Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a great pleasure to be here for statements on Europe Day and the European Commission's work programme. I am very grateful to the House for giving me the opportunity to contribute to these exchanges in the run up to Europe Day.

The work programme produced by the new Commission last December, A New Start, sets out the actions the Commission intends to take this year to make a real difference for jobs, growth and investment. President Juncker has referred to "leading an EU that is bigger and more ambitious on big things, and smaller and more modest on small things", while First Vice President Timmermans has highlighted the need to "clear the decks so political efforts are focussed on the real priorities", which are most important to the citizens of our European Union.

There is a clear emphasis on strengthening the economic recovery that is now at last under way, but that recovery remains fragile, and a strong fit with the strategic agenda agreed by the European Council last June will be required.

There will be 23 new initiatives in 2015, reflecting a significant streamlining of effort. The Commission is also proposing to withdraw or modify up to 80 pending legislative proposals, and has identified further legislation that it will review and amend to make the European Union work much better for all our citizens and businesses. First Vice President Timmermans will report within the next year on how the approach to better regulation could be further strengthened.

Ireland is a strong supporter of the overall political emphasis that has been established by the new Commission. It sets clear direction, prioritising what is important, simplifying what is already in place and withdrawing what is unnecessary, while repealing what is out of date.

While welcoming the clear prioritisation of economic issues in current circumstances, we should also be clear that the emphasis on better regulation is no less important in the environmental and social policy areas. It means striking the right balance through stronger preparations at policy design stage - well targeted measures that avoid unnecessary or disproportionate administrative burdens, and produce better outcomes for both citizens and businesses. This is the right emphasis and it has my full support.

At the heart of the Commission's work programme is President Juncker's investment plan, which is aiming to mobilise €315 billion in net additional investments in the real economy over the next three years. Progress here remains firmly on track. Finance Ministers agreed a general approach in March on the draft regulation setting up the new European Fund for Strategic Investments, EFSI. Negotiations are now underway with the European Parliament, which took a very positive view when President Juncker originally highlighted this initiative at the time of his election last July. The March European Council took stock of progress and reinforced expectations for political agreement by June.

The key focus of the Commission's proposals is essentially on getting in place quickly a pipeline of high quality projects that would otherwise be unlikely to proceed, while attracting private investors by reducing complexity and sharing risk.

It is clear that President Juncker's investment plan cannot be a magic bullet for all of Europe's economic problems but it is also likely that it can make a significant contribution, combined with the right mix of structural, fiscal and monetary policies. As Vice President Katainen has indicated, there is plenty of liquidity in Europe, but it is not currently being translated into investment.

It also reflects a shared view by Governments on the important role targeted investment can play at this stage of the economic recovery. We continue to see potential to develop synergies between the EU investment plan and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, both established by the Government last year. These share the emphasis of the EU plan on using public resources to mobilise a stronger pipeline of private investments in the real economy. Work towards identifying specific areas of co-operation will continue over coming months.

We should also keep in mind the indirect benefits of the new investment plan. A period of prolonged EU-wide economic stagnation is probably the main risk to our own economic recovery. A boost to the wider European economic outlook is therefore an important boost for Ireland too.

The Commission adopted its Digital Single Market Strategy yesterday, setting out 16 key actions which it will deliver by the end of next year. These will be presented under three key pillars: simplifying access for consumers and business; creating the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish, including through data protection reform; and maximising the growth potential of the digital economy, including by developing the right standards for big data, cloud computing, and fully interoperable e-services.Ireland supports a high level of ambition for a fully functioning digital Single Market that is open and competitive. This is a clear win-win proposition for consumers and businesses, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. However, we must be careful that our approach is one that supports and does not undermine investment, innovation and entrepreneurship. With Europe still facing unacceptably high levels of unemployment, most jobs are created by fast growing young firms. Barriers to doing business digitally should, therefore, be seen as barriers to growth.

Turning to the external environment, Ireland believes the ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, will bring benefits to economies on both sides of the Atlantic. It will promote job creation, economic growth and investment. It will be important in maintaining the strong EU-US leadership on international regulatory standards at a time when other global players are becoming more important. Politically, it will underline on both sides of the Atlantic the continuing vital importance of the strong EU-US relationship. The negotiations are not easy and there will be a need for give and take on both sides, but the prize on offer at the end is worth the time and intense efforts both sides are continuing to make in the negotiations.

Commissioner Malmström visited Dublin in March to launch the Copenhagen economics report with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, on the implications of the TTIP for Ireland. It suggested the TTIP should be positive, predicting gains in the order of 1.1 % of GDP. Other findings included the potential for increased exports of approximately 3.8%, increased imports and increases in real wages and investment. I hope we can maintain the high level of ambition and exclude as few areas as possible, but we must remain conscious that in any negotiations there will be sensitive issues. Beef production is one such issue for Ireland and will have to be handled carefully. In some circles in Europe there is ongoing public debate about aspects of the TTIP such as the investor state dispute settlement, ISDS, mechanism. Winning this debate requires that we take part in it respectfully and openly, listen to legitimate concerns, make adjustments where necessary and challenge those making unfounded claims with the facts.

As Members will be aware, scrutiny of the European Union's business was previously centralised in the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny. It is more appropriate and a considerable improvement that sectoral committees that understand the wider context into which EU legislation plays now have responsibility for the scrutiny of proposals. Following on from recent reforms, sectoral committees set their own scrutiny priorities, focusing on the issues of most relevance to their specific areas of work and interest. The mainstreaming of EU scrutiny with sectoral committees allows the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, under the chairmanship of Deputy Dominic Hannigan, to focus on matters concerning the strategic direction of the European Union, as well as those of a cross-cutting nature. Some useful work has been done to date, most recently in the joint committee's examination of the implications for Ireland of a UK exit from the European Union, which is of interest to us today as voters in the United Kingdom go to the polls. It is welcome that sectoral committees have identified proposals, both legislative and non-legislative, from the European Commission's annual work programme that they intend to subject to detailed scrutiny. This will enable members to focus on issues and proposals that will have a lasting impact on all of our lives and demonstrates the value and importance of an effective Oireachtas scrutiny mechanism.