Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

We are trying to find out what has gone wrong at the heart of that. How will we get the message out to people that Europe is good for them unless we implement the Lisbon Agenda in a macro sense? When Ireland held the EU Presidency in 2004, we had a review which found that the outcomes of implementing the Lisbon Agenda were disappointing across all 25 EU countries.

It is also disappointing in terms of social cohesion and what Mr. McCreevy was trying to do with his services directive, in addition to low incomes. The review also found that people had to rely on rent subsidies rather than having their own homes, and that there was a 15% gender gap between working men and women. The absolute inadequacy of child care and the lack of a proper energy policy were other elements of the review.

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