Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I apologise for holding up the business of the House but my colleague, the Polish Prime Minister, was running a little behind schedule.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to address the Seanad on Ireland's Presidency of the European Union and developments in Northern Ireland. Last September, I had the privilege of appearing before the Sub-Committee on Seanad Reform. At that time, and in my submission to the Committee on European Affairs in June, I highlighted the European Union and Northern Ireland as areas where this House has played a significant role. It is a particular pleasure, therefore, to have this opportunity to update Senators on developments in both these areas.

First, I will address the European Union and Ireland's Presidency. Last year, before the sub-committee, I underlined the importance of ensuring that the Seanad, and the Houses of the Oireachtas as a whole, are in the best position to respond to the challenges that face Ireland now and into the future. A critical issue for us, as public representatives, is how we can use our democratic institutions to engage more people in a full understanding of the processes that fundamentally affect our lives.

The introduction in 2002 of the system of Oireachtas scrutiny of European Union measures has gone a significant part of the way towards responding to this challenge. That system, which is overseen by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs, is established now and is working well. I congratulate Senators for their important work in this area.

As Senators will be aware, the European Union is being expanded to 25 members in May. Negotiations for further membership are ongoing and more applications are expected. This expansion and the ongoing process of European integration, coupled with an ever changing global environment will, inevitably, make the European Union more complex and challenging for all of us. It will also provide new opportunities and possibilities and we must be prepared to grasp them.

In this new context, the Seanad could provide even greater added value to the identification and elaboration of Ireland's vital national interests in the European Union. It could also make an even more effective contribution to ensuring that Ireland, in the European Union, continues to engage positively and constructively. I look forward to the publication of the final report of the Sub-Committee on Seanad Reform in the near future. I pay tribute to the chairperson of the group, Senator O'Rourke, and all its members for carrying this vital work forward. They can rest assured that the Government will give careful consideration to the recommendations in the report.

Our sixth Presidency comes at a challenging time for the European Union. There is the ongoing work of the Intergovernmental Conference to progress. In addition, we must continue the drive to create a Union of greater competitiveness with more jobs in an enlarged context. The justice and external relations agendas must also be managed and advanced.

Prior to our Presidency we prepared an annual programme with the future Netherlands Presidency. We also prepared a multiannual programme with the five future Presidencies to the end of 2006. These programmes, and our own Presidency programme, provide the framework for the work of the European Union for the coming period. The three programmes have been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Presidency programme has been circulated to each Member of the House.

We have chosen a theme for our Presidency which is practical and, at the same time, visionary. Our theme, Europeans Working Together, reflects our desire to work with our partners to build on the success that the people of Europe have already created. We have made a good start. We have had meetings with the Commission and with the European Parliament. We have also held a number of successful informal Council meetings here in Ireland. In recent days, Ministers have been briefing the Parliament's committees on our Presidency priorities and our first formal Council meetings have begun. In addition, members of the Government, myself included, have maintained close contact with our counterparts on the full range of important issues with a view to moving ahead on our work programme.

Building on the European Convention, the Intergovernmental Conference made considerable progress on a constitution for Europe last year. It was, therefore, disappointing that it was not possible to reach agreement on the outstanding issues at the European Council in Brussels last month. There is no doubt in my mind that the very significant progress that was made in the IGC was due in no small part to the efficiency and determination with which the Italian Presidency approached the negotiations. We are grateful to it for this excellent work. It now falls to Ireland, as holder of the Presidency, to try to make further progress. We are determined to do whatever we can to encourage and facilitate the earliest possible agreement. Our work will be based on the report of the European Convention and the progress made so far in the IGC. This progress is reflected in particular in the papers submitted to the European Council by the Italian Presidency following the conclave of Foreign Ministers in Naples.

At the December European Council, I undertook to consult with my European partners and to make a report to the European Council in March. This series of consultations is well underway. I have had initial contact with almost all of my colleagues on the European Council. I met Prime Minister Aznar in Madrid on Monday and this morning I had a very useful meeting with Prime Minister Miller of Poland. The Swedish and Belgian Prime Ministers visited Dublin earlier this month. Further visits and contacts are planned as I continue to explore the possibilities for progress with my partners.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen, and the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, are also engaged in bilateral consultations. Foreign Ministers had a fruitful informal discussion on the IGC in the margins of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels last Monday. In all our contacts, we have found that all are committed to helping us find a way forward. During February, we will begin to make an assessment of how and when we can progress matters further. I propose to make the fullest possible report to the European Council in March.

