Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also wish the Taoiseach well in the clearly difficult negotiations he faces. In his speech he said we must be realistic and that there is a real possibility that this week's summit will not reach a deal. He went on to say that we do not want a failed summit as this would have serious implications for the Union's reputation and that we do not want a deal which isolates any member state as again this would have implications. An active and a delicate process of negotiation is now under way.

We want to see a deal but we do not want one which will not work and will not deliver Europe from the current crisis.

Many people are losing their homes and many have seen their incomes cut. It is a crisis that is allowing children to go to bed hungry. There is a huge responsibility on all the leaders in Europe to secure a deal that will work for the people of Europe. This is not just about reputations. It must be about delivering for the people in the EU.

A delay in agreeing the 2014-20 EU budget would also be worrying due to its impact on discussions to agree adequate cohesion policy funding. One area this would affect is the future of cross-Border INTERREG programmes. There is serious concern about a suggestion that any future PEACE funding would be deducted from the financial package received by the Irish and British Governments to fund various existing EU programmes. While the British Government is determined to cut the EU budget and would probably welcome this development, the Government must be firm in its demand that PEACE programmes be fully funded directly from Europe as stand-alone projects.

It is hoped that a seven-year budget of €1 trillion will be agreed at this EU summit. Right wing and right leaning governments throughout Europe are demanding a freeze or reduction in EU spending, but this will only lead to more austerity, which will increase the suffering for millions of middle and low income earners in Europe. There is waste in the EU budget that could be cut. It has been suggested that we should consider addressing the scandalous amount of money the EU spends moving the European Parliament between Brussels and Strasbourg every month, although it would probably be difficult to get agreement on that. Why not cut the outrageous salaries paid to higher level bureaucrats? Rather than let people in Europe go hungry, the EU could make savings by decreasing the militarisation of the EU through the Common Security and Defence Policy. The EU must reduce the bloated budgets allocated in these wasteful programmes.

Again, however, it is about choices. The EU should not reduce the budget by attacking social spending and investment in much needed infrastructural and job creation programmes. We need to see people securing employment and getting back into the workplace. The most clearly visible crisis on the horizon for the EU is youth unemployment. The shattered confidence, broken employment records and lost skills will blight the European economy for far longer than most commentaries appear to believe. Youth unemployment represents the biggest waste of potential in the EU. The average rate in 2011 was 21.4%, up from 15.7% in 2007. Some 30% of our young people are unemployed, and thousands more have left Ireland due to the youth unemployment crisis. Youth unemployment is 50% and 52% in Greece and Spain, respectively.

We have been told for months that the EU is prioritising youth unemployment and that it will be the focus of the Irish Presidency. I look forward to that development. In December, the European Commission will produce its proposals for a youth guarantee. It sounds great but there are no details available yet and no indication of how it will be funded. Sinn Féin will examine the proposals but we are not overly optimistic that they will be sufficiently ambitious. The EU could find €100 billion overnight for Spanish banks but it has not pledged anything for youth unemployment. Linking a guarantee to the next round of EU funding means a wait until at least 2014, and all indications suggest a cut, or at least no increase, in the EU budget, which means some other area of funding will have to be cut. There must be an ambitious plan of investment to tackle this major problem, and funding from the EU budget must reflect the seriousness of the problem.

I realise the discussions will focus primarily on the EU budget but I urge the Taoiseach not to shy away from the tragedy that has unfolded in Gaza. Like most Irish people, I am angry at times and at other times extremely upset. Anybody who looks at social media and at some of the pictures of what is happening in that region would have to be made from stone not to be moved. More than 130 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel's latest attack on the Gaza Strip on 14 November. The majority were civilians and more than 20 were children. Five Israelis have also died. As I have said to the Tánaiste, the EU must be made to realise that it has a vital role in bringing peace to that region. As other speakers have said, these are not two equal sides fighting. One side is the most well-financed military in the world with the most modern weapons, while the other side belongs to a besieged colonised people living under an illegal blockade which has created the socioeconomic problems that have made them among the poorest in the world. There is a crisis in the region and we must act. We should act on the blockade. The Irish Government must take a lead on this and show leadership in Europe on it.

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