Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I add my words of welcome to Castlerea national school. They are very welcome. The Minister is also very welcome. We are adopting the right approach to welcome Croatia immediately into the labour market. I am a member of the Joint Committee on European Affairs and I am quite friendly with the Croatian ambassador to Ireland, Jasna Ognjanovac. She is a very forward-looking woman and she could teach us a great deal about the benefits of the European Union. The clear benefit she pointed out to me is that Croatia has been the site of three wars - its own war ten years ago and the previous two World Wars. Croatia is joining the EU for the peace project.

As Senator Clune and other Senators clearly pointed out, there is not much evidence of Croatian nationals wishing to come to this country. A total of 12 applied for citizenship in 2012 and we have a total of 846 Croatian nationals resident in this country currently. There is much to be gained by both sides. As Senator White said, Croatia is an extremely beautiful country and Irish people holiday there. I have been there on two occasions. On one occasion I had a serious accident and it would have been of great benefit if Croatia had been a member of the European Union because my rights were infringed. I was involved in a boating accident in which I was hit by a boat. A cruise ship was out of control and hit the tourist boat on which we were travelling. It was impossible to find a way to navigate the medical and legal system there without the European Union framework. This works both ways. It is a very beautiful country. Its strong benefit is in tourism. We are always growing in terms of our tourism product. Croatia consistently enjoys beautiful weather compared to this country, even though we cannot complain about the past week. Croatians are a very bright, fair and beautiful people and we could learn much from them.

In recent weeks the ambassador asked me if we could help her to find a wine merchant in this country that would import Croatian wines. I put out the call in the Seanad today. That is another example of how we could do business. Every country brings its own product to the market.

I have one or two questions for the Minister. Two different sections in the Bill give Croatian people rights for the first two years and then post-two years. Could the Minister clarify why there are two separate sections dealing with rights? When Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, they were blocked from accessing the labour market initially by this country. I am delighted that we are welcoming Croatia to the labour market but could the Minister explain why there is different treatment for different countries?

On the whole, the situation is positive. I spoke with the Croatian ambassador this morning and she said Croatia is very happy with the decision by the Government not to impose restrictions on Croatian nationals. Such a step enhances bilateral relations. There is no expectation of a significant influx of people. Could the Minister elaborate on relations between the two countries and how we can grow them? We see the accession of Croatia as being of mutual benefit. I refer to Croatia’s understanding of the value of the EU in terms of advancing peace. That was a core value in the founding of the EU. We would do well to remember that. This country, thankfully, has never been the site of war, other than our own Civil War. Sometimes, we do not realise what it is like to be occupied in that way. We have a lot to learn in that regard. Our problems are more economic but if we did not have peace or security for people our priorities would change. I would be delighted if the Minister could address my two questions. I thank him. Ar aghaidh leis an Aire leis an obair.