Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I will be brief. I have four or five short questions. Many Members have referred to the need to return to the communautaire approach and the abandonment of the "Merkozy" approach. Does the Minister of State see us having an opportunity during our Presidency to do something effective about that?

The Honohan proposal and the development of the role of the ECB were mentioned. Is that a priority for the Minister of State and what initiatives has she in mind?

The issue of the Western Balkans and the maintaining of stability there is important. Can the Minister of State give us an assurance that under Ireland's Presidency focus will be placed on that area?

The question of enlargement has been marginalised to a very large extent by virtue of the financial crisis we are all confronting. We know of the Minister of State's keen interest in the issue of accession for Turkey. Has her views on that developed? What about Iceland and the impact of Icelandic accession on the fisheries industry? During our Presidency will we be able to achieve anything in that respect?

On the millennium goals for development aid, we seem to be operating in a situation where 0.5% of GDP is the baseline we have while working towards 0.7% at some stage in the future. What can we do as a country that is now borrowing the money we are giving away in development aid to use our moral authority to get our European partners to step up to the mark and ensure they give from the substantially greater resources they have to assist those in greatest need in the developing world?

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