Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, to the House. I express our appreciation for the respect she has shown the House. She is prepared to come here to brief this House, which has enormous experience. Putting it in context, in the coming nine months the Minister of State will have responsibility for European affairs during Ireland's Presidency and it will be 15 years before someone else will have that experience. It is an enormous task but I know the Minister of State is up to it and I commend her for her work to date. Her statement was very comprehensive and detailed and I do not need to go through all of it. It was a good exercise for so many members of the Cabinet to go to Brussels. I do not think it happened previously in the lead-up to a Presidency. Perhaps I am wrong. It was quite innovative to meet in Brussels.

The Minister of State has the benefit of having very experienced secretariats and ambassadors in Brussels and Strasbourg and they are very well geared towards the task ahead. When other countries such as Croatia held the Presidency, Ireland gave them assistance because of the experience we have. Perhaps in 15 years time the Seanad will not be here; therefore, we are lucky to be here and that the Minister of State is here today to outline the position on the European Union.

I have a question on the College of Commissioners during the Presidency. The previous arrangement was that the Commission came to a country during the first days of its Presidency. I am not sure whether this will be implemented. It was an opportunity for each Commissioner to meet the appropriate Minister to discuss various arrangements.

It is very encouraging to see five committees from the European Parliament as well as three main political groups visiting Dublin prior to the beginning of our Presidency. The group with which Fianna Fáil is associated, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, ELDR, will visit in early November, and Dublin will reap great economic benefit from the number of delegates who will come from throughout Europe. It is very encouraging. The programme is quite interesting with regard to energy and other issues.

Departments are focused on the Presidency. We will not have this opportunity for another 15 years and every Department must aim to maximise the benefits in this regard. The Minister of State said the priorities for the Presidency will be jobs and growth. This is very commendable and they must be implemented. Our influence and the fact we are in a particularly difficult situation will be of great importance in this regard. Opportunities which arise in future with regard to exports, the Single Market and digital technology are very important.

With regard to the European Institution of Innovation and Technology, we are not making as much progress as we could on wind and wave energy. Ireland is regarded as the best location for wind energy in Europe. I appreciate domestic political and planning reasons arise and I hope we will come to terms with them. We have regions and areas which could be very beneficial to this sector. The power and energy of the Atlantic Ocean is enormous and technology has been developed in this regard. I presume the Minister of State and our Commissioner, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who is from the area, would support this development.

An area that has been examined by many people but not yet conquered is harnessing hydrogen. If hydrogen could be economically developed, promoted and harnessed-----