Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues for the range of questions. First, when it comes to Palestine, I very clearly outlined at the European Council this country's intention to recognise the state of Palestine. I believe we should do it this month, and that is what I am working towards with colleagues in Government, the three parties in Government and also with European counterparts, including the Prime Minister of Spain and other colleagues I have spoken with and will speak to in the hours ahead.

Regarding the issue of trade and the like, I very clearly - and I want Deputy Boyd Barrett to know this - voiced at the European Council again my position and, I believe, Ireland's position regarding the need to review the association agreement. We are only one of two countries, along with Spain, which signed a letter to the Commission President with regard to that. While I am extraordinarily pro-European in my outlook, I do believe that European credibility gets damaged globally when we take or, certainly in the eyes of many in the world, are seen to take a different stance regarding one humanitarian catastrophe versus the other. We should be using every single lever at our disposal to bring about an immediate ceasefire and a two-state solution. That is the approach I take when I attend the European Council. It is the approach I took at my first one, and the approach I will continue to take as well.

On Deputy Barry's point, we did not discuss the Government's SME package at the European Council but the Deputy raised an important issue, so allow me to deal with it. First, there is no proposal from the Government with regard to the minimum wage. I am very proud of the fact that we set up a Low Pay Commission. I am very proud of the way that structure operates with regard to workers' representatives and business representatives. It does its work and generally reports during the summer. It is true to say that the minimum wage increased by, I think, €1.40 an hour about five months ago. That was an increase of about 12% at a time when inflation was just over 5%, so it was a real-term increase. The Low Pay Commission will continue to do its work. My party, and the Government of three parties I am proud to lead, remains firmly pro-worker and pro making sure people who go to work can make a decent wage and have money in their pockets, whether that is through reductions in childcare, the introduction of parental leave, which has been a real assistance to many, the introduction of a first statutory sick pay scheme, and increasing take-home pay through a combination of minimum wage increases and tax reductions on work for low and middle income workers.

We have to recognise - and I welcome the fact the Deputy is not opposed to this - the need to support small business. We should not pit one group against another. It was always the intention, when we brought in a statutory sick pay scheme, that there would be review of impact by the ESRI, in a piece of research. That will happen but nobody is talking about rolling back the scheme that is in place. It is a question of the pace at which that scheme accelerates and we will be led by the research and evidence on that. However, when the Deputy says "hands off the minimum wage", I can assure him our hands are firmly off the minimum wage because we believe in the minimum wage. This Government has presided over many increases to the minimum wage.

In response to Deputy Haughey, I was very pleased with the discussion we had. I was very pleased, first, by the work done by Enrico Letta, the former Italian Prime Minister who has done the European Union and all its member states some service in the report he produced on the Single Market. It is not for me to speak for Enrico Letta but I very much got the sense from his report and presentation that there is still a view that the Single Market is for some businesses, perhaps larger ones, but not for the small and medium enterprises, and for some citizens but not all of them.

There is a real sense of how to have a Single Market for all. I very much welcome that we made a decision to have a new strategic direction and roadmap for the deepening of the Single Market by June 2025.

I also welcomed the fact that we had a recognition of the importance of the capital markets union. We agreed on a conclusion and some text in relation to that because we are seeing a massive outflow of investment from the European Union, including from Ireland, to other parts of the world. At a time when we need so much investment in so many key areas in Europe, it makes sense to try to harness and capture that investment within the EU. The capital markets union is essential for that.

I largely covered Deputy Ó Murchú’s points. The Irish position on Palestine is clear and I think it is heard on the European stage. We have to recognise that there is a diversity of opinions among member states. The point Deputy Haughey made is significant. It is now the unanimous view of the European Council that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire, an immediate cessation of violence, in the Middle East. That is a reflection of what the Irish position has been since the start of this horrific humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

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