Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We try to ensure meetings are as convenient as possible.

I refer to the issue of the European semester raised by the Minister of State. The committee is presented with a unique challenge about how national parliaments deal with the European semester which will force us to examine their role in the context of greater economic interdependence in the European Union. The fiscal stability treaty was approved by referendum last year and came into force soon afterwards. This presents certain challenges for national parliaments.

Irish parliamentarians and parliamentarians across Europe are not clear on their ongoing role with regard to the European semester. Last November a group of us had an initial meeting in Denmark on the issue. We wrote to President van Rompuy asking him for his views on the involvement of national parliaments in the semester process. He replied that the onus was on national parliaments to come up with ideas. We have had further debate on these issues, including meetings in Dublin and Denmark. The Irish parliamentarians presented a paper at the meeting in Denmark outlining the key issues to ensure the involvement of national parliamentarians in the process.

Many Members are still not aware of the future impact of the European semester on the budgetary process here It is not just that we are in a bailout programme; even countries not in a bailout programme will have their budgets subject to scrutiny at European level. Parliamentarians are aware that the timing of the budget will change from December to October, but they are not aware of the oversight process that will come into play with the six-pack and the two-pack in place. It is a complete change to the budgetary process and national parliamentarians need to be aware of it. We need to ensure we retain democratic accountability in order that national budgets will continue to be set by national parliamentarians. We must not give away too much power to the European institutions.

The committee will continue to work on this issue in the coming weeks and months. However, it will also examine other issues. Next month Senator Kathryn Reilly will be publishing a report on youth unemployment. This follows on from a number of committee meetings on the topic. The committee is also holding a series of bilateral meetings with Members of other European national parliaments with the aim of explaining to them the particular circumstances of the Irish economic situation, including the bank guarantee and the bank bailout. This is an important exercise in sharing awareness which will allow the committee the opportunity to dispel many myths among our European partners. In recent months it has met parliamentarians from Germany, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and elsewhere and these meetings will continue in the coming weeks and months.

I wish to inform the House about the forthcoming conference to be held at Dublin Castle next month, to be attended by 300 parliamentarians from the EU committees of all member states. The COSAC conference will be held over two days at the end of June and will be the final conference of the Irish Presidency. As Chair of COSAC, I am responsible for compiling the agenda for the conference and the schedule of events is being finalised. I am pleased to announce that the President will attend, as will the Taoiseach and the Ceann Comhairle. The future of Europe will be discussed at one session which will be attended by the former President of the European Commission, Mr. Jacques Delors, as well as Commissioner Viviane Reding. Another session will discuss how Europe needs to take account of the needs and rights of younger citizens. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, will attend this session, as well as speakers from the Roma community, the LGBT community and the disability community.

We will host a session on development aid at which the speakers will include the international philanthropist Mo Ibrahim from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and Barry Andrews, formerly of this parish and now chief executive of GOAL. They will speak about the impact of development aid on the Third World.

A session on enlargement will be addressed by experts, including our own Erwan Fouéré. Ireland has been a member of the European Union for 40 years, a period of tremendous economic growth, social change and also peace in the country. We want other countries to enjoy these benefits. Enlargement has been at the heart of our Presidency. We expect to hear about progress on the Serbian application for membership, particularly in the light of the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo brokered by the European Union. We are looking forward to discussing progress on the situation in Turkey. We expect to see a chapter on that country's accession process opened before the end of the Irish Presidency. We want to see further progress in the case of other states such as Macedonia. The House will be aware of the issues relating to the naming of the country, but throughout the Presidency we will attempt to find ways to open accession negotiations as a means of building trust on this issue between the relevant states. It will be a very busy end to the Presidency before a return to the normal day-to-day work of the committee.

The committee is fortunate to be staffed by some excellent and dedicated public servants. We are very grateful to the Ministers, Deputies Eamon Gilmore and Lucinda Creighton, for their continued presence at our meetings. They inform the committee of what will be discussed at General Affairs Council meetings. They deal with comments and questions from members, including Deputy Timmy Dooley and me. We are grateful for their attendance. I am particularly grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to speak in the House on behalf of the committee.

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