Mr. Phil Hogan:

I believe both Houses of the Oireachtas can, and should, work even more closely with European institutions. The Danish system for EU scrutiny could serve as one example worthy of closer study. I know that Members of this Parliament have done so in the past.

Often, the much maligned EU red tape is produced in national capitals. This occurs at the implementation phase of law-making. Such red tape, which causes an unnecessary administrative burden for citizens and businesses, is often the main cause of scepticism and misunderstanding of what the EU is about. There is a great deal of debate about the current role and function of the Seanad. I believe the Seanad could play a very strong role as a red tape clearing house. When a new EU law is being implemented in Ireland, Senators could scrutinise every provision and ensure that no more than what is necessary is included in the implementation phase. Ministers and senior civil servants should increasingly come to this House and account for any provisions which are not included in the original EU directive. I am aware the committee on EU scrutiny already plays such a role, but nevertheless I think that given the specialist skills, in a vocational sense, that are available in the Seanad, it could provide new leadership and focus on ensuring EU laws are fairly and proportionately implemented in Ireland. I would welcome Senators' feedback on this point.

As shown in a recent Red C poll, Irish citizens remain highly committed to the EU. This is remarkable, given the trying political and economic climate of recent years. It is also indicative of what my Commission colleague, Pierre Moscovici, described on his visit to Dublin as the "atmosphere of hope and renewal that we all now sense here, after years of difficult but necessary reforms". Most members of the electorate acknowledge and appreciate the benefits from EU membership, recognising that the pros of membership strongly outweigh the cons. EU membership was the catalyst for large-scale infrastructural investment, comprehensive environmental protection, enhanced regional development, as well as a host of legal and policy improvements across the political and social spectrum.

Access to the EU Single Market and its 500 million consumers has been an immense boon to Ireland's export-oriented economy and the potential for further growth is immense. As an island, being part of a Union with free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, has transformed our horizons and opened up new opportunities for Irish people right across Europe in business in education and in many other spheres. Ireland also continues to benefit from a multitude of European investment programmes and supports. The EU budget for the next six years will continue to benefit Irish agriculture, regional and infrastructural investment, research, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship and support for SMEs, energy efficiency, education, training and labour activation measures.

This has not been all one-way traffic. Since going to Brussels I have become very conscious of the appreciation of the very meaningful contribution that this country has made, be it via our participation in peace-keeping missions, the pioneering work done by many Irish Commissioners, MEPs, officials and the widely recognised success of numerous Irish EU Presidencies. Joining the European family also brought us out of our shell as a nation, gradually injecting a new dynamism and confidence in our international outlook. Leveraging the European platform has also given us a stronger voice in the world. Through this interdependence, our own independence has been enhanced. Due in no small part to a strategic, sensible and intelligent engagement with Europe during a time of unprecedented economic difficulty, Ireland has begun a strong recovery and one that has been at the top of the European charts in terms of the economic growth rate, rising employment, and increasing foreign direct investment in the past two years. However, much work remains to be done in order to restore growth, job creation and social cohesion across the member states.

The current European Commission took office at a most challenging moment in European history. With youth unemployment in particular at catastrophic levels in many member states and investment flat-lining, the new Junker Commission has had to hit the ground running. We resolved to do whatever we could to make a difference. The collective goal has been to act decisively and quickly, to provide hope for European citizens and to water the green shoots of recovery. We are now focusing our energies on cutting red tape and lightening the regulatory burden to enhance competitiveness. However, we are also being prudent and selective. We have delivered a radical €315 billion investment package to support investments in infrastructure including broadband, energy networks, and transport and renewable energy. We have an ambitious digital Single Market strategy designed to create the conditions for a vibrant digital economy and for a European energy union to underpin energy supply security and to further integrate national energy markets. I am particularly conscious of the need to ensure we retain a competitive tax structure for business and workers in Europe in order to make the EU attractive for third country investors.

I wish to take this opportunity to commend the outstanding service done by the captain and crew of LE Eithneas part of the European humanitarian operations. I echo the sentiments of the Taoiseach who put it so well when he said that Commander Pearse O'Donnell and his crew embody this country's "extraordinary humanitarian personality".

