Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to address some of the points that were made. As Senator Horkan pointed out in his contribution, we are here to highlight some of the positives of the EU. I thank Senators for their views, comments, criticisms and positive remarks on the EU. I would be the first to say that the EU is not perfect, but it is the best mechanism we have to deal with the many challenges we face. As all contributors stated, we are stronger and better together. As a result, we need to tackle those challenges together and make sure to listen to everybody.

On Brexit, the EU will be a lesser place without the UK. Although it has been a somewhat reluctant member for the 45 years of its membership - its media have never portrayed the EU in a positive light - it has contributed greatly to the Union and the development thereof. Ireland joined the EU at the same time as did the UK and much of our agenda and what we have done and many of our policies have been in tandem with those of the UK. As well as being worse off financially, we will be far worse off without its knowledge and expertise. That said, the EU leaders who met at the summit in Bratislava following the Brexit vote obviously did so to consider what we can do next, where we go from here and how we can we plan a Europe of which citizens want to be part.They also saw it as an opportunity to engage with citizens and to make sure they are aware of the positives and the positive impact membership of the European Union has had on people's lives. I do not think anybody could dispute the fact that Ireland and many other member states have changed and continue to be utterly transformed through their membership of the European Union. We have gone from being a small island nation that was inward looking and had very little access to the rest of the world, economically or otherwise, to being an outward-looking country that is more modern. The very fabric of society has been changed. We have access to more than 500 million people. There are also changes to the way we engage and work with people and our culture and traditions have been enriched during that time. Our country has benefitted financially. In the 45 years of our membership, we have received net funding of €45 billion. That money has been invested in infrastructure and in ensuring that people's living standards have improved and in education. The college I attended, DCU, was built and founded on EU funding, and that is just one of the many important pieces of infrastructure it has provided. The agricultural sector, which was and still is our most important indigenous sector, has benefited significantly through our membership of the European Union. Towns and villages have received funding and they have been utterly transformed in that time as well.

Many Senators touched on the fact that people's rights have been improved. This week we celebrate International Women's Day. In terms of equality for women, we would still be facing the many challenges we have overcome in recent decades if it were not for legislation, rules and regulations that have been implemented through the European Union and through our Parliament. Europe has brought about equality in the workplace, equality for some of the most vulnerable in society, for example, those with disabilities, mental health problems and children. Much of our legislation has been based on European legislation.

We have worked with member states on peacekeeping missions. We have a very proud tradition and history in that regard. In our membership of the United Nations there has not been one day without Irish troops being on the ground in peacekeeping missions. We have joined PESCO. I accept some have doubts about what that means for Ireland, but the reason we were one of the last countries to join is that we were making sure that it did not impact in any way our neutrality. We also need to make sure that our views and opinions are heard around the table when issues such as security and defence and peacekeeping missions are discussed. We are already part of various maritime surveillance operations and ongoing cybersecurity programmes. We have a part to play in that regard because when we asked Irish people about our neutrality and where they want Ireland to be in the future, they were very clear that our defence neutrality should not be impacted. However, as a country we must acknowledge the fact that terror and threats are changing and the format in which they are now impacting on people's lives is changing, whether it is through our screens, for example, on YouTube, or indiscriminate attacks that take place on our streets, we need to be able to co-operate with other member states to share information to protect citizens. People were very clear on that in our engagement on the Future of Europe.

Economically, through our membership of the Single Market, the way we do business and export has been utterly transformed. We need to continue in that vein. The Single Market is 80% complete in goods but only about 50% in services and 50% of everything that we export in this country is services so if it were completed that would have a significant positive impact on the economy and people's lives and businesses. The digital economy is only about 30% complete. Further integration would transform the way we do business and also how we interact with each other across member states. That is something on which we must focus. A significant amount of work is being done in terms of trade deals. We have already agreed a trade deal with Singapore and negotiations are ongoing with Thailand and China. We entered an economic partnership with Japan and we are now looking at Australia and New Zealand. This is all because of our membership of the Single Market. As a small member state, we have access to the 500 million plus people in the European market, and that will be on an even larger scale following other trade deals.

We are also working with colleague member states to build alliances and to make sure that the Irish voice is very clearly heard around the table when it comes to other significant issues. Climate change is one of those. We acknowledge that we are not on target for our 2020 objectives in that regard. Recently, the new Minister, Deputy Bruton, who has responsibility for climate change, wrote a letter to the Commissioner, with his colleagues from Luxembourg, Lithuania and Austria about the risk to citizens and the amount of work we need to do on a national level. As well as working with our European colleagues, the Minister is hoping to implement a new action plan for climate change and a strategy that would transcend all Departments, not just his own. He also plans on doing that through engagement not just with the Joint Committee on Climate Action that is chaired by Deputy Naughton, but also through engagement with the students we have seen protesting and whom we know will take to the streets on 15 March. As the Taoiseach said earlier, we look forward to that. It is extremely positive that young people are protesting, marching and standing up for something they see as being extremely important, which we also see as being extremely important for the future.

I recently had a discussion with my colleagues at the General Affairs Council on the sustainable development goals. The outgoing Commissioner, Frans Timmermans, produced a paper with some colleagues on the goals which he hopes will reinvigorate the implementation and the conversations or lack thereof that have been taking place. What I highlighted at the discussion was that instead of trying to come together for a further plan at a European level that we would focus on the implementation plans of individual members at a national level. The document that has been produced will be taken on board by the new Commission and I hope it will steer it in the right direction as well.