Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Such initiatives would make life much easier for businesses. I also apologise for being away from the House last week.
My final question is on the five targets for Europe 2020 which I am excited about. The first target is for 75% of 20 to 64 year olds to be employed by 2020. The second target aims to have 3% of EU GDP invested in research and development. The third target deals with climate change. The fourth target is on education and aims to reduce school dropout rates to below 10% and to have at least 40% of our 30 to 34 year olds compete third level education. The Irish drop out rate for students before the leaving certificate is 16% The fifth target is to have at least 20 million fewer people at risk of poverty and social exclusion across the Union. How is Ireland doing with those five targets? Who is monitoring them? Will there be an annual report produced on each target? Will the education target come under the remit of the Minister for Education and Skills? By 2020 Europe will be a better place - and that is the whole point of the EU - if we work together to achieve the targets. Economic growth would also increase across the Union. Each country needs to work on those targets and I am keen to hear how Ireland is doing.