Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome my close neighbour, friend and colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, to the Chamber and congratulate her on the outstanding job she has been doing in her ministry, to the great credit of Ireland. Her extraordinarily strong performances in the British media, in particular, is very important for our image abroad.

As we celebrate Europe Day, it is important to celebrate the Council of Europe, at which Ireland has played a leading role since its inception in 1949. It involves 47 member states, of which 28 are in the European Union, and includes 800 million citizens. I have the privilege of leading the Irish delegation which includes Senators Maura Hopkins, Paul Gavan, Rónán Mullen and Colette Kelleher, as well as being vice president of same. The Irish delegation makes a huge contribution, takes part and leads from the front on a number of issues and the Members of this House do so in style. It is worth mentioning that no current or past member of any Irish delegation has been implicated in any of the corruption issues that has come to light. Corrupt practices engaged in by a minority of Council delegates have been revealed and such practices must be eliminated. A public commitment to doing just that has been made and processes have been put in place to ensure there will be no recurrence and that those involved cannot be part of the Council of Europe in the future. I spoke strongly about this at all relevant meetings, as did my colleagues. We made it clear that we would not be party to any organisation that tolerated, condoned or turned a blind eye to any level of corruption.

As mentioned, the European Union represents the greatest peace process of our time. However, we now have a generation in Europe that does not remember the horrors of the Second World War and that does not even have a folk memory of that conflict. That makes the European project more challenging. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we maintain the peace process which has been enormous successly in preventing wars in Europe.

There is a 92% approval rating in Ireland for the European Union, something of which we should be very proud. In the short time available I will not be able to refer to every positive element of the European Union, but I reference the Common Agricultural Policy, in particular, the purpose of which is to ensure an adequate supply of quality food for the population of the Union at an affordable price and not, as some might suggest, to subsidise farmers. The aim of the CAP is to ensure consumers can have high quality food at a reasonable price, which is important at so many levels, including the preservation of peace. I hope the Minister of State will assure us that she will be fighting hard for no diminution of the CAP budget in the context of Brexit and that Ireland will try to hold the line in maintaining the current levels of funding. The CAP has been transformative for Irish agriculture and rural communities. It is a vital part of the machinery of the European Union and must be preserved. I hope to hear an assurance from the Minister of State that we will seek to preserve it. It is great to see that Ireland is now a net contributor to the EU budget. Our contribution increased recently and I favour increased contributions across Europe to make up the deficit in the budget when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. In that way, we can preserve the CAP. Connected to it is rural, regional and social funding which has been of critical importance to Ireland. In that context, we must hold the line on having no hard border on the island. Again, I would like to hear a commitment from the Minister of State that Ireland will not flinch on this matter.

The European Union has been at the forefront in promoting the social agenda and ensuring the rights of women, in particular, are upheld in this country.It is missed sometimes but I was delighted to hear that €13 billion would be realised to the European economy through achieving gender equality. It is an extraordinarily interesting statistic and one we should reiterate.

The implications of bringing about the digital revolution and being up there with the best must be considered. We are working towards it. I am sorry our speaking time does not permit us to go into more detail but I wish to hear the Minister of State speak to us about Brexit and assure us there will be no giving on the issue of the Common Agricultural Policy. We should hold on to the social agenda in Europe. We will hold the 92% figure if we do those things. We have the right team in Europe to do it.