Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As Deputies will be aware, the concept of Europe is an old convention. As a geographic term it reaches back to the time of Homer in the 5th century B.C. It stretches from the Azores to Severny Island and covers 10 million square miles, 750 million people and 37,000 years of civilization. As impressive as these facts are and as much as they provide a sense of perspective for debate for any discussion, such as what we will have this morning, they present us with some obvious questions.

What are we talking about when we talk about Europe? Why are we engaging with it? How are we doing it and to what end? These are important questions which go to the centre of the Government's actions in Europe as well as our overall engagement with European issues as parliamentarians and, most importantly, as Irish citizens.

This is why I welcome this debate, which is allowing the House to address the fundamental questions of why, how and what. Those are the three questions that I wish to address in my opening statement. I want to examine why Europe matters, how we are engaging with it, and what this engagement will deliver.

I will begin with the question of why. The great Scottish philosopher, David Hume, once said: "It's when we start working together that the real healing takes place... it's when we start spilling our sweat, and not our blood." I do not need to remind Deputies of the foundations of the modern European project, forged as it was out of the horrors of war. I do want to remind colleagues, however, of how precarious this peace is and what it is that keeps those horrors from resurfacing. We have all been gripped by the tragic events in Ukraine. Reflecting on why Europe matters could never be timelier when we consider the loss of life and anguish of the people in their longing and desire to be a part of what we all too often take for granted.

We should not forget that Europe does not consist purely of the EU, as important as that is. In addition, the EU is not purely about economics or financial markets, and is not solely about directives and regulations. It is, always has been and will to continue to be a project of peace. It is a catalyst composed of ideals, values and beliefs which transform our encounters with other countries into relations which produce the benefits many of us assume have always been there: the ability to move freely, to live, work, travel and trade across borders without restrictions.

This ability is tied in closely with the concept of globalisation - that interconnection, integration and interdependence which now characterises the world in which we live. That is the contemporary rationale for the European Union, which underlies what I have just discussed. It is the biggest current "why" of the European project.

I have spoken in the past about this contemporary rationale for the European project as the goals and objectives of the Union have grown and developed, and as its constituent member states have drawn together. We must continue to work together because on its own no country, no matter how big or small, can manage, prosper or hope to influence a world in which everything is now linked.

To quote another philosopher, Isaiah Berlin: "Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance - these may be cured by reform or revolution. But men do not live only by fighting evils. They live by positive goals, individual and collective, a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible." This is the "why" of our engagement - a Europe based on values, enabling countries to best manage challenges and opportunities which are too big to grasp on their own. These are the positive goals we live by when we engage with Europe.

This leads directly to how we engage with Europe, which has two fundamental and interwoven strands: our engagement through the institutions of the Union and directly with other European countries. There is a tendency to view Ireland's relationship with Europe solely within the framework of the European Union. Given the events of recent years, this is entirely understandable. However, in so doing we must not overlook the importance of the bilateral dimension of our relationships with all European countries and risk failing, in turn, to fully appreciate the extent to which strong bilateral links helped to generate goodwill and positive sentiment towards Ireland.

This Government is strongly committed to enhancing Ireland's bilateral political, trade, economic and cultural relations with other European countries. This is, and will remain, a key feature of our engagement with Europe. How will we do this? The most important component of Ireland's agency in Europe is our network of bilateral diplomatic missions. With the opening of a new embassy in Zagreb, we will have a presence spanning all EU member states and covering the entirety of Europe.

It is because of this that I have invested significant time in undertaking bilateral visits across Europe. To date, I have made well over 20 visits to European countries and EU institutions to further develop Ireland's profile and advance our national interests. For example, I will travel to Poland later today where I will have meetings with my counterpart, the Minister for European Affairs, Piotr Serafin, as well as with the State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development. The week before last, I visited Germany to meet my new counterpart, Minister Michael Roth, for the same objective of advancing and developing our national interests within Germany, which is a key European ally.

Beyond the EU, I have also paid particular attention to developing Ireland's relations with the countries of the western Balkans. In the past two months, I have visited Tirana in Albania, and Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as meeting the Foreign Minister of Kosovo during his visit to Dublin. I also intend to visit Serbia and Kosovo in the near future.

The second strand of our engagement is through the European institutions: the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. This engagement is interwoven with the direct contact with other member states, as I have outlined. The Government has prioritised - Deputies will recognise this from our record of attendance - active ministerial participation at the Council of Ministers and regular, substantive engagement with the Commission. The Government has also committed to regular engagement with the European Parliament, including a ministerial presence at each plenary session.

