Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for their contributions. I should have made clear in my contribution that I am always available to come to the House to discuss matters in respect of Europe in any sphere. If I have missed out on any of the points raised, I would be happy to come back again, but I will do my best to go through all of them in turn.

Senator Leyden expressed the view that Europe may have moved too strongly in respect of Ukraine. I would contend that the negotiations which took place between the European Union and Ukraine were always very respectful of the right of the Ukrainian Government to determine its own course of action to make a decision on behalf of its own people. Even when the negotiations broke down during the partnership summit, the Commission and all the Heads of State always emphasised that it was the legitimate right of the Ukrainian Government to decide what course of action it wanted to take on its future and on the future of its people. The challenge now is to come up with a relationship between Ukraine and the European Union that can coexist with other kinds of relationships that the Ukrainian Government might want to develop. As Senator Clune mentioned when she spoke about her visit there, it is a massive country both physically and in terms of its population. It is directly in the interests of Europe that we enable a very peaceful and credible resolution to difficulties that are taking place there at the moment.

After my visit to Bosnia Herzegovina, I am very aware of the difficulties to which the Senator alluded. However, I also believe that the EU can continue to play a constructive and positive role in dealing with its resolution through the offices of Mr. Peter Sørenson, who is the High Representative of the European Union in that country.

With regard to comments made about the Council of Europe, I have met the Irish ambassador to the Council of Europe and I share the words that Senator Leyden expressed about him. If the opportunity were ever to develop for me to speak to the Council or its members, I would be delighted to do so. I am well aware, just like the Senator, of the long-standing role played by Ireland and, as he said, that Ireland is a founder country.

I will move on to discuss the contribution made by Senator Noone and thank her for her questions and comments. She made a point about Dr. John O'Brennan, National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He is one of the leading figures who understands the level of engagement the Oireachtas has with the European Union and he has made constructive proposals. At present all of the engagement takes place, as the Senator will be aware, through our committee system. Some committees are doing the work very well, but other committees handle it in a different manner. I have written to all the committees asking them to assess how they are dealing with European scrutiny and to supply me with the information. I have asked for the task to be completed by the end of January. I intend, on receipt of the information, to make constructive and practical proposals on what we can do to change how we conduct our business. In fairness to members on all sides of the House, we are doing an incomparably better job on it now than we did a number of years ago. However, we can do even better in a few areas.

With regard to the forthcoming European Parliament elections, I entirely agree with Senator Noone on their importance. She was correct when she said their timing will mean a smaller window of opportunity for the Greek Presidency because the European Parliament must be dissolved more than half-way through its presidency.

The Senator was also correct with her comments on Portugal. The Portuguese Government, with which I am lucky to work closely in a number of areas, has made extraordinary efforts to respond to its difficulties. I hope the way Ireland has exited its external aid programme will be of help to the Portuguese Government. Only two weeks ago Portugal successfully sold a large amount of its government debt at an interest rate that I hope will play a role in ensuring its exit from its programme. We all hope that happens very soon.

The Senator also commented on the Ukraine, which I touched on earlier in answer to Senator Leyden's comments. I agree with her comments on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, and Senator Mullen also made a fair point on the matter.

I thank Senator Reilly for her contribution and understand her concerns about the defence policy. The same concerns were articulated by Deputy Crowe during the debate that took place in the Dáil after the European Council meeting to which she referred. I must emphasise that policy discussions must take place within the framework of the Lisbon treaty. The treaty and its protocols specifically reflect Ireland's stance on the issues. We are a neutral country, a stance I believe is of huge benefit to Ireland. We may be neutral but we also have security concerns as a country and we have a duty to our people to uphold them. It is purely within that spirit that we engage with other member states on this point. I am happy to return to the House to address the matter in greater length.

With regard to the Senator's comment on voting rights, like the Senator I am aware of the Commission's communication on the matter. The Constitutional Convention has made proposals on the area to which the Government will respond.

With regard to the Senator's two comments on the 2020 strategy and the semester process, the broad heading of both of the questions was how the Oireachtas can engage constructively with them. There is a great opportunity for the Oireachtas to do two things, the first of which is to understand as well as possible the nature of the work. The second thing is that individual Members must make their views clear on the content of the work. It is clear to me how the work should be done. Up to this point I would have said that it should be through the sectoral committees, and I encourage them to take the lead. However, as a Minister with some responsibility in the area, I think our committees can play an even more important role in the area. Perhaps the Leader of the Seanad and its parties will consider what role to play in the run-up to the preparation of the national reform plan and the interaction that will take place with the Commission.

