Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wish her the very best. Her role is an important one, particularly at this time post Brexit. I know we are trying not to mention the "B" word but it is inevitable that it will be mentioned and everybody has done so.

I read the Minister of State's speech carefully. I welcome her comments, particularly on support for the core values of the EU which, as she mentioned, include freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights. I am particularly glad that equality was mentioned and I shall speak it in a minute. She was right to emphasise the role of national parliaments in debating EU initiatives.

I refer to Senator McDowell's comments about the Austro-Hungarian empire and note my family background lies very much in the heart of Europe. My grandfather was Czech and my father was born in the Czech Republic before his family travelled here. My grandmother's family had been in the service of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Indeed, her father, who is my great grandfather, was a diplomat who was in the car behind the car that carried the Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he was assassinated in 1914. My family has a long history of public service within that empire which, as the Senator has pointed out, met its end as a result of the First World War. My family history is very caught up in the history of the European Continent. Therefore, I have always felt a close personal connection to the post-Second World War institutions and the need for Ireland to play a strong part in those European institutions. It is important to emphasise in any debate on the future of Europe the immense significance of the past of the European Union. This year we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. I note the achievements of the EU, its institutions and its people in coming together to ensure there has been no further war on this Continent in the decades since.

Clearly, this is a difficult time for the entity that is the EU. As a member of the Labour Party and, indeed, as part of the Party of European Socialists, PES, I would share a vision of social Europe. I mean one that is built on the sort of strong values that have been mentioned but with an emphasis placed on the values of equality, solidarity and co-operation.

While I welcome the initiative to have public engagements the Minister of State described in her speech, an additional priority should be added. We must ensure that we focus on having a social Europe and I know she agrees with such an initiative. All too often we talk about the economic side of the EU. Perhaps the emphasis for citizens is often seen to be on the economy rather than on the great social progress for which the EU is responsible. In an Irish context we should be very conscious of the huge gains that women in Ireland have made as a result of Ireland joining what was then called the EEC in the 1970s. As a result of Ireland joining, there have been great moves forward on gender equality such as maternity benefit, maternity leave, parental benefit, parental leave and so on. These are the sort of gains that have a real resonance with people and individuals across the EU and in this country too. We need to emphasise the gains.

Clearly, this post-Brexit time is a turning point for the EU. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence. Like the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, my committee has held hearings. We have had a number of very important meetings on Brexit-related issues with Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, Mr. Frans Timmermans and so on, as well as with Professor Gavin Barrett and other Irish academics to explore the potential threats and challenges that we face in Ireland as a result of Brexit.It also gives us an opportunity to take stock of our place within the European Union and while pro-EU sentiment remains very high in Ireland, which I welcome, and everybody here has been positive about the future of Europe and Ireland's future within Europe, nonetheless, we need to take the opportunity to look at how best we can reform the EU structures and institutions to make them more relevant to ordinary citizens across the EU. That is why I say it is important that we focus on social progress in Europe.

I am heartened by the initiative that has been taken by the Commission on the European Pillar of Social Rights, and indeed the Youth Guarantee. Those are two key initiatives we should be emphasising. In her role as Minister of State, it would be worth emphasising them in any public engagements on the future of Europe because we can see those are initiatives that may have a real impact for individuals.

To speak briefly about both, as colleagues will be well aware, the Youth Guarantee is the commitment by member states to ensure young people under 25 will receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. When it was announced I thought that was an exciting initiative to tackle the huge issue, happily not so much in Ireland but in other member states, of high levels of youth unemployment. That is a big challenge. It was disappointing that we did not see more on apprenticeships and traineeships in the budget this week. That is an area where we are still lagging behind some other European countries.

On the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Party of European Socialists, PES, has given its strong support for this pillar. I am aware it is due to be discussed on 17 November in Gothenburg, in Sweden, at the social summit for fair jobs and growth. The three main categories the pillar comprises are hugely important and speak to the sense of disengagement we have seen expressed by EU citizens in popular votes around Brexit, for example, and in the rise of the far right in France which, happily, was not successful in the last election. Nonetheless, we are seeing that level of disengagement with the EU, a sense of detachment and a sense that the EU is about big business and corporate interests. Senator Higgins referred to that. Initiatives like the pillar can change that perception and ensure that people see the EU as being much more about delivering social justice and delivering on the values of equality.

The three categories on which the pillar is to be built are very important. They are, first, equal opportunities and access to the labour market; second, fair working conditions; and, third, social protection and inclusion. I am very heartened that we are seeing, for example, a great deal of work at Commission level on fair and predictable employment contracts. That is an issue on which the Labour Party, my colleague, Senator Ged Nash, and I have been working hard to ensure greater predictability of employment contracts to try to challenge the growth of the precarious working we are seeing. We are also seeing great initiatives coming from the EU in terms of transparency in pay rates to tackle the ongoing gender pay gap, which in Ireland is at 14%.

I very much hope that the Government will see fit to support my Bill on the gender pay gap, which will come back to the House for Committee Stage on 25 October. The Bill will provide for mandatory reporting of very large companies in terms of gender pay discrepancy. IBEC is supporting that issue in principle.

I look forward also to strong public engagement from the Government, and from all of us, on the future of Europe and in particular on emphasising the huge gains we in Ireland have made as a result of the social rights and social progress that has been made within the EU, alongside the economic progress. We should never lose sight of that agenda of equality and human rights, which is so important.