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

As Deputy Adams pointed out, the EU made a huge mess of its response to the economic situation in Cyprus. Many people listening at home would agree with this assessment. For too many people, it will be seen as further proof that the EU's austerity response to the crisis facing many member states is failing. No discussions on the MFF or the budget took place at the European Council meeting. Listening to the Taoiseach's speech prior to the meeting, we would have been under the impression that this would have been on the table. The Taoiseach said a discussion took place afterwards. It seems to have been an afterthought. The European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the EU budget proposed by the Council, a piece of breaking news I outlined to the Taoiseach in this House. If the Council's proposed budget had been passed, it would have been the first time in 56 years that the EU budget had been cut, which would have made no sense while the EU continues to face significant economic problems. The Council's proposed budget was an austerity budget that would have locked the EU into austerity for the next seven years. Many of us said in this House and elsewhere that it did not contain sufficient spending power to boost investment in jobs and would lead to many member states being starved of strategic investment in key areas.

Thankfully, 506 MEPs, who are probably more clued in to what is happening on the ground, also believed this and voted against the Council's proposed budget. Will the Taoiseach outline at some stage whether the discussion on the MFF will be placed on the agenda of the next Council meeting in May? Has the Irish Government given up on its chance to raise the MFF with the European Council during Ireland's Presidency?

The European Parliament's rejection of this budget presents a lifeline to the Taoiseach. It is a real opportunity to renegotiate a better deal. The Parliament's rejection also allows him to argue for a greater stimulus investment in jobs and growth, for which many people across Europe are arguing. Major savings can also be made on unnecessary administrative costs. I have raised this issue on numerous occasions. I hope the Taoiseach will raise this issue when the budget is being discussed at the European Council. The monthly charade involved in thousands of MEPs, officials and documents decamping from Brussels to Strasbourg should be discarded in favour of the European Parliament having one seat. It is an inefficient and hugely expensive process. If one talks to most people across Europe, they will agree that this is the case. The EU could save an estimated €200 million per year or €1.4 billion over a seven-year period of the current budget. If this money was invested in job promotion, it would have great potential to change people's lives. I hope the Taoiseach takes the opportunity given to him by the European Parliament and uses Ireland's Presidency to renegotiate a pro-growth, pro-jobs, progressive budget which is desperately needed by Ireland and the EU.

The loss of Irish MEPs was also not placed on the Council meeting agenda. Again, many people are asking why this was the case. A total of 12 Irish MEPs voted against a proposal which would, yet again, reduce the influence and amount of MEPs Ireland has in the European Parliament. This included four MEPs from the Taoiseach's party and three MEPs from his partners in Government, the Labour Party. Could the Taoiseach tell us whether this rejection of the proposal by seven Government MEPs is a reflection of the Government's unhappiness with this proposal? Ireland has lost out with regard to successive seat redistributions which has a negative impact on the ability of Irish MEPs to defend Irish interests and makes it increasingly difficult for Irish representation to the European Parliament to reflect adequately the range and diversity of political opinion in Ireland. The fact that the larger member states all maintain their current allocation of seats while relatively smaller and medium-sized countries such as Ireland have their representation reduced serves further to strengthen the view regarding the substantial influence of these larger countries in deliberations not only of the Parliament but within the EU. The Taoiseach received a letter this morning from the three MEPs requesting that he consider taking measures to ensure the proposal that the Council sends to the Parliament for approval maintains the current allocation of seats to Ireland. If necessary, they also believe the use of the veto would be justified to ensure Ireland does not again lose out in this vital area. Will the Taoiseach argue in favour of Ireland maintaining its current allocation of seats at the next Council meeting? Would he be willing to use the veto to ensure Ireland maintains its current representation in the European Parliament?

It has also been reported that the French and British governments are actively lobbying to lift the EU arms embargo on Syria so they can supply Syrian opposition forces with weapons. Does the Taoiseach agree this will only serve to deepen the conflict and increase the hurt, pain and bloodshed inflicted on a daily basis by both sides on the Syrian people? I hope the Irish Government stands firm against any attempt to lift this embargo and puts its efforts into creating a negotiated settlement to end hostilities in the region. We need to get people talking instead of increasing the militarisation of the conflict in Syria. Ireland should use its Presidency to call for a cessation rather than an escalation of the conflict in Syria.

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