Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

Yes, and it holds true for everything in life. I wish the Presidency well in that aspect of the Lisbon Agenda. If we do not provide more and better jobs, achieve greater competitiveness and work towards harmonisation of our qualifications we will not be able to help those who need to be helped. Unless there is competitiveness we will not have the money to work on our social model. An important part of the Lisbon Agenda is attempting to eradicate poverty and looking after those who cannot look after themselves. We can only make improvements in the health service and in the area of pensions if we have a vibrant economy. We have this, but we must work on maintaining it. That is the model we must sell to Europe. The only possibility for achieving this is to ensure greater competitiveness, sustainable growth and more jobs. This will ensure that we can help those who cannot help themselves.

I note the points raised in the Minister of State's contribution about the ongoing efforts in Kosovo, the Middle East peace process and Iraq. Part of the discussion on the accession of Turkey to the EU was about the reunification of Cyprus and whether this will happen on 24 April when the two referendums will be held. It was asked what would happen if the Greek Cypriots voted "No" and the Turkish Cypriots "Yes" or if both sides voted "No". There are many possible problems. It is a difficult issue. I came away feeling that there was some doubt about the matter. The Turkish Cypriots seem to be agreeing to make progress but the other side seems not to have the required commitment. However, we will see what the outcome is on 24 April.

I understand a conference entitled Communicating Europe will take place on 7 and 8 April. This is an issue that is close to my heart. The conference was initiated by the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, and all the member state representatives will be discussing how we can bring Europe closer to its citizens. How can we get rid of the gobbledegook language? I became interested in this issue when I became a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs and began to look at all the documentation that was coming through. I spent hours trying to understand jargon. I am here to bring Europe closer to its citizens — to make Irish citizens feel we are moving in the right direction and that without Europe we would be isolated. I welcome the Communicating Europe conference, at which we can discuss how we can best develop closer relationships with our citizens. That will be a very important day for the Minister of State and I look forward to the outcome of the conference. I wish him every success with it.

The date 1 May is D-Day and I look forward to participating in a full schedule of events. That date, however, should not be dominated by, as Senator Bradford said, self-appointed groups with no democratic mandate. Some may wonder from where such groups come. They come from the very countries that were under the mantle of the Soviet Union for such a long time. They seem to have no home, nor do they want one; they are just creating disturbances. We must be careful that proper security measures are in place so those thugs will not get an opportunity to disrupt proceedings, as we have read in newspapers in recent days.

I hope 1 May will be a great success. As regards the second half of our EU Presidency, I extend every good wish to the Taoiseach and his Ministers for the conclusion of the constitutional treaty. I know it will be a great success. The challenge for us is that when all that is over we will not sit back but will continue to take pride in the fact that Ireland had a successful EU Presidency, hosting the enlargement ceremony on 1 May and completing the negotiations on the constitutional treaty. In the coming years we will continue the drive to maintain a strong economy.

This debate has afforded us a great opportunity to discuss the recent spring Council meeting in Brussels. I am proud to be able to speak about our country in this manner, as well as recognising that the Taoiseach has spearheaded the EU spring Council so successfully. The next EU summit meeting in June will confirm Ireland's position as the EU's most successful economy to be used as a model for the accession states.