Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the foreign visits he plans to undertake during the remainder of 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28197/06]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach when he will next meet with the President of the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28198/06]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent contacts with other European Union Heads of Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28202/06]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach if he has received an agenda for the October 2006 meeting of the European Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28207/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 7: To ask the Taoiseach his plans for official trips abroad up to the end of 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28241/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 8: To ask the Taoiseach his priorities for the next EU summit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28247/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his participation in the recent EU-ASEM summit in Finland. [28890/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 10: To ask the Taoiseach if he has received an agenda for the forthcoming EU summit in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28891/06]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 11: To ask the Taoiseach the official visits abroad he plans to undertake during the current Dáil session. [29216/06]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 12: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the matters discussed and conclusions reached at the Asia-Europe summit in Helsinki. [29219/06]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 13: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on bilateral meetings he attended on the margins of the Asia-Europe summit in Helsinki. [29220/06]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 14: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway. [29224/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 15: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent ASEM summit in Helsinki; if human rights issues were discussed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30642/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 16: To ask the Taoiseach when he expects to next meet the President of the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30643/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 17: To ask the Taoiseach the foreign visits he intends to make in the remainder of 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30644/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 18: To ask the Taoiseach the foreign visits he has planned for 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30645/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 19: To ask the Taoiseach if he has received a draft agenda for the October 2006 EU summit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30646/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 20: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with the King and Queen of Norway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30647/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 21: To ask the Taoiseach the role that he envisages for the National Forum on Europe up to June 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30671/06]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Taoiseach the official visits abroad he has scheduled up to May 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31752/06]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 23: To ask the Taoiseach his priorities for the next EU summit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31753/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 24: To ask the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on the outcome of his meeting on 9 October 2006 with the German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel. [32541/06]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 25: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with the German Chancellor in Berlin on 4 October 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32908/06]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 25, inclusive, together.

I make contact on an ongoing basis at European Council and other summit meetings with EU Heads of State or Government. On 30 June, I travelled to Helsinki where I met with the Finnish Prime Minister, Mr. Vanhanen, and discussed the agenda for the Finnish EU Presidency. I travelled to Berlin on 9 October and had a successful meeting with the German Chancellor, Ms Merkel. The meeting came at an important time, in advance of Germany assuming the EU Presidency on 1 January 2007. At the meeting, the Chancellor and I had thorough discussions on EU developments, most notably Germany's preparations for its EU Presidency term, the European constitution and EU enlargement.

I will address the College of EU Commissioners in Brussels on 8 November and meet with the EU Commission President, Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso. I will also address the European Parliament in Brussels on 29 November. In addition, I will attend the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government in Lahti, Finland on Friday, 20 October, and the regular European Council on 14 and 15 December in my role as Head of Government.

As well as attending the regular European Council meetings scheduled in March and June, I also intend to travel to some Gulf States in early January to promote Irish trade interests in the region and to visit Washington for St. Patrick's Day. I have not yet received a formal agenda for the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government in Lahti. However, the Finnish EU Presidency has indicated that the one-day summit will discuss innovation policy in the EU and its external relations with regard to energy policy. There will also be a working dinner with Russian President, Mr. Putin. I, along with others, will be emphasising the importance to the EU of secure and reliable energy supply.

On 10 September, I travelled to Helsinki for ASEM, the Asia-Europe Summit, hosted by the Finnish EU Presidency. ASEM plays an important role in fostering greater contact and understanding between Asia and Europe. There is practical value in bringing together Asian and European leaders to meet and exchange views on issues of concern to both regions. Key themes of the summit were strengthening multilateralism, addressing security threats and dialogue among cultures and civilisations. While human rights issues were not formally on the wide-ranging agenda for the summit, I raised concerns about the human rights situation in Burma at the discussion on regional and international issues at the working dinner on the first evening of the summit.

I had a short bilateral meeting with the Polish Prime Minister during the course of the summit. We discussed several issues, particularly the large number of Poles resident and working in Ireland. I also met the Malaysian Prime Minister on the margins of the summit.

On 18 September, I had the pleasure of welcoming Their Majesties, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, and their delegation to Government Buildings during their first official visit to Ireland. We discussed the good bilateral and trade relations that exist between our two countries. Matters of common interest including our respective commitment to the United Nations and its peacekeeping efforts, and energy security were also discussed.

The National Forum on Europe is an independent body. As I have no function in its day-to-day operations, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on its planned work programme for the coming year. The forum is proactive in disseminating such information including via its website. I am confident that it will continue its effective work in stimulating and facilitating debate on matters of importance on the European agenda.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Will the Taoiseach confirm that the European Commission was contacted by the Government in respect of the proposed takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair? If so, what question did the Government ask and has there been any response?

Where are we at with the European constitution? The period of reflection is over and during the forthcoming elections in France, the French will make their decision. Has any progress been made under the Finnish EU Presidency in this regard?

There have been some comments about a change to the corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland. Although this may be discussed in tomorrow's statements on Northern Ireland, does the Taoiseach have a view on the suggestion? Does he foresee complications in that Scotland and Wales may also require a reduction in their corporation tax rates?

