Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of my colleagues in the House I welcome Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP, to address us this afternoon. His address was most enlightening. It is very important that we have such exchanges between Members of this House and Parliament and our representatives in the European Parliament. Before I ask Mr. Kelly a few questions, I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge not only the great work he is doing in the European Parliament but also the level of commitment and energy he gave to his previous roles which included a very successful presidency of the GAA.

From the level of knowledge and detail shown today, Mr. Kelly's extensive experience outside politics has served him well in Brussels. I also congratulate him on being voted MEP of the year last year for research and innovation, which is quite an achievement for a person who is in his first term in the European Parliament.

There are a number of issues on which Mr. Kelly might be able to share his thoughts today. Online gambling is an issue which has been raised on several occasions in this House and Mr. Kelly has made strident efforts in proposing legislation which seeks to protect minors from online gambling advertising. This is a very strong initiative on his behalf and perhaps it is one on which he might touch further.

Only last week, Seanad Éireann invited in 45 transition year students from around the country. They submitted questions to the Deputy Leader and I on a wide range of issues. I was taken aback at the extraordinary level of awareness and engagement shown by most of these young people. Some spoke quite forcibly on the issue of bullying and how we can promote positive mental health among young people. When we think about the challenges modern society pose for our youth, alcohol and drug abuse spring to mind as the main culprits, but Mr. Kelly is right that we need to open our minds to the new forms of bullying affecting our young people. I am interested in hearing his views on how we can balance the protection of the rights of our young people while acknowledging the importance of free expression which social media provides. I commend Mr. Kelly on his efforts to highlight the growing instances of cyberbullying and his recent seminar which focused on young people and how they can combat this epidemic. I am eager to hear his views on how we can protect young people from this new form of communication.

I would also like to touch on Mr. Kelly's committee work, in particular the work with regard to data protection. The Irish Presidency is at an advanced stage in negotiating the harmonisation of data protection legislation across the European Union. There is huge potential for Ireland in taking full advantage of big data which would benefit transport and infrastructural planning, medical research and e-commerce but what is of concern here is maintaining people's right to privacy. Mr. Kelly might be able to share his thoughts on how we can strike a very important balance in that regard.

Finally, I wish to touch on the issue which could be one of the defining points in our Presidency of the EU, namely, the negotiations for an EU-US trade and investment partnership agreement which has been raised by Senator Barrett on several occasions. I have seen the studies which have suggested that if such agreement were in place, the EU would benefit to the tune of up to €220 billion, with the creation of more than 400,000 new jobs. That certainly would be a significant achievement which would pave the way for a more competitive and expandable single market. Such an agreement would see the establishment of the largest trade bloc in the world. As a country which is driven by export-led growth, there would be huge opportunities for Ireland in this regard. I would like to hear Mr. Kelly's views on what stage our Presidency is at in terms of progressing these negotiations and on the potential benefits we can expect from such negotiations.

I assure Mr. Kelly that this House is very aware of the important role it can play in the scrutiny of EU legislation and the exchange of views we have had in recent weeks, which will culminate in Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn coming in next week - European week - will add to and help progress the relationship between this House and the European Parliament which is of paramount importance. I hope we will be in a position to progress these closer links between Europe and this House in the future.

I sincerely thank Mr. Kelly for his enlightening address and look forward to hearing from him regarding some of the questions that have been posed.