I have just returned from Strasbourg where I met a number of influential MEPs from various countries who are active in committees that have a material impact on our national interests. I also had the opportunity to meet Commissioner Stefan Fuele to discuss the outcome of my own visit to the western Balkans and have an update on events in Ukraine. I recognise the value of the work by MEPs of all political parties and none which is undertaken in advancing our interests within the European Parliament. A key feature of all my visits to the European Parliament is to engage directly with MEPs from Northern Ireland, all of whom respond positively and constructively to this form of engagement which is based on our mutual interests.

Having outlined the why of engagement, and focused on how we are doing it, I want to conclude by explaining what this will achieve. The future of Europe is never far from the minds of anyone involved with or interested in European Affairs. Everyone wants to know where Europe is going and what is the ultimate goal of all these efforts.

I acknowledge the work of Deputy Dooley and Deputy Crowe in travelling abroad to represent Ireland, as well as representing their political parties and constituents. Their work through bodies like COSAC and the Committee on Foreign Affairs involves actively engaging in detail with the work we do abroad. Their work as Members of the Oireachtas continues through their engagement with parliamentarians from other countries. They will be aware, as I am, that there is no end point to this kind of engagement.

The European project is a perpetual vehicle of collective action designed to enable countries to continuously work together to the benefit of all and to overcome difficulties through compromise and negotiation. By means of the wheels of democracy and those of bureaucracy, both of which turn slowly, this is what Europe does each day. To make this engagement effective, we have clear priorities. I wish to focus on two of these, namely, creating jobs and stability in Ireland and throughout Europe and maximising our national influence during a period of considerable change. In the context of our agenda for creating jobs and stability, three clear priorities stand out. These are fostering an environment for investment; developing the Single Market; and harnessing the semester process. The concept of the banking union is crucial to this because it encapsulates our engagement with Europe. It is not that long ago that the collapse of the euro was openly and widely predicted by some and discussed by nearly all. That collapse did not happen because of the actions taken by a number of Europeans institutions, including the European Central Bank, and the Irish Government, among others, in respect to the crisis. We now have a much more robust and stable architecture in place and a larger eurozone. Clearly, however, our work is not finished and we continue to face into a huge crisis, particularly in the context of unemployment.

Restoring and reinforcing economic growth and securing the stability of the euro remain the key tasks for Ireland and the Union. Delivery of what has been agreed in regard to the banking union, not least the June 2012 agreement to break the link between sovereigns and banks, is key. To complement this we must continue to press for growth-enhancing measures, including the deepening of the Single Market, enhancing business access to credit and stimulate external trade. The European Investment Bank, EIB, is a prime example of how a constructive method of delivery can be adopted in respect of this agenda. In 2013 alone, the EIB agreed to provide €600 million to Irish projects. This included €200 million for SMEs, as well as support for DIT's Grangegorman campus development. In total, this represents an increase of over four fifths in the level of investment Ireland received from the EIB in the past.

The European semester process is another area in which our engagement with Europe will yield significant benefits. As the House is aware, this fourth European semester cycle is the first in which Ireland will be a full participant on foot of our exit from the EU-IMF programme. The Government's second priority is maximising our influence during a period of major change and this will be to the fore in everyone's mind during the European elections in May. As co-legislator with the Council, the European Parliament's role in shaping and determining European policy has never been stronger. It matters like never before and the Government has recognised this via its direct engagement with the Parliament. As already stated, we have ensured that Ireland has had a ministerial presence at each plenary session of the Parliament during the past six months. We will continue to pursue this agenda. The scale of the institutional transition will be huge. It is vital, therefore, that we maintain and develop strong relationships with the presidents of the Commission, the European Council and the Eurogroup. We must draw on the goodwill and strong connections we have generated through our bilateral relations, and which have been reinforced by our programme exit, in order to deepen our influence and enhance our effectiveness within the EU. If the past year the resilience and adaptability of Europe have been evident. More importantly, however, the resilience and adaptability of the Irish people has also been on show.

I have endeavoured to explain the nature of our engagement with the European Union. Our approach has a single objective, namely, to support the Irish people and to ensure that our economic recovery accelerates and that the benefits from the progress we make will be shared fairly and equally among all citizens.

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