Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he is aware, dealing with this issue is a key commitment of the programme for Government and, in fact, a key personal commitment of mine. It is an issue I identified early on as one I wish to champion in my role. I am glad that the Deputy is singing from the same hymn sheet, as I knew he would.

Ireland's membership of the EU brings with it a range of employment possibilities for Irish citizens in the EU institutions. We have punched above our weight at EU level for many decades, with the most notable current examples of that being Ms Emily O'Reilly, the European Ombudsman, as well as a number of very senior officials in the European Commission. Of course, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, was recently elected president of the Eurogroup. As Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, I was in contact with colleagues regarding that election. A former Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, serves as EU special representative for human rights. A former Deputy from my county, John Bruton, has served as the EU's ambassador to the US. It is noteworthy that an Irish official, Ms Emer Cooke, was recently selected as the incoming executive director of the European Medicines Agency. She will be the first woman to lead that regulatory agency since it was formed 25 years ago.

Ireland has benefitted greatly from its citizens having key roles in the institutions. Mr. David O'Sullivan and Ms Catherine Day are two of the most recent Secretaries General of the European Commission. Irish officials working in the EU institutions know our culture, system and priorities and can provide a crucial understanding of the Irish context during the process of policy formulation and implementation at EU level. However, as the Deputy stated, it has become clear in recent years that we are heading for a demographic cliff in the context of our representation within the EU. Approximately 29% of Irish officials there are over 58 years of age and will retire within the next decade. The level of Irish representation will fall dramatically in light of projected retirements. As the Deputy stated, we are far below the replacement rate at our current rates of recruitment and that poses a serious challenge for us.

That is why the programme for Government commits to the development of a new strategy to increase the presence of Irish people in the senior ranks and generally in the EU institutions. We will also aim to increase the number of young Irish people applying for internships and we will work with Irish officials and universities on outreach.

The strategy, which I have already started to work on, will build on and bring together the significant work already being done by the Government and by my predecessor in this role, the current Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy McEntee. I echo the compliments Deputy Richmond expressed about her. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade runs the EU jobs campaign, which promotes careers in the EU. As part of the EU jobs campaign, my predecessor as well as Department officials attended careers events in a range of universities in 2019 and 2020. I will also participate in those as part of the strategy, virtually or in-person, as public health guidance permits. The EU jobs campaign also provides support to Irish candidates and provides direct assistance to Irish citizens who have applied for permanent jobs in the EU institutions, providing information and advice for the duration of the recruitment competition. Only tonight, a constituent contacted me for guidance on those processes and procedures because they are very difficult.

My Department also works closely with the European Personnel Selection Office, the key body responsible for the recruitment of staff to the institutions, on the EU career ambassadors programme. This programme works in collaboration with Irish universities to select around a dozen students each year to promote career opportunities in the EU to their fellow students. We work with a range of other stakeholders, including the Public Appointments Service and European Movement Ireland, in this regard as well. The recruitment of Irish graduates to the European Commission through AD5 competitions has been at the rate of one to two successful candidates a year. While this might not seem very impressive, it is proportionate to our population. However, this will not be sufficient to match the numbers of those expected to retire in the coming years and we will be reinforcing our efforts very significantly in the coming weeks and months.

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