I believe the Commission's new work programme will make an immediate difference for jobs, growth and investment to the benefit of all of the EU's citizens in 2015, with large-scale projects starting to come on stream by September. I am naturally delighted that the €70 million investment in 14 primary care centres was among the first tranche of projects under the Juncker plan and Ireland was among the first four member states to draw down finance from the EIB under the plan. This investment will see top quality new health care facilities being built here in the immediate time ahead.

The introduction of a greater degree of flexibility in the Stability and Growth Pact will also help strengthen the link between structural reforms and investment in support of jobs and growth. I assure the House that the Commission's role is to support Ireland in making the ongoing recovery as broad-based and durable as possible. By promoting co-ordination with and between member states, we can help to avoid the mistakes of the past but this will only work with strong ownership by national governments and national parliaments. Debates and discussions in joint Oireachtas committees on important topics such as the European semester are very welcome. I would encourage Members to continue to build on this engagement.

As for the social dimension of our work, I am delighted that my colleague, Commissioner Thyssen, has fast-tracked funding for the Youth Guarantee programme so that young people who are out of work can get started quickly. Last week we announced a new fund providing finance for micro-entrepreneurs and for social enterprises. That is why we have moved quickly to build in more flexibility to the Stability and Growth Pact. We have moved to get the investment programme up and running as quickly as possible. We do not believe that economic and social policies are separate domains; they must run hand in hand and reinforce one another. We must ensure that economic growth is widely shared and that our young people can find jobs and that when a person loses a job, he or she will be given all possible assistance in finding another job. The emphasis in all our policies at all levels is on getting more people of all ages into the workforce. To do this, we need to strike a balance between flexible and secure labour contracts, avoid the divide between insiders with high protections and wages and outsiders, shift taxes away from labour, deliver tailored supports to allow the unemployed to re-enter the labour market, improve educational opportunities and promote lifelong learning. Beyond the labour markets, it is important to ensure that every citizen has access to an adequate education and that an effective social protection system is in place to protect the most vulnerable in society, including a social protection floor. Our populations are ageing rapidly and we still need major reforms to ensure that pension and health care systems can cope with this societal shift. These reforms will include aligning the age of retirement with current life expectancy, something which is already happening in Ireland.

Yesterday President Juncker outlined his vision to secure the long-term success of economic and monetary union. This includes a push for a stronger integration of national labour markets by facilitating mobility across both geographic and professional spectrums, including through better recognition of qualifications and better co-ordination of social security systems. Agriculture will also have a key role to play and, as Commissioner, I am visiting every EU member state in the initial part of my term to listen and learn from Europe's farming community but also to deliver the message that the European agrifood sector can be a vital driver of job creation and growth. It is important to convey this message, not just in the marts and the farmyards, but also to urban audiences. It is crucial that awareness of the role and importance of agriculture spreads from our rural areas to our towns and cities, from the farmyard to the school yard. I know that I am preaching to the converted in Ireland on the importance of the agrifood sector. This sector has arguably contributed more than any other to Irish economic recovery, with 61,000 new agriculture, forestry and fisheries jobs created in 2013 alone. With the CAP now reformed and more market oriented, the changing international context provides a wealth of opportunities for forward thinking farmers and agribusinesses. Global demand for high quality, traceable food and drink will continue to increase, particularly in emerging markets. Every year until 2030, at least 150 million people will be entering the global middle class. This massive growth in disposable income will result in significant changes to dietary patterns. For example, global demand for dairy products is predicted to increase by an annual rate of 2% and the recent ending of milk quotas means that Irish farmers should be very well placed to capitalise on that opportunity.

