Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every year on 9 May we celebrate Europe Day. It is an occasion which is more than just history. It is a celebration of peace, partnership and progress. The European Union, whose membership has supported a remarkable economic and social transformation in Ireland, is, at its heart, a peace project. It was founded on the simple but powerful idea that countries can achieve more by working together, solving problems collectively and improving the lives of their people.

On 9 May 1950, the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, had a simple but powerful idea. He proposed that European countries start working together on coal and steel, two key resources used to make weapons. His thinking was that if countries relied on each other for the basics of industry and defence, they would become so connected that war between them would no longer make sense. It was a practical step towards peace and laid the groundwork for the European Union we know and benefit from today. This year's Europe Date marks 75 years since the Schuman Declaration and the speech that laid the foundation for the European Coal and Steel Community, which would later evolve into the European Union.

Now, more than ever, it is worth pausing to reflect on the origins of the EU as well as the values it continues to represent, including peace, solidarity and practical co-operation between countries. On a practical level, my Department oversees a broad range of EU-related matters. These include the cohesion policy and associated cohesion policy funds, which serve as the EU's main investment policy; the Brexit adjustment reserve, which provides support to those EU countries, regions and sectors most affected by the withdrawal of the UK from the EU; and the recovery and resilience facility, which is designed to help member states recover from the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

My Department is also responsible for technical support instruments, staff regulations, public procurement, digital issues and transparency including ethics, lobbying and whistleblowing. We have input into this at an EU level.

Although reduced in scale over the years, cohesion policy remains a vital source of EU investment, with €1.3 billion allocated to Ireland for the period 2021 to 2027.

Supplemented by substantial co-funding from the Irish Government, this investment has a meaningful impact on our regions and communities.

In addition, the Department manages over €1.5 billion in grants through the recovery and resilience facility. That is all about facilitating and supporting a sustainable, equitable, green and digital recovery since Covid. We also oversee €802 million from the Brexit adjustment reserve, which, as I mentioned earlier, represents an important response by the European Union to counter the adverse social and economic consequences of the departure of the UK. Separately, the Irish Government, together with the EU and the UK, has provided €1.1 billion through the PEACEPLUS programme to support peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland and the Border counties. This builds on the legacy of the PEACE and INTERREG programmes. It reflects the EU's deep and lasting commitment to peacebuilding and reconciliation on the island of Ireland for more than 25 years. In addition to these funds, Irish agriculture continues to benefit from the Common Agricultural Policy. Irish researchers have valuable access to Horizon Europe.

Our economy, businesses and workforce all continue to thrive through the huge opportunities offered by the Single Market, but the EU means more than financial transfers and international markets. It is underpinned by values, of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and human rights, including the rights of people to belong to minorities and the rule of law. As we mark 75 years since the Schuman declaration, we also celebrate another milestone, which is 25 years since the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. That charter is more than words and paper. It protects the values that bind us together, including pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and gender equality. They are values that every member state has pledged to uphold. That, above all else, is the true achievement of the European project. It is what we honour and celebrate today. Lá na hEorpa faoi mhaise daoibh go léir.

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