of Agriculture and Food has led to the development of third level centres of excellence in food research, the delivery of a highly qualified cadre of postgraduate and doctoral researchers and innovative research outputs with food safety and commercial outcomes. The model of competitive international co-operation, where excellence and collaboration are required to secure funding, the independent evaluation process and restriction of grant aid to high quality projects has yielded first class research and increased capacity and capability in food research at third level.

Deputy Neville also referred to broadband delivery. The Government has assumed a leading role in driving broadband delivery and has devised a programme of phased, targeted investment. It has put in place several initiatives to assist the private sector to address the existing gaps in communications infrastructure and services in urban and rural areas throughout Ireland. The Government is doing its part and telecoms providers need to do their part.

In response to Deputy Quinn's point, I agree that we must do more on research and development. The reform programme includes a detailed annex specifying a range of acts and initiatives to improve our research and development performance. This annex runs to some eight pages. The measures outlined will be further added to when the Government adopts an implementation plan on research and development which is currently being finalised.

Deputy Quinn asked a key question about who is in charge. The Department of the Taoiseach, through an excellent staff, is co-ordinating the national reform programme in line with the new approach of a single integrated document and drawing up the overall agenda but the bulk of the specific issues to be tackled fall under the remit of the Ministers for Finance and Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Many other Departments and agencies are responsible for specific elements and initiatives. It is critical that all those involved, including the relevant Ministers, understand the importance of the Lisbon goals and our national priorities. The Taoiseach has asked me, as the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, to lead to the overall co-ordination, which I am pleased and honoured to do. The European Commission has a task force based in the secretariat general and it is drawn from several services, all reporting directly to President Barroso.

In response to Deputy Finian McGrath's point on international comparisons of Ireland's expenditure on social protection, in recent newspaper reports comparisons are based on a percentage of GDP, but this does not allow accurate comparisons to be made with other EU member states because GDP is much higher than GNP in Ireland due to our open economy and higher number of multinational companies.

The relaunched Lisbon Agenda strikes a good balance between mapping out the overall goals and, at the same time, letting each member state decide on the policies and measures appropriate for its own particular circumstances. That is welcome, provided that each member state selects and implements policies which foster and underpin economic growth, create more jobs and, ultimately, contribute to a richer quality of life for all of the citizens of Europe.

This last point is important. The emphasis on jobs and growth is not, by any means, to the exclusion of sustainable development or social inclusion. These are two critical elements of overall policy not only at EU level but at national level. While they are specific programmes and fora in their own right, they also form an important backdrop to policy setting for both jobs and growth.

I would like to reiterate some of the key priorities Ireland will pursue over the next few years under the new Lisbon programme. We will continue to manage the public finances prudently and pay close attention to competitiveness generally across our economy. We will strive to provide an environment where enterprise can flourish and consumers are protected, building further on our recent progress in research and development, particularly by adopting and implementing a new strategy to underpin the Government's research and development action plan. We will work hard to support enterprises to become more innovative and knowledge-based. We will put in place a new national development plan for the period from 2007 to 2013 and will shortly announce details of a new ten year plan for transport to be implemented across the country. We will press ahead with our ambitious but necessary regulatory reform programme. We will encourage the sustainable use of resources and strengthen the synergies between environmental protection and growth. We will continue to provide a range of measures to support people seeking to enter the labour market and those already in it who wish to improve their skill levels while ensuring that labour market policy contributes to making our economy more knowledge-based and innovation-driven. We will codify work permit arrangements, improve protections for migrant workers and allow for a new green card system to contribute to overall labour supply in Ireland. We will continue with our programme of specific measures to combat long-term unemployment.

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