Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 26, inclusive, together.

I wish to emphasise again for the House that I am in regular and ongoing contact with my European Council colleagues and I avail of every opportunity to engage bilaterally with them. While in Rome on 21 September, I met with Prime Ministers Mario Monti, Mariano Rajoy and Antonis Samaras. At all of these meetings the primary focus was on developments in the euro area. I updated all three leaders on economic developments here, including our efforts to secure progress on making our banking debt more sustainable. The question of the Union's future budget, the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, also arose.

In my meeting with Prime Minister Monti we also considered the issues expected to arise at the forthcoming meeting of the European Council, including President Van Rompuy's work on strengthening economic and monetary union. We briefed each other on economic developments and stressed our shared commitment to driving the jobs and growth agenda forward. We also looked forward to Ireland's Presidency of the European Union in the first half of next year.

In my meeting with Prime Minister Rajoy, the Prime Minister updated me on developments in Spain, especially in its banking sector. As the House will be aware, a report on the recapitalisation needs of Spanish banks has since been published. Likewise, I updated Prime Minister Rajoy on developments here and on our efforts to ensure that the commitments made at the euro summit in June are honoured in full. This is very much a shared agenda.

Prime Minister Samaras updated me on the efforts his government is making to meet the requirements of its second programme. The situation in Greece remains extremely difficult and I wished him every success in his efforts to reach a positive outcome in ongoing discussions with the troika.

Together with our colleagues in the Government, the Tánaiste and I travelled to Brussels on 3 October for pre-Presidency meetings with the College of Commissioners. Discussions covered the full range of policy matters likely to be on the agenda during our term in office. I highlighted that the key issues for us will be jobs and growth, as well as stability of the euro. I had one-on-one meetings with the President of the Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. In both meetings, I took the opportunity to provide an update on economic developments here and to stress the importance of the question of banking-related debt for us.

My meeting with President Barroso was very much focussed on plans and priorities for our Presidency. Issues that arose in this regard included jobs and growth, the Single Market, including in the digital area, and trade. We both stressed our commitment to ensuring a constructive and collaborative relationship between the Commission and the Council during our term. We both also expressed hope that an agreement can be found on the Union's future budget, the multi-annual financial framework, at the meeting of the European Council in November, allowing us to focus on implementation of the agreement during our term. We further discussed the wider economic agenda confronting the Union, including the need to make the most of the tools we already have available to us to drive the reform process forward. I said that overseeing the next round of the European semester would be an important issue for us as Presidency.

The semester is part of the Europe 2020 reform process in the European Union. This aims at securing smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The European Council is playing a central role in driving this work forward, and we reinforced our commitment to Europe 2020 in the compact for growth and jobs agreed in June. I also took the opportunity to thank President Barroso for the supportive role the Commission, especially Commissioner Olli Rehn, has played as a member of the troika, including in its support for an agreement on our banking debt.

The European Council agenda in the months ahead was the focus of discussions in my meeting with President Van Rompuy. This included his ongoing work on strengthening economic and monetary union; efforts to stabilise the eurozone, including through urgent implementation of the euro summit statement agreed on 29 June; and progress on banking union. We also considered prospects for agreement on the MFF.

In its meeting later this week, the European Council will review progress in the implementation of the compact for growth and jobs; receive President Van Rompuy's interim report on strengthening economic and monetary union; assess progress made on proposals on a single European banking supervisory mechanism, and examine the wider issue of banking union; have an exchange of views on relations with strategic partners, including China; and address specific foreign policy issues, most likely including the situation in Syria. As I will be making a statement to the House on this week's European Council later today, I will not go into detail on our priorities. However, I intend to engage positively with colleagues on each of the issues on the agenda to ensure the best possible outcome for Ireland.

I met with the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, during his visit to Dublin on 4 October. As in my other meetings, we discussed our plans and priorities for our Presidency.

I expressed my support and respect for the enhanced role being played by the Parliament since the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty and we agreed the importance of working closely and co-operatively together. We also considered the wider European agenda, including economic issues and the multi-annual financial framework.

It is my intention to travel to Paris later this month for a bilateral meeting with President Hollande, and to Berlin in November for a meeting with Chancellor Merkel. While I have no formal plans to meet Prime Minister Katainen of Finland or Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands, I will of course see them and all my European Council colleagues at the European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday. A series of further bilateral meetings is planned before Ireland assumes the Presidency of the European Council next January. EU issues were not the primary focus of my bilateral discussions at the Olympic Games in London.

On the question of our banking related debt, at the June summit meeting, Heads of State and Government committed to examine the situation of the Irish financial sector with a view to improving further the sustainability of our well-performing adjustment programme. That commitment stands. In the period since, along with the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance, I have taken every appropriate opportunity to highlight to our European partners the importance of the issue for Ireland and to seek their support in ensuring the commitment made in June is honoured. Discussions on the matter are ongoing, and it would not be appropriate for me to enter into detail here. However, the House can be fully assured that our aim remains to secure the best possible deal for Ireland. I have not circulated any documents to members of the European Council since 1 July 2012, but the Government is, of course, feeding into the usual preparatory work for the European Council meeting this week, including through the discussion with President Van Rompuy at today's meeting of the General Affairs Council.

A new integrated European affairs division was established within my Department last year. This involved the transfer of staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who now work alongside staff who were already working in my Department. The new integrated EU affairs and co-ordination division supports me in my membership of the European Council, as well as supporting the Tánaiste in his responsibility for overall co-ordination of European policy, including his membership of the General Affairs Council. The division also provides support to the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs. It secures more effective strategic direction and co-ordination across the whole of Government in all matters related to the European Union and is working intensively in preparation for our Presidency next year.

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