Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I understand the issue of development aid has been deferred to next June's Council meeting, but events in Haiti overshadowed the meeting of Development Ministers that took place last week. Will the Minister discuss with his European colleagues the possibility of sending a European Union battle group to Haiti in the context of the United Nations Secretary General's request for additional assistance? In the run up to the second referendum on the Lisbon treaty, the emphasis in discussions on the battle groups was in the context of Iraq or another military offensive. The reality is that these groups have an important humanitarian role to play. A force of 1,500, available to move within 15 days, self-sustaining for 30 days and which can be resupplied for 120 days is an important resource. I understand Ireland is not on standby again until the first half of 2011. The battle groups have preordained command and control structures in place and are able to operate independently.

The Minister and his colleagues must examine the degree of effectiveness of co-ordination efforts in the aftermath of national and international disasters. Such operations always seems to be very slow to get up and running. I appreciate that in disaster situations such as that in Haiti communications may be down and infrastructure damaged, making efforts to assist more difficult. However, we must be sure to learn from previous mistakes so that co-ordination and relief efforts can become more streamlined.

At December's Council meeting the Stockholm programme 2010-2014 was discussed, with its laudable objective of an open and secure Europe. However, as we saw from the incident in the United States on Christmas Day, we cannot afford to neglect the importance of security. The Minister must liaise with the Minister for Transport to ensure that whatever mechanisms are necessary are in place in our airports, including body scanners and so on, so that we do not become an easy means of passage for terrorist attacks on United States aircraft in particular.

In regard to external relations, the Taoiseach did not refer to it in his speech but I understand there was a Swedish initiative to examine a proposal to ordain east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Will the Minister comment on the Government's position on this issue and why the initiative ran into the sand?

Submissions must be made in the coming weeks regarding the citizens' initiative. This process must be made as flexible as possible, requiring perhaps one quarter of member states and in the region of 0.2% of the population, as recommended by the Joint Committee on European Affairs. This would mean that some 9,000 signatures would be required in Ireland. Petitioners should have up to one year to gather the necessary information after which the Commission would have to act on it within six months. I note the difference of opinion between the Parliament and the Commission as to how this should be done. What is most important is that it should be as flexible as possible. With regard to the mechanism that should be in place to facilitate the process, it is more difficult to come up with a proposal to achieve that.

The European Union's 2020 strategy concentrates on economic matters, including sustainable public finances. There is also a commitment to a 20% reduction in 1990 emission levels by 2020. The possibility of achieving a 30% reduction should be pursued in the future, difficult as it may be.

Also in the context of the 2020 strategy, I raised with the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, the importance of ensuring a standard approach across member states when it comes to measuring numeracy and literacy. The Minister, Deputy Martin, as a former Minister for Education and Science should be aware that, regrettably and despite claims to the contrary, we do not have the best education system in the world. There are many shortcomings at primary level in particular. We pride ourselves on our position as a gateway to Europe, as an English language-speaking country which is able to attract investment from United States companies. However, global economics have moved on. We must consider introducing Chinese language tuition in schools, in addition to French and German. Being the only English-speaking member state in the eurozone is no longer adequate because many people throughout the Continent can speak English. It is no longer a competitive advantage. Chinese language tuition should be introduced in schools, and that proposal should be included in our submission on the 2020 strategy.

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