However, I am aware of the fears surrounding short-term volatility in the milk sector. The year 2014, after all, was a year which saw record prices and production as good weather, combined with the ramping up of production ahead of the end of milk quotas, led to buoyant output. However, the medium to long-term trend is positive and the figures do not lie. The growing global middle class will continue to demand more dairy products and Ireland is ideally placed to feed that demand. With regard to the future, I want ambitious and entrepreneurial Europeans, particularly younger citizens, to view the agrifood sector as an attractive career prospect. The reformed CAP provides many incentives encouraging young and new farmers to enter the sector, while our committed pursuit of new markets will open new opportunities to be grasped.

However, we cannot lose sight of the environmental imperatives underpinning these changes. That is why sustainable intensification will be driven by research, collaboration, innovation and investment. The sum of €3.6 billion is available at EU level between now and 2020 to fund synergies between agriculture and research via Horizon 2020 and the European Innovation Partnership , "Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability". Co-operation projects will involve farmers and foresters, together with other food chain actors and researchers. As a recent Irish-led example, the Teagasc project LANDMARK was selected for funding following the first Horizon 2020 calls for proposal funding. It specialises in soil management and was selected by experts as the best proposal submitted in the soil function category. Concrete innovation projects can also be funded under the rural development programmes.

I am glad to note that Ireland has decided to take up the EIB approach in its rural development programme, co-financed under the new CAP. In order to support the significant on-farm investment required for farmers and agribusinesses to make these changes, I have been working with the European Investment Bank to tailor a fund offering cheap finance over a 12 to 15 year horizon to farmers wishing to upgrade and expand their production. This is a time of unprecedented challenges as well as opportunities for the agrifood sector and I urge all Members of this House to provide every support to Irish farmers in the coming months in order to create more employment opportunities. I would also like to pay tribute to the Seanad's comprehensive report on farm safety, which was published last month. I know Senators will share my conviction that Irish farmers and agribusinesses, leveraging national and EU policy and investment instruments, can do great things in the coming years. Many of our European neighbours currently have a more complex set of relationships with the European Union, a fact it behoves us to address in a thoughtful, proactive way. It is critical that this House, as a representative body of Irish democracy, deals with these questions comprehensively. In Greece, as Members are aware, too many citizens are still suffering the economic and social consequences of their difficult national situation. The Commission is playing its part, as one of the institutions, in attempting to resolve the impasse. The steadfast commitment among EU institutions is to find solutions for Greece within the European family and within our common European currency.

Meanwhile, there is also the question of a certain island not far from this one. The question of the UK's relationship to Europe has not gone away and with the clock now ticking to an inevitable in-out referendum, decision makers in Brussels and Dublin must begin shaping their message. From the European point of view, President Juncker said earlier this month that he believes Prime Minister Cameron "wants to dock his country permanently to Europe". This is an attitude I believe all Irish citizens can and must endorse. However, as an avowedly pro-European nation on the one hand and as the UK's closest trading partner and ally on the other, striking the right balance is imperative. We must find the correct tone and timbre for the appeal that we as a nation ultimately make to our neighbours.

This country has an extraordinary recent experience of how a positive campaign, which appeals to the better nature and fair play of citizens, can deliver positive results. This is the approach I expect will be employed at every level of Irish society. I congratulate the Members of this House who were involved in that campaign, on whatever side, for the dignified and respectful way in which the campaign was waged. There is no time to waste in terms of the matters that need to be addressed. The eyes of Europe are watching and the approach Ireland takes will be studied closely.

Ireland's European journey has taken some unexpected turns and even some challenging off-road paths, but the direction has remained constant. I believe Irish citizens recognise that this small, dynamic and outward-looking nation still has much to gain from being a prominent member of a Europe continually striving for a more perfect union. The electoral choices made in Ireland are also studied keenly in Europe and the brave and inclusive decision to democratically endorse marriage equality last month was widely hailed. The positive and hopeful message of this popular vote reverberated around every European capital. That is why it would be remiss of me, while here, not to pay tribute to the work done by all who played a crucial role in the campaign, across all parties and none, for their particular dedication and hard work in this regard.

I am more confident than ever that our nation's destiny will remain firmly intertwined with the destiny of the European Union. This House has a central role to play in shaping that destiny and I look forward to working with it as we rise to this challenge with purpose and pride. Go raibh maith agaibh.