Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

When I attend a ministerial meeting, I want to arrive, do my business and get out of there as quickly as possible, as we all have busy agendas. Ministers do not come to sample the local cuisine, fishing and so on. That is not the way the world works. The bang for our buck in terms of the investment required to bring Ministers to other parts of the country and what we get out of it is negligible. We should be wise, therefore, in how we go about showcasing Ireland during the Presidency. My firm view and conviction is that holding informal ministerial meetings is not the way to do this. However, there are 450 other meetings, some of which will take place outside the capital. For example, there will be meetings on innovation, research and science and regional fora on some of the sectoral issues. These will take place outside Dublin.

There is another more exciting approach and I thank Senator Fiach Mac Conghail for his advice and guidance on this plan. The cultural programme is how we will showcase the Presidency outside Dublin. This is more real and tangible. We are keen to get communities involved in the Presidency from grassroots level up in a hands-on way. We are working with various stakeholders, including the Arts Council and Culture Ireland. The Minister responsible, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and I are co-chairing a working group on the topic. We are bringing together stakeholders and examining every opportunity. The issue of festivals and other events was raised by one Senator. We are in the process of planning in this regard. Every event known to mankind which will take place on the island in the first six months of the year will have a European flavour and be used as an opportunity to showcase European culture.

We need to get back to basics. There has been reference to a disconnect with the European Union, a "them and us" outlook and a sense of the Union being somehow removed and not a part of our daily lives. What brings it all down to earth and back to basics is our shared culture. As Europeans, we have shared values. We need to understand more about each other. We should learn to appreciate that what binds us together is what we believe in, what we stand for and that we appreciate each other's cultures. We should get back to learning more about our culture, language, dance, music, etc. That is how we can connect Irish citizens with the European Union. We have exciting proposals in this regard, including twining projects, festivals and various other events. There is an exciting proposal from Cork city on my desk. It involves the private sector, Cork Chamber of Commerce and Cork City Council. I have spoken to other local authorities and called on them to come forward with proposals. That is a better way. Having black Mercedes limousines, outriders and flashing lights is not the image we wish to project and it would be in no one's interests. A more real way of doing this would be to bring in citizens from other member states through twining projects and invite them to attend festivals. We can also piggyback on the Gathering festival which will be a very significant event in 2013. I am in discussions with the relevant Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, in this regard. Senators should not take the view that because we are holding 11 informal ministerial meetings in Dublin Castle, events will not be happening elsewhere in the country. It will be the most real and live Presidency we have ever seen on a regional basis throughout the country. It will be far more relevant for ordinary citizens and I hope they will see it this way.

Naturally, we will be using our embassy network throughout the European Union and beyond to showcase Ireland. Recently, I was in Singapore and Brunei attending a foreign Ministers meeting of Asian and European countries. I held several bilateral meetings with various countries, including Malaysia and the Philippines. These are growing economies and we are trying to attract investment to Ireland. I plied the usual line to the effect that we have a favourable tax rate, speak English and are in the eurozone, and it was all interesting to them. However, as soon as I pointed out that we would take over the Presidency of the European Union next year, they became even more interested. Our embassies, not only in the European Union but elsewhere throughout the globe, will be showcasing the fact that we are in a position of leadership at European level during the six month period. Others are interested in this; they like it and see it as positive. It is something we can leverage to our advantage during the course of the Presidency.

How can we use agriculture? The Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, is playing a blinder in the work he has been doing in promoting agri-foods throughout Europe and the globe. The CAP negotiations will be the key issue for us during the Presidency. It is tricky one because when we are in the chair, we try to reach consensus while putting forward our position, but no one can do this better than the Irish and already we are doing the groundwork. The General Affairs Council engages in horizontal negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework. We agree the broad parameters and headline figures and send them for agreement at the European summit by the Heads of Government, but the sectoral negotiations on the detail are carried out by the relevant sectoral Ministers. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will be leading for us and I am confident he will do so well. We will also use the semi-State agencies. I have chaired a number of meetings with semi-State agencies about availing of opportunities to promote Ireland. Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia and all other stakeholders will be working hard in the build up to and during our Presidency to showcase Irish food, tourism and so on. That work is well under way.

I take the point about the globalisation fund. It is frustrating. One of the key objectives in the new budget outline published by the Commission is simplification. It is a word we are hearing repeatedly and now have to deliver on it because bureaucracy is killing the European Union on so many levels, including the small and medium enterprises side, and from the point of view of drawing down funding, whether it be for the arts, from the globalisation fund and so on. We must get to grips with this issue, on which every member state agrees. We must reduce bureaucracy. The issue will be at the core of our negotiating policy on the budget and also during our Presidency.