James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy Cathal Crowe on being nominated to the standing panel for the Ceann Comhairle.

I will use my time to highlight the historic trade deal that was achieved at last week's European Council meeting. The €1.8 trillion deal is a major vote of confidence to the world that the European Union is ready and able to tackle Covid-19 and to build back better after the pandemic.

The €390 billion being distributed in the form of grants raised by new EU debt mechanisms by the European Commission also highlights that the EU is taking a stand to help those countries most affected by the pandemic. The response to the pandemic must be stimulus-led and we must not be afraid to spend billions in order to save trillions. This is not a time to return to the austerity policies of the past that created enormous inequality and hardship for millions of people, including here in Ireland. That should be avoided at all costs. That is not to say that we should not be careful of how the money is spent.

As I indicated in the House previously in the debate prior to the European Council meeting, the need to uphold the rule of law is critical for the functioning of the European Union. We must also look at the protracted Brexit negotiations on a level playing field. I welcome this morning's news that there seems to be some degree of progress in that regard. That is incredibly important for every constituency right around the country. I think of the farmers in Cork East, as it is one of the most productive regions in the country for dairy products, and the devastating impact in the event of a crash-out Brexit. We must try to avoid that at all costs. I know the Minister is making great efforts in that specific area. It is a reminder that the functioning of the Single Market is based on the free movement of goods, services, capital and people, based on harmonised standards across the European Union. We cannot allow that to be weakened. Too many lives and livelihoods are at stake. Likewise, we cannot let countries such as Hungary and Poland flout the rules, as the implications of doing so are potentially dangerous. We must focus on those countries to ensure they are toeing the line and obeying the same rules as everybody else.

Investment in the long-term development of State airports is critically important. Under the Next Generation EU funding that will be made available, some must be ring-fenced for spending on long-term development and capital infrastructure. We should be looking at ways we can bolster international trade, not just within the European Union, but elsewhere. That is critically important.

Much progress has been made in recent days with our European counterparts on energy. I raised the matter with the Minister previously in the Dáil. We should also look at our airports, as they are very important in terms of Brexit-proofing the economy to the greatest extent possible. Cork Airport could potentially benefit from Next Generation EU money to fund ongoing projects at the airport. That is critically important. I encourage the Minister to highlight that to his colleagues.

From the point of view of vaccination research and antigen testing, one of the major crises facing the European Union in the coming months has just been raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett in terms of new outbreaks and mutations of the virus. We must have a degree of concentration on the matter and invest in antigen testing at European level. I urge the Minister to bring that message back. We in Ireland have a critical role to play in that fight as we are home to the European base of many of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. Nine out of ten of the top ten companies in the world are located in Ireland. They are a significant part of the economy and society now, so we should be leading the battle to improve antigen testing to ensure that we can have accurate rapid testing in place in the event of more outbreaks of new strains of the virus in some European countries and in the United Kingdom recently, which is highly concerning. Perhaps that is a matter the Government could consider at a European level as well.

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