Fiona O'Malley (Dún Laoghaire, Progressive Democrats)

The services directive aims to facilitate opportunity and to ease the manner in which business is conducted throughout the European market. Bureaucracy and red tape have impeded and hampered the ease of access to a market of 450 million people. Just as Ireland has thrived under the EU principle of the free movement of goods and people, the free movement of services will offer enormous opportunities to this island. As the Minister pointed out, Ireland depends on trade because it is an island nation that exports 85% of what it produces. Last night's contributions failed to address the problems that the services directive is designed to solve. The directive is good for Irish businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. As it is pro-consumer, it will increase consumer confidence in cross-border services.

I hope Opposition Deputies support these efforts. If they do, they should have highlighted that support in their motion. The original motion refers to trade union fears about labour standards and the country of origin principle, but it neglects to mention that such concerns are shared and have been expressed by the Government. Ireland broadly supports the country of origin principle, but the support of the Progressive Democrats and the Government is subject to further detailed technical work on its application. Much more work needs to be done on all aspects of the directive before it is ready for adoption.

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