Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach will agree there has been a great deal of strain on the European project in recent years, with increased nationalism and an increased number of votes for nationalist and anti-EU parties across the European Union. He will probably agree that much of that is predicated on the loss of faith in the European project as a social project that impacts positively on the people of Europe and not simply an international trade agreement, as it is sometimes characterised particularly by some commentators in the United Kingdom. Will the Taoiseach acknowledge that signing the European Pillar of Social Rights is a fundamental and important readjustment? On a number of occasions I raised the fact that in the negotiations preceding this agreement Ireland sought to water it down. That was not an auspicious or desirable stand for the country to take. However, now that it has been signed it is important, and Deputy Martin made this point, to have an Irish implementation plan. Is it the Taoiseach's view that we must reconnect with people to ensure that the vision of Europe is a social Europe that incorporates rights for working people and standards of decency? Will we have an implementation plan on issues such as zero-hour and if-and-when contracts and other important matters such as housing and so forth? Will the Taoiseach undertake to produce such a national implementation plan?

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