With regard to the different points touched on by Senator Hayden, I agree with her on the role of the youth guarantee scheme. As members will know, the way in which the scheme will be rolled out was made clearer by the Minister for Social Protection, the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and included the development of the Pathways to Work scheme and the work that is taking place in the area. Like the Senator, I acknowledge the work done by Ms Emer Costello, MEP, and compliment her on leading the initiative and on doing such work.

With regard to the point made about Scottish independence and what might happen with the UK, the Senator wryly and accurately made the point that we are, unfortunately, not low on things on our horizon that could have a very great impact on us. The debate that is taking place in the United Kingdom is one matter. I have contributed publicly on a number of occasions to the debate on our principles regarding the United Kingdom issue. Senator Noone has quoted one of my contributions and I might have an opportunity to allude to the matter when discussing another point. I strongly believe that the overriding framework is as follows, subject to the consent of the Irish people. There should be no ambiguity whatsoever regarding the view of the Government, and I hope future governments, that the European Union is the best vehicle for us to progress our national interests, and that we are and will continue to be positive members. I strongly believe that a continued strong dimension to our future will be as successful as it has been in our past. Given the kind of uncertainty alluded to by the Senator, it is in our interest to make that clear.

The referendum on membership that may take place in the United Kingdom is first and foremost a British debate, but one that could have an Irish consequence. If and when the debate regarding the referendum is clearer, it is important that we continue to emphasise the kind of principles I have spelled out to date.

I agree with the point made about the causes of the economic difficulty. Yes, the decisions made by national governments on their budgets, structure and sustainability played a role in the crisis, but it was not the only role. It is correct to say that the role of collapsing banking systems and how the consequences were managed were decisive as well. It is on that note that I agree with the point about the risks that deflation poses to a fragile recovery. We are so used to dealing with the consequences of inflation in this part of the world that it is quite difficult for us to grasp the concept that people feeling that their money will be worth less in the future can have equally damaging effects on the current economic recovery. That is something of which I am very much aware and it is a risk on which I know the European Central Bank, in particular, has commented.

I have touched on the point Senator Clune made about the Ukraine. She also touched on the subject of the European Regional Development Fund. I am aware of the important role the fund can play in urban regeneration. I know that to be the case in Waterford, as mentioned by Senator Cummins, and it is the case for Senator Clune regarding Cork. The same also applies to many parts of Dublin, including some parts of Dublin that I represent. I will get back to Senator Clune at an early point to update her on the matter and on what work will be done.

It is an important area and I am eager to ensure the proposals in our last budget are implemented in order that people can see the benefit.

Senator Mullen raised the issue of Syrian refugees. It is a staggering humanitarian crisis. We have to acknowledge the extraordinary burden taken on by many countries as a result. Countries such as Turkey have hundreds of thousands of refugees inside their borders. The Senator mentioned Lebanon, a country that was not free of difficulty before this happened. It is also bearing an incredible burden. Member states are involved through the Geneva process that is under way to try to stem the flow of people out of Syria and to try to create better conditions for them in the country. I acknowledge the agreement in place for the city of Homs but that needs to be implemented. During December's European Council, the Union put in place a number of short-term measures to better and more fairly manage the situation across all member states. However, there will be a more substantive discussion on this at next June's Council meeting. I assure the Senator that it is being discussed in the manner he would want.

I am not cheerleading regarding the TTIP but it could deliver broad wins for our economy, particularly as the agreement is with the second most globalised country in the world, which has either been the first or second most globalised country for many years. I agree with him regarding the need to be aware of the concerns of our agricultural sector, which exported €10 billion worth of food and drink last year. The industry has been the backbone of the economy during the recent collapse. I assure the Senator regarding our continued focus on the concerns of those in the sector. At each stage of the negotiations led by the Commission, member states receive an update and we then engage with stakeholders regarding where they stand. We are very much aware of the perspective of the farming community in this regard. We have done this in other areas such as the recent Commission proposal on climate change and energy policy. It clearly recognised the role of the agricultural community and the Government was active in ensuring due recognition of this was given by the Commission for the reasons the Senator described.

He also referred to the undermining of national competencies. I am a strong supporter of the EU project and the role it can play in allowing countries such as ours to manage the difficulties we face and grasp opportunities that are available. I will communicate strongly that many areas come within national competence. Europe can play a role in allowing us to understand what other countries do that we might be able to learn from. However, there are areas that are the prerogative of national governments and I assure the Senator that I am sensitive to that. We are happy to hear the views of any groups on any of these areas and to engage with them. Social policy issues the Senator touched on sit clearly inside the parameters of national competence while we constructively share our sovereignty on economic, justice and home affairs and other policies that have been mentioned to deliver the national interest.

I thank the House for the opportunity to address Members. I assure them and the Leader that I am always at their disposal to participate in debates.