Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I am looking forward to Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. It will be an important moment for Ireland in light of where we are at globally and particularly at European level. It needs to be emphasised that the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, is doing a great job. She is putting a really positive face on where we are at. She is leading.

It is lovely to see young people in the Gallery. Next year, Ireland will have been a member state of the EU for 40 years. When we hold the Presidency next year, we will have a chance to lead Europe on key issues. The Taoiseach and our Ministers will have key opportunities to prioritise what is important for Ireland, for the whole of Europe, which has a population of 500 million, and, in particular, for the euro area. We are all relying on growth in the euro area. It is critical for us all.

The countries with which Ireland will share the Presidency of the EU are less experienced in this respect. We will follow the Cypriot Presidency. We will share the Presidency with Lithuania before handing over to Greece. It is widely known, given how long Ireland has been in the Union, that those countries have far less experience than Ireland of the Presidency of the EU. It is accepted that our Civil Service has the expertise and back-up to provide for a really good Presidency. This is being spoken about in Europe.

I would like the Minister of State to consider a number of requests. I am aware that bringing the jobs and growth strategy into operation will be one of our key priorities. We can see the effect this message had on last weekend's election in France. It remains to be seen how effective Mr. Hollande will be. It is a very important message.

I suggest to the Minister of State that Ireland should seriously consider taking a leading role in a major event on youth unemployment, for example, by inviting our European counterparts to a conference on the subject. The current level of youth unemployment is scary. Approximately 30% of our young people are unemployed. The equivalent rate in Spain is approaching 50%. It is a perilous situation. We all know what happened in the past when youth unemployment was not addressed.

We could build on the major high level forum on youth unemployment that was organised by the OECD in 2010. We should draw on the expertise of countries like Denmark, Norway, New Zealand and Canada, which are doing well in terms of youth unemployment. We need to examine what they are doing differently. Our work in this regard would meet the EU social inclusion, job creation and growth promotion objectives.

The digital single market is another one of the key objectives of the Presidency and of Commissioner Kroes. When I attended the COSAC meeting in Copenhagen two weeks ago, I was impressed by Commissioner Kroes's presentation. She pointed out that by 2015, the EU will lack 700,000 information technology professionals. This is the growth area and this is what young people need to hear. Careers in IT should be considered because demand for IT professionals has already outstripped supply. This proves there is no recession on the Internet.

Another priority for our Presidency will be the Common Agricultural Policy. The negotiations are likely to be completed here.

Ireland should take the opportunity to host some of the meetings outside the capital with a view to engaging other areas of the country in the workings of Europe and to showcase them, not least because it will be the 40th anniversary of the Union and because we need to show our citizens the real and democratic gain associated with being a member of the Union. It is worth considering.

We must consider the responsibility of the ECB during this Presidency. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, is working very hard on this and considering our banking debt. A constructive orderly write-down of banking debt will release domestic economies in terms of mortgage debt.

It is important that we use our leadership to talk to Germany in a very mature away and encourage Ms Angela Merkel to get the Germans to spend a little more. We know they have kept their wages low very deliberately, which the rest of us did not do. It may be time for them to live a little and spend a little more. The German economy, the German population, makes up one third of the euro area. We want the stability treaty to be passed. We need it for certainty, credit and growth. We need genuine growth and Germany has a crucial role to play in this regard. Let us not be afraid on this account. Ireland has a great opportunity to showcase itself and to show it is mature and can offer leadership, not just for its own sake but for the entire euro area. I wish the Minister of State well.