Aideen Hayden (Labour)

I welcome the Taoiseach to the House. He said that Europe had not been very decisive in recent times in dealing with the economic crisis, which is an understatement. It is quite clear that Europe has been seen as being dragged kicking and screaming to the table. Unfortunately, this is not without precedent and in this regard I am thinking of the foreign affairs crisis caused by the difficulties with the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Part of the price we have had to pay for this indecisiveness is that peripheral economies like Ireland have been picked off like lone dolphins surrounded by sharks by the international markets. It is time for that to change. I welcome what the Taoiseach has said about the strong measures being proposed. The European system need to look beyond the current economic crisis to the next crisis, which could result from issues of ageing or technological sustainability.

The Taoiseach asked for our suggestions. Perhaps the most positive thing we can do during our Presidency is to build a bridge between the core and periphery of Europe. We do not need a football match between Germany and Greece to tell us that distrust has grown between the core countries of France and Germany and the rest of us. During the referendum campaign that distrust and fractured loyalty in our attitudes to Europe was clear on the doorsteps of Ireland. There is a sense that the core countries do not take the interest of the periphery to heart. In the past Ireland has benefited from being part of a strong peripheral consensus. Examples of this included reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the growth of Structural Funds during the 1980s and 1990s. As a peripheral country, Ireland could play a critical role in the Presidency in rebuilding the bridge between core and periphery. If we are successful, perhaps Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and even Cyprus will vote for Ireland in the next Eurovision contest and we might win once again.