Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I wish the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, well. As Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Affairs, I wish to say on behalf of the committee that we look forward to engaging with her in the very near future. Like many in this room, I am as interested in the issues that were discussed informally as those that were on the agenda, in particular the proposal presented by Prime Minister May for EU citizens who currently live in the UK. There has been a lot of commentary about that and it is important that all of us across the EU get this one right and get it right as early as possible. It has been a most uncertain time for the many EU citizens who study, work and live in the UK today and it is important that all of them are given clear notice of what they will be able to do. We all noticed that the proposal is for Irish citizens to be in a slightly different situation because of the common travel area and while I welcome that, this is a strategically important issue for the EU and we need to consider it carefully.

We all share the condemnation expressed by the Taoiseach and the other leaders of the recent terrorist attacks. I am interested in learning which of the measures that were mentioned in the conclusions he intends to introduce here. I refer to the establishment of an industry forum; new technology for the detection of inciting material on the web; potential new legislation on data encryption; and the new entry-exit system, among others. I presume that as we are one of the member states that is not a part of the Schengen area, the measures will not automatically apply to us but that we could opt in to them. In addition, there was discussion on the strengthening EU co-operation on external security and defence and the establishment of a European defence fund. I am interested in hearing which Minister intends to consider that issue. What level of involvement in the soon-to-be established permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, is envisaged for Ireland?

I was very pleased to see how much attention was paid to supporting the increase in jobs, and supporting growth and competitiveness across the EU. At the end of the day, that is what our citizens need, namely, to make sure that we have created the right environment for companies to invest and grow and to be able to hire people. While I agree that we need to continue to support and deepen the European Single Market, it is most important for Ireland to make our partners aware that when it comes to the energy union and interconnectors, Ireland may need understanding as we go backwards before we go forward again. As we are aware, a significant amount of Ireland's energy comes through the electricity interconnector via Wales, as well as gas via Scotland. That leaves us meeting the current rules and exploring whether it would be a good idea to build another interconnector directly to France. Depending somewhat on the Brexit negotiations, we will need the appropriate derogations to be allowed the time to develop new infrastructure and to find new solutions if the current infrastructure is not considered to be within the EU. If that is the case, Ireland will need to work over the next couple of years to get back to where we are now.

I note from the conclusions that the European semester process for 2017 is now considered finished. I would be interested to know what the Taoiseach thinks were the main lessons for this year and what we might bear in mind for next year.

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