What is the Government's view on the difficulties surrounding the Turkish EU accession talks? Is it the Taoiseach's view that the Turkish refusal to allow Greek Cypriots to use its ports is a stumbling block and that, according to President Barroso, it may delay any decision on Turkish accession for 15 to 20 years?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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All groups in Northern Ireland have pressed for a change in the corporation tax rate; it is one of the few areas where there is total agreement among all sides, including unions, industry, business and political parties. They have put forward their case in the last nine months to the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Government has also made the case for this change, with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Finance putting forward their views to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on various occasions.

No decision has been made on this, however, and it is difficult to see how the Chancellor could introduce separate rules for Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, a coherent case has been made as to how it could happen.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Chancellor of the Exchequer is unlikely to agree to such a change.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a difficult issue for him to deal with. There is strong support for this measure in the North and it has led to an interesting debate about the island economy, the courage of taking that initial step and so on. We have no difficulty with it but is a difficult matter for the British authorities to decide how to handle it and how to deal separately with Northern Ireland. There is a prolonged effort to secure consideration of it.

It has been left to the German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel, to deal with the EU constitution, according to the agreement made last June. She was part of the discussions I attended last week as a consequence of our involvement in the final stages of the discussions on the constitution. She is taking a broad view of where it stands from everyone's perspective, taking into account the approaching Dutch election and the French election that will take place next summer.

Although the German Government is consulting widely and would like to make some movement, the difficulty is that there is a tight timeframe from the time the French election is over until the meeting of the European Council in mid-June 2007. It is in the same ballpark as Ireland in terms of its view of the constitution, that is, it should remain as is and that if there are amendments, they should not be broad based. This is not the view of everyone. Nevertheless, some 15 or 16 countries have now ratified the constitution and the Finns will do so before Christmas.

On the Turkish position, the UN initiative took place during the Irish Presidency, at which time I had extensive discussions with President Tassos Papadopoulos of Cyprus. The Ankara Protocol is the difficulty. The Turkish Prime Minister, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdullah Gul, are not prepared to change their position and this creates a difficult situation both for the Finnish initiative and in terms of what the Germans would like to do later. There is a stalemate and I have talked to the Cypriot President about the issue because Chancellor Merkel asked me to do so. He is not for moving at present but I am due to talk to him again on Friday.

Cyprus believes it has been badly treated by the Turkish Government. At the end of the discussions on the Ankara Protocol, when all parties believed there was agreement, relations were soured when the Turkish Prime Minister issued his position on it. I said in this House at the time that this was not wise. It is a major dilemma, not necessarily for us but certainly for some of our European colleagues. It is taxing many minds and I cannot see progress as long as the present position obtains. Progress on the negotiations is already advancing at a snail's pace and it will become impossible if there is not some movement on this issue. Chancellor Merkel went to Turkey in recent weeks. Representatives of a host of other countries have gone there too. It is currently a major issue for the EU.

It is early days yet regarding the EU Commission. Although there has been contact, I do not believe that it has issued anything. However, regardless of whether the Irish Competition Authority gets involved, it is becoming clearer that it is a competition issue for the EU. I hope to be able to raise the matter personally because I have been afforded a meeting with the full Commission in a few weeks at which I will have the opportunity to put our side of the case. As the Deputy is aware, the issue relates to four Commissioners.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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First, I note that at the EU summit there is to be a dinner discussion with President Putin about EU relations with Russia. Does the Taoiseach intend to raise freedom of speech and human rights in Russia following the murder of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya? She is the 20th journalist critical of the regime — in her case regarding events in Chechnya — to have been murdered in Russia. Despite those 20 murders, it is not believed that much is being done to bring the perpetrators to justice. Even more seriously, in some quarters it is believed that government elements might be implicated. Does the Taoiseach intend raising that matter?

Second, what is the Government's position on access to the Irish labour market for Romanian and Bulgarian workers? Does he agree, since the larger member states are not making their labour markets accessible to Romanian and Bulgarian workers, and given the scale of immigration that this country has experienced, particularly in the last two years, that it would place an intolerable short-term burden on infrastructure? I refer to places in education, housing, and so on. Does he agree that, as matters stand, we ought not to give Romania and Bulgaria access to our labour market after accession? Has the Government reached a decision in that regard?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There will be some pressure on the Russian authorities regarding recent events. There has been a series of such incidents, and not only regarding journalists. Several high-powered members of the banking and business fraternity, among others, have been assassinated recently. The Presidency will be making a formal statement with unanimous support. I believe that it has already made two such statements. The incoming Presidency under the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who met President Putin a few days ago, has also made that clear.

It will be quite an issue, and there is growing concern at the number of human and civil rights issues cropping up. I have no information regarding whether they are in any way associated with the authorities and I do not believe that such an association exists. However, their level and extent have led to continuing concern.

As I said in the House some weeks ago, every member state must now decide its position on Romania and Bulgaria. We committed to consulting the social partners and are in the process of doing that. We took a lead position during our EU Presidency in 2004 on the basis that others would follow in the short term, but that has not happened. If anything, there has been little movement other than in a few countries. Some countries, including Ireland, Britain, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Portugal and Greece, have opened their labour markets, but I advocated that all the member states should open their labour markets to the ten new countries.