A new European Union constitution would help the Union respond to the demands and expectations of its citizens. It would help the Union play a more coherent and effective role in the world. What is required to achieve our common objective is sufficient political will to enable agreement to emerge. Over the coming months, if there is, at any stage, a real prospect of agreement, we will immediately seize the opportunity.

It is too early to say whether we can reach agreement during the Irish Presidency or whether more time will be required. Nonetheless, there is a greater awareness now about the danger of delay. The European Union moves on. During 2004, we will have elections to the European Parliament, we will appoint a new Commission, a range of national elections will be held and we will begin the first stages of the negotiations on the financial perspectives of the Union post 2007. New circumstances inevitably risk opening up progress already made. I sense that there is a growing realisation of this danger now. It is in everyone's interest to complete the IGC negotiations as soon as possible.

Ten new members will join the Union in its largest single expansion in three months time. We are delighted that the honour will fall to us, as holders of the Presidency, to welcome the new members on 1 May. A Day of Welcomes is planned. This day will consist of a major event in Dublin. The historic event will be marked too in towns around Ireland. A series of cultural events, including concerts in Belfast and Dublin, are proposed. Irish arts and culture groups will travel to participate in similar events across Europe. The historic enlargement of the European Union should be celebrated at community level.

We will aim to ensure a smooth transition from a Union of 15 to a Union of 25 by successfully integrating the new member states into the full workings of the Union. The effective and efficient management of the Union's agenda in this new enlarged context is a key priority for our Presidency. We will also progress the future enlargement agenda, with Bulgaria and Romania. I will also support Turkey in its efforts to meet the criteria for accession.

Another of our key priorities is to give renewed focus to the reform goals set out at Lisbon in 2000. Although progress has been made over the past number of years, it is clear that we must increase momentum if we are to achieve the goal of making Europe the most competitive economy in the world by 2010. This was confirmed in the Commission report prepared for the spring European Council and published last week. Each member state has a critical role to play if our collective goal is to be achieved. We intend to use the spring European Council to re-inject momentum into the process. We need to seize the opportunity to make the most of the positive signs of economic progress that are emerging in Europe and internationally.

Last November, I wrote to my colleagues in the European Council setting out my proposed approach and the key elements of the Lisbon agenda on which I intend to focus at the spring European Council. Our objective is to have a focused strategic discussion on the most pressing economic and social challenges facing Europe. We have identified a number of priority target areas where we aim to achieve real progress. These include promoting economic growth and structural reform, fostering competitiveness, delivering more and better quality employment and ensuring sustainable growth. Our objective is to set out a clear path for achieving goals in these key areas.

The Union has provided an area of peace and prosperity for its citizens for almost 50 years. We have also created a single market where our people can trade and do business without barriers. We must ensure that the freedoms we enjoy are not exploited by criminal elements for criminal gains. The ambitious agenda aimed at developing the European Union as an area of freedom, security and justice will help to equip the Union to respond to these challenges.

As holders of the Presidency, we will have an important role to play over the coming months. We will work hard to ensure the delivery of the outstanding requirements under the Amsterdam Treaty and the broader Tampere programme. This will involve advancing a wide-ranging agenda including measures on asylum, immigration, police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters and civil law co-operation.

We will take the opportunity at the justice European Council meeting to initiate an assessment of the achievements of the Tampere programme, with a view to launching a further development of the Union's justice and home affairs policies. We have identified the fight against drugs and organised crime and combating illegal immigration and trafficking in humans as areas where we will seek to build on the existing arrangements for co-operation at European Union level. Ensuring greater security and safety for the people of the European Union will be at the heart of our approach in this area.

I do not propose to go through the full list of the external relations engagements that we will have during our Presidency. Nonetheless, they are extensive and reflect the increasingly significant role the European Union plays on the world stage. A sense of the depth and breadth of these commitments and engagements can be found in the Presidency programme. Our approach will be based on the common values of the European Union - democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The European Union can make a major contribution to the promotion of a fairer, peaceful and more secure world.

Our Presidency will promote, in particular, EU-UN co-operation in the areas of crisis management, the fight against the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the promotion of human rights, UN reform and effective multilateralism. We will work with our partners in all regions of the world to achieve our shared goals.

There is an extensive range of commitments at Foreign Minister level and, indeed, a growing number of commitments in sectoral areas. I, together with President Prodi and High Representative Javier Solana, will represent the Union at summit meetings with Canada, Japan, the Latin American and Caribbean countries, Russia and the US.

