Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join with my colleague, Senator Leyden, in welcoming the Minister of State to the House and to thank her for a highly comprehensive report on progress being made to date under the Irish Presidency. I compliment her on how well she always represents our country and to marvel at the significant workload she is carrying on behalf of the country. Members are having this discussion today against a backdrop of much instability in recent months throughout Europe. There is concern that the political situation in Italy may cause some instability throughout Europe. In a country in which there is a strong Government and real political stability, the prospects of a hung parliament in Italy or another election do not excite anyone in this Chamber.

One of the most significant achievements, which was overshadowed in particular in this House by the debate we had in early February on the promissory note, was the agreement reached on 8 February on the multi-annual framework for 2014 to 2020. There was much relief that the overall amount of ¤960 billion was agreed and approved. While there is a reduction of 3.5%, most importantly, funding for the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and the Cohesion Fund, which are of particular interest to this country, was largely protected. As the Minister of State said, we did well, protected the CAP allocation and secured a special allocation of ¤100 million from the Cohesion Fund for the Border, midlands and west region. That is of great significance.

The theme of the Presidency is stability, jobs and growth. The most pressing priority for this country is the creation of employment. We lost approximately 250,000 jobs in the private sector in the three years prior to the Government taking office. We have made some progress in the past year and a half in rebuilding our reputation abroad and convincing multinationals that this country is a good place to do business. We are starting to get our public finances in order and meeting the targets set by the troika. We are reducing the cost of public services, including the cost of Government and politics. That is a key plank of our recovery.

Our Action Plan for Jobs 2013, announced in recent days, must be the platform on which our economic recovery is built. The action plan follows on from the 2012 plan, which has been pretty successful, and it is hoped it will improve supports to business, help reduce costs further, improve finance to business and support research and innovation. During 2013, a total of 333 actions will be addressed across 16 Departments and 46 agencies. The plan has significant elements such as the JobsPlus scheme, which commits the State to provide ¤4 to an employer for every euro spent on job creation for the long-term unemployed. In terms of ICT skills, we will provide an additional 2,000 graduate level professionals in 2013, and by 2018 we will lead Europe in terms of ICT graduates as a percentage of all third level graduates.

Many significant measures are outlined in the plan. Another point of interest is the investment of ¤300 million in seven world-class research centres, which was announced in recent days by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State at the same Department, Deputy Sherlock. It is the most significant announcement of its kind ever made in this country. It involves ¤200 million of new Exchequer funds for seven world-class research centres over the next six years, three of them based in NUI Galway, and a ¤100 million co-investment fund generated by 150 industry partners. Such funding will address the considerable unemployment issues we face in this country. I very much welcome the Minister?s announcement that ¤6 billion will be made available to tackle youth unemployment in countries where it is in excess of 25%.

I wish to raise one or two issues that the Minister of State might address. I accept that this country has set enlargement as a key priority and has committed to advancing the process for all candidate and prospective countries.

Ireland will oversee the final monitoring report on Croatia. Will Croatia join in July? Significant progress will be made with Serbia and Montenegro and perhaps we could get an update on the progress being made with the Turkish discussions. There is grave concern among the Bosnian community in Ireland that Bosnia is not on the Government priority list for the Presidency. Keeping Bosnia Herzegovina on the priority list is crucial to prevent further conflict and division that would impact negatively on the wider Balkan region.

I welcome the efforts being made to introduce an EU-wide card that would simplify the process of having qualifications recognised for all EU citizens working in other member states.