We have not made a formal decision. However, at the current time it would create too many difficulties for us if we opened up to Romania and Bulgaria. Others must open first. We already have a permit system whereby people in strategic industries can work here. There are difficulties anyway. While we can control the labour market in terms of coming here to work, from 1 January 2007 we will not be able to control the number of people moving here. That will bring its own management problems. My view is that at this stage that is probably as much as we can manage.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I think I heard the Taoiseach correctly when he said that when he met the Chinese Vice-Premier, human rights were not specifically on the agenda. Coincidentally, at the time of his visit Amnesty International issued a report. Is it not strange therefore that at such a time human rights would not have been on the agenda, particularly the repression of Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong and various other people in China? Is there some reason we are not as strong on human rights as we should be with the Chinese Government?

In the informal EU Council talks involving a meeting with the Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Putin, the Taoiseach mentioned that it was very important to have a secure energy supply. What does this mean? Given we are so dependent on gas coming from Russia, does this mean he is looking to the day when we will not have to depend on it? Perhaps the Minister with responsibility for energy can have a word in the Taoiseach's ear on that as he is beside him. The current target of 20% of our energy from renewables by 2020 is certainly a long way from energy security.

I had intended asking the Taoiseach about the unfortunate Russian journalist who was killed, but Deputy Rabbitte has already done so. I will move on to the Taoiseach's planned visits for 2007. He may know about the Lancet figures of over 600,000 people who have died in Iraq as a result of the decision to invade that country. Does he have any plans to visit Iraq to see and assess the effects of Government policy vis-À-vis, for example, the use of Shannon to facilitate the invasion and whether——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That does not arise on this question.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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It may do so if planned trips are discussed, which are the issue in one of the questions.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Will the next EU summit consider the agreement that has been entered into by the European Union with US authorities with regard to the requirements for passengers flying to the United States from Europe? Will the Taoiseach note that the European Parliament has strongly opposed the type of changes that have been introduced? These changes are a severe intrusion on the right to privacy in a raft of areas——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should ask his question, we are running out of time.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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——that affect each individual. This information will be provided to the US Department of Homeland Security. Will the Taoiseach ensure this matter is raised at the EU summit and will he press to have renegotiation of this agreement?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask the Deputy to confine himself to a question and, if possible, to confine himself to a question that is in order in these 22 questions.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I have just asked a question.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are at the end of Question Time and the Chair has facilitated the Deputy by allowing him to speak.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I do not understand. I have asked a question. Will the Taoiseach seek a renegotiation? I do not know how questions are——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That does not arise out of these questions.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It does in terms of the EU summit and further meetings that are planned. I am asking if that matter will be addressed.

Will the Taoiseach advise if he has plans to visit the people of Palestine? Is that under consideration by the Taoiseach? If it is not currently under consideration, would he be prepared to consider it, given that a visit by an EU leader would be important to the beleaguered people of the Palestinian state?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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We always raise human rights issues in our discussions with the Chinese at all levels. At the same time we acknowledge the efforts and the progress they are making on the rule of law. We continually raise these issues. We have had good success over the years in making representations regarding Falun Gong. I have raised the issue with the Chinese Premier, the President and others. We always raise such matters.

I have no plans to visit Iraq. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is engaged in all the international groups in regard to it. The violence in Iraq is deeply disturbing and there is no sign at present of it being brought under control. The Government has no means of assessing the various casualty figures put forward by different sources but what is clear is that the violence and sectarian killings affecting people in Iraq are at an appallingly high level.

Discussions are taking place at the Transport Council, not in the European Council, on EU transport and flight agreements. Perhaps I will ask the Minister for Transport to look at the issues raised by Deputy Ó Caoláin on the circumstances of Irish people.

We have had associations dating back 30 years with the Palestinian people. I have met them many times. I have been there on previous occasions in my capacity as Taoiseach. I met former President Arafat and many Palestinian deputations both here and at European meetings. During the Irish Presidency, the Palestinian foreign minister and other delegations travelled here. While I am not due to go there, we will continue to assist them in whatever way.

I strongly believe there is an opportunity for the European Union to play a bigger part in trying to help to find a resolution. There is a window of opportunity that perhaps was not there before for Europe. I will play any part I can. Palestine is not on the agenda for discussion this week but I am sure it will come up again. If it does come up I will lend weight to the argument for Europe to play a more constructive part in trying to help the beleaguered people in Palestine.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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What about energy and security?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have published our Green Paper and we will go along with that. The broader issue under discussion and one of the reasons President Putin is going is the difficulties that occurred after last Christmas in regard to supply. The aim is to try to create a better understanding with Europe. Chancellor Merkel has rightly put as the big initiative for her Presidency to try to get a European agreement on energy so Europe would not be isolated or divided on energy supply either from Russia or the other countries in the region. As most of Europe is taking in the order of 80% of its supply from the region, it must get agreements and understandings on supply and security of supply and negotiate on a rounder basis, as it is a European issue. From that point of view, it will be an interesting discussion with President Putin on Friday.