Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies McGrath and Hoctor for their contributions. The European Economic and Social Committee, EESC, plays an important role in the European policy making process and I am delighted with the opportunity to speak on the matter this evening.

The EESC is a consultative body of the European Union and is the prime forum for the representation of organised civil society within the decision European making process. The committee has 344 members, broken down into three groups - employers; employees; and various interests. The various interests group represents a wide variety of organisations, including non-governmental organisations, farmers' organisations, co-operatives, non-profit associations and environmental organisations. Ireland has nine places on the committee and membership is divided equally between the three constituent groups of the committee, with three places for employers, three places for employees and three places for various interests. The Government sought nominations from the social partners in line with long established practice and these were then conveyed by the Government to the Secretariat of the European Council. The business and employers' pillar and trade union pillar both provide three nominees, including one trade union representative from Northern Ireland. For the first time, the various interests group of the committee now includes a representative from the environmental pillar. This change reflects the decision which was taken by Government last year to create a fifth pillar of social partnership to represent environmental concerns. The community and voluntary pillar and the farming pillar each provide one nominee.

The environmental pillar consists of 27 organisations with a diverse range of interests. The Irish Environmental Network provides a secretariat for the pillar. This is the first time that environmental interests have been represented in Ireland's nominations. The EESC is mandated to consider environmental issues. Other countries have long had environmental organisation representatives among their nominees and environmental sustainability is a key focus of European policy. The environmental pillar selected an employee of BirdWatch Ireland as its nominee on the committee. She was selected to represent the pillar as a whole and represents the interests of the 27 organisations in the environmental pillar and environmental interests more generally. It is therefore not accurate to characterise her appointment as a BirdWatch Ireland appointment.

This change to the composition of the Irish representation on the committee does not reflect any diminution of the Government's commitment to the agricultural industry. The farming sector is an extremely important part of the Irish economy and the Government continues to strongly support its development at national and EU level. The prosperity of many rural areas is heavily dependent on the performance of the agri-food sector and we all, Government, farming organisations and the wider agri-business community, need to continue to work together to meet the continued and ongoing challenges ahead. It is also important to note that the farming pillar of social partnership and farming interests continue to be represented on the committee through a representative of the Irish Farmers Association. I would, however, like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of representatives of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, on the EESC, including the most recent ICMSA representative, Mr. Frank Allen who has been an active member since his appointment.

The EESC plays an important role in formulating policy at European level and I would like to wish all of Ireland's nominees the very best for the forthcoming term of the EESC.

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