Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

l welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tracey, to the House for this debate. This is exactly the kind of discussion the Seanad should be having and as the Seanad develops in the years to come it is important that we are given further opportunity to engage in debate on EU matters. Since I became spokesperson on European affairs, I have been trying to take the lead on having such debates in this House in order to reach out to the citizens and inform them as to what is going on and the potential of the European institutions. These debates will become more important in the future and while the Dáil may not have adequate time to debate such matters, the Seanad can certainly fill that role.

While the recent European Council meeting may not have attracted the same level of headlines that some previous meetings have enjoyed, for the long-term future of Europe it was no less significant. By putting the emphasis on energy policy and the further development of the Lisbon Agenda, the European Council emphasised the importance it puts on the mid-term growth of the EU and having a policy vision that is not just concerned with the here and now.

As we know the Lisbon Agenda was agreed in March 2000, when the EU Heads of State and Government agreed to make the EU "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010". Although some progress was made on innovating Europe's economy, there has been growing concern that the reform process is not going fast enough and that the ambitious targets will not be reached. On 22 and 23 March 2005, the Council discussed the Commission's mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy for economic, social and environmental renewal. More focus on growth and employment, simplification and national ownership via national action plans were the key elements to relaunch the Lisbon reforms agenda.

The most recent meeting has concentrated on addressing the progress made on a broad range of Lisbon Agenda related matters. I welcome that it also agreed to focus on three particular issues, namely, investing in knowledge and innovation, unlocking the business potential of small and medium-sized enterprises and increasing employment opportunities for priority groups. The Taoiseach also referred to three national programmes running in this country, namely, Science Foundation Ireland's centres for science, engineering and technology programme, the Skillnets training networks programme, the one-step-up programme and the wage subsidy scheme.

In particular, the Skillnets programme offers a real template for other EU countries to follow. Skillnets provides knowledge, experience and most importantly funding for organisations and companies to train their staff effectively for the benefit of the staff, the business, the sector and ultimately the domestic economy. Skillnets offers an alternative to off-the-shelf training products by allowing companies to design and implement training programmes that are 100% relevant and match their exact requirements. The approach to training is unique and innovative allowing companies with similar training needs come together to form networks. Obviously, this approach could be repeated throughout the EU and it is to the Government's credit that this programme was developed on our shores.

We all know why it is important to invest in knowledge and innovation. This country's economy is perhaps the best placed of all EU countries to realise this. In this global economic age, the EU will not be able to compete in wage costs with developing economies in other parts of the world. However, we can offer more developed skills that would not be available elsewhere. To achieve this step we must continue to invest in the knowledge-based economy and to ensure that our skill set is at the upper end of the marketplace.

It is also important that we offer greater opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. While big businesses around the globe move to ever-greater levels of consolidation, these businesses are dependent on smaller enterprises to service them. We should also remember that while the larger companies provide significant levels of employment, the cumulative numbers offered by small and medium-sized businesses are even more impressive and arguably more important. The more businesses of this size any economy has, the less fear it has of the potentially disastrous effects of a company shutting down.

We also need to be able to innovate in our entrepreneurial undertakings. All big businesses originally started off small and grew bigger. If we want such businesses to develop then the climate must encourage them to get started in the first place, create a more favourable environment, simplify administration procedures and have easy to apply EU rules. With these issues in mind I was happy to see the Council agree a target of reducing the time needed to start a business to only one week anywhere in the EU. This target was even more satisfying when one considers that in this country it only takes three days to get a business started.

In his speech, the Minister of State referred to young people. Increasing employment gives opportunities for priority groups, young people, women, older people, people with disabilities, legal migrants and minority groups. The European Council invites member states to strengthen education and training programmes, our communication and media as well as the creative industry to play an important part in promoting entrepreneurship among young people.

Increasing investment in human capital through better educational training, better organisation at work, better quality of working life and updating working qualifications will also boost labour productivity. The objective is to reach the employment targets by 2010. The European Council calls on member states to upskill and have life-long programmes to help people to find employment, to help those on low pay and on the labour margins, and to intensify efforts to reduce the early school leaver numbers and bring them back into the workforce. The objective of the Council is that the unemployed will be offered a job, apprenticeship or training within four months rather than six months by 2010. However, Ireland is already on course as it exceeds that target and is already above the EU average. To assist older people, the EU underlines active ageing strategies through longer working life, a gradual retirement approach and part-time work.

I was pleased to hear the Taoiseach calling on the EU to investigate mobile phone roaming charges for those travelling abroad.

A theme of the Council was to discuss energy policy for Europe. As was shown during the winter stand-off between Russia and the Ukraine over gas prices and supply, energy will become a bigger issue in the years to come. Obviously, the EU needs to examine the security of supply and the best way to achieve this is through diversification. We need to have multiple sources of supply, both from within the borders of the EU and outside so that if the global political outlook were to change suddenly we would not be danger of losing our energy supply.

The Council also discussed promoting environmental sustainability, which obviously refers to the issue of renewable energy. I could speak further on this matter. I know the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is preparing a Green Paper on energy policy, which I hope will reflect diversification, interconnection and the markets that are available for us to give security of supply. I welcome the discussion on the future of our energy policy leading to protecting our energy supply so that we are not dictated to by what other EU member states do.

I congratulate the Taoiseach and the other members of the European Council for addressing the situation in Belarus during last month's meeting. It is clear that the recent presidential election in Belarus was not fair and democratic. We must do all we can to ensure that the values of democracy continue to flourish throughout the world.

I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak on European Union issues. I compliment the work of the National Forum on Europe in keeping such issues in the minds of Irish citizens. Many submissions are being made at EU level at present, for example in respect of the harmonisation of qualifications and driving licences. The services directive will facilitate the movement of people, provide for liberal markets within member states and assist the establishment of businesses. We should give such issues as much publicity as we can so the citizens of Europe can understand what is happening. It is important that such matters are debated in this House, just as they are in the National Forum on Europe, under the chairmanship of Senator Maurice Hayes, and in the Joint Committee on European Affairs.

The Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, is able to project such issues further for us. We have to reflect the real needs of the citizens in debates like the great debate we are having today. This is the first time I have learned about the work that was done at the recent meeting of the European Council. I did not know anything about it until this debate started, but now I know a great deal about what is going on in Europe. I would like to be able to speak further about such matters, including the issue of how best we can connect with our citizens.