Ivana Bacik (Independent)

Tá fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. I am delighted to welcome the Taoiseach on behalf of the Labour Party in Seanad Éireann. It is very timely that the Taoiseach is here during our last sitting week. He is welcome to come again and indeed, we hope he will be a more regular visitor here. We also thank the Taoiseach for his very comprehensive update on developments at EU level and, in particular, for informing us of the very positive recent developments at the European Council and summit meetings at the end of June, where we saw great progress being made, both on the growth and jobs package and also on steps to be taken to break what he rightly described as the vicious cycle between banks and sovereign debt. We are all very glad to hear the Taoiseach say that he anticipates an early resolution to that vicious cycle. Can the Taoiseach say when he expects that to happen? I know that the autumn has been mentioned but we all very much hope that real progress will be made on that issue before we take up the Presidency on 1 January 2013.

It has certainly been a hugely eventful year at EU level, as illustrated in the Taoiseach's speech. It has also been an eventful year for Seanad Éireann. As Deputy Leader, I must echo the comments of the Leader of the House, Senator Cummins, in saying that in this 24th Seanad, we have taken great steps to make substantive changes to our own internal procedures to make us a more effective and dynamic House. We have achieved that through innovative measures like the public consultation committee and our distinguished speakers programme, under which the former President, Ms Mary Robinson, Mr. Maurice Manning and most recently, Mr. Drew Nelson of the Orange Order, addressed the House. We have also seen, with the Taoiseach's appointment of a genuinely independent group of nominees, the emergence of a fifth group within the Seanad which has greatly enhanced the quality of our debate. In keeping with the healthy tradition of the Seanad, we have seen debates on a range of issues, including humanist weddings, wind turbines, Senator Quinn's Construction Contracts Bill, as well as Bills to ban smoking in cars and to change prostitution law. Issues that are not being debated in Dáil Éireann are being debated here on a regular basis. We have also seen very high-quality debates in the House on Second and Committee Stages of various Bills such as the Electoral (Amendment) Bill and several criminal justice Bills. We have become a dynamic and effective Upper House and have performed a really substantive role in the legislative process.

Senator Cummins and others have spoken of how we could play an enhanced role in the scrutiny of EU measures, a proposal I welcome. We look forward to playing our part in the EU Presidency next year. I was glad to hear the Taoiseach say that he hopes that both Houses will be fully engaged in that Presidency over the six months.

I wish to turn briefly to what we anticipate will happen during that Presidency and to end the political broadcast on behalf of the Seanad for the moment, as I know we will be returning to that debate over the coming year. As others have said, this will be our seventh time to take the helm at the EU. It will give us a great opportunity to enhance our reputation because no matter what others might say, there is no doubt it was tarnished in recent years. This Presidency will give us a chance to show ourselves off, at a time of great challenge for the EU generally. As the Taoiseach has said, there will be no Irish recovery without an EU recovery and we must work with our EU partners to ensure that we see such a recovery. We will not be holding the Presidency when the EU expands to 28 states, as Croatia is due to join on 1 July 2013 but we will certainly be working with the 28th state. It is a time of immense challenge as the Union enlarges further and as the institutional changes anticipated by the Lisbon treaty are still being bedded down.

It is very important that we have set out our priority for the Presidency, namely, to find ways to stimulate sustainable economic growth and create jobs. We all welcome the €2.25 billion Irish stimulus package announced yesterday by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and we also greatly welcome the compact for growth agreed at EU level. We hope to see more detail on that compact being provided during the term of our Presidency.

Our Presidency will mark the 40th anniversary of our own accession to the EEC, as it was then, and we should use the period to make positive changes and to make progress on issues in which the EU has already brought about great progress, including womens' and workers' rights and the environment. We have spoken about the need to engage with people across Ireland on this and we also need to see tangible progress being made on those issues, while retaining our priority focus on jobs and growth. The introduction of climate change legislation, in keeping with the progress at EU level on climate change, would be a great benefit from our Presidency.