The fight against HIV and AIDS is one of our key Presidency priorities. The rate of HIV and AIDS is increasing at its fastest in Europe and Central Asia. We will host a major international conference in Dublin towards the end of February to promote co-operation among the countries of these regions to fight the disease. We hope the outcome of this meeting will be an action plan to ensure the disease is tackled effectively through prevention, treatment and care. The conference will be a real example of effective multilateralism. The European Commission, observers and associated states of the European Union and the full range of United Nation organisations will be involved. I hope this brief overview of our work programme for the next six months gives the House some flavour of the challenges which lie ahead.

This may be the last Presidency in this form which Ireland will have the honour to conduct. I assure the House that we will continue to work hard to ensure this Presidency is remembered for having made a real and lasting contribution. It is our aim to help move forward its agenda to enable the European Union to better equip itself to meet the challenges of the future. We will do this to the best of our ability in a fair and even-handed manner. We will look to all member states, the institutions of the EU and this House for support in this important task.

There can be no going back on the process of change in Northern Ireland. It is now some two months since the Assembly elections provided the parties with mandates which we respect. With these mandates comes a responsibility to make political progress. I regret that the elections did not provide an immediate basis on which the devolved administration could be restored. I genuinely believe that the people of Northern Ireland want their own administration run by their own politicians. For most, direct rule is not the answer.

Northern Ireland is at its best when the devolved institutions of government function as intended in the Agreement. The two Governments will do everything in their power to encourage all parties to engage and address, once and for all, the issues which stand in the way of devolution. In the interests of the people of Northern Ireland, the parties must allow everyone to move forward. As Governments, we are committed to the full implementation of the Agreement and are determined to pursue this course. There should be no doubt about that issue. While we acknowledge that some time is necessary to address the current impasse, our joint determination and commitment to the Agreement is strong and undiminished.

If there had been a better way to proceed, we would have found it. There was no other way. We are satisfied that the Agreement which emerged after protracted negotiations under the chairmanship of Senator George Mitchell includes the elements essential in the context of a divided society to building relations on and between these islands. Our two Governments are determined to protect the Agreement and last week saw intensive engagement between us on Northern Ireland. Earlier in the week, I met with the Prime Minister to follow up on our meeting of 17 December and to assess the prospects for progress over the coming period. We are engaged in the practical work of taking the process forward. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Secretary of State subsequently met in Dublin at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference to address the many issues on which progress can and must be made. These include human rights and criminal justice. Full delivery in these and other important areas is not affected by the absence of devolution.

In early February, we will begin the review which was negotiated as part of the Agreement. The review will focus on the operation of the Agreement rather than on its fundamentals. It will provide an opportunity for the parties to reflect together on how the existing arrangements have functioned and to consider their future operation. We want the review to take place in an atmosphere of constructive engagement and we will work with all parties to achieve a positive outcome. All parties must reassure each other that they are engaged with the process and will do what is necessary to bring back real, active, inclusive and democratic institutions. There are responsibilities on all sides for parties and Governments.

The Government's goals are open and transparent. We do not have any hidden agenda. We want to implement the Agreement and end paramilitarism. We want to see devolved government restored and we want full and open dialogue with all strands of unionism as well as nationalism. This afternoon, I will meet in London with the Democratic Unionist Party which is led by the Reverend Ian Paisley. I approach this meeting mindful of the past, but with the future uppermost in my thoughts. We may continue to disagree on many things, but I welcome genuinely and sincerely the opening of this dialogue with the DUP. I have said that we have no hidden agenda as I believe we have demonstrated consistently in our efforts to advance peace and reconciliation on this island.

Last Monday, I met with representatives of the Ulster Political Research Group. I have long held the view that opening dialogue with representatives of the loyalist community is important. This meeting was a logical follow up to my meeting with the Loyalist Commission last June. I recognise the very real concerns loyalists have about issues which affect their communities, particularly jobs, housing and educational opportunities. I am encouraged by some of the positive work being done to address the problems in these communities. We want to be constructive and to assist in any way we can.

My views on paramilitarism and sectarianism are well known. I have made it clear to republicans and loyalists that all such activities must cease. Violence and the threat of violence are not in the interests of anyone, including their own communities. I deplore recent sectarian and racist attacks and attacks on prison officers. Such illegality must be dealt with by the police and those responsible must be brought to justice.

Last year was difficult and frustrating in terms of our efforts to make political progress in Northern Ireland. We made some real progress but suffered some real disappointments. The engagement of the Government was intensive and sustained and that will no less be the case this year. We will continue to work at all levels and in every way possible to consolidate and build on this indispensable process. I thank the Members for providing me with opportunity to brief the House on these issues.