Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I warmly congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, on his appointment to his new role. I welcome the statements that have been made recognising the importance of solidarity and of stimulus. It seems that at least some learning has happened from some of the failures and shortfalls in the European response to other crises in that there is now a very wide international recognition that stimulus, and the recognition of our interdependence and solidarity, are core to recovery in our navigating of this crisis.

Others have spoken about the SURE scheme and, in the limited time available to me, I am going to focus on the pan-European guarantee. This document which we are discussing today, with all of its appendices, is not simply about money but is also about policy. It is a debate on money and policy. It is very important that we reflect and ensure we are engaging with both of those aspects. It is a debate around what European recovery should look like. The decisions we and other parliaments across Europe make will drastically shape the future of countries and communities across the EU.

We need to ensure, first, that there is real transparency and that these are measures that hold the public trust. We need to ensure they are measures that are holistic and really deliver social cohesion, and make us more resilient in the face of the next crisis, one we know is coming, such as climate change, or others we may not have anticipated yet.In that regard, I will be making today a number of amendments and proposals on which I hope the Minister will be able to engage. I hope not only that the amendments will be accepted and supported but also that the points will be engaged with because they are core and will be part of the wider conversation on the kind of recovery we require and how we can be genuinely resilient.

In the very darkest days of the crisis, we relied on the public sector to protect us. We relied on public health services to keep us safe and care for our loved ones who were sick. We relied on public transport workers to go to work and on An Post workers and others to deliver. We relied very heavily on them. In a crisis, generous efforts are made by everybody across society but public services are crucial. This was visible right across Europe. Where public services had been run down by austerity measures over a long period, a toll was taken on the capacity of public services to respond in some places.

Our need for a robust, well-resourced public service will grow as we face this pandemic and future crises. In that sense, the decision on how we support the public sector as part of the European recovery is crucial. There is a disappointing policy decision associated with the pan-European guarantee fund in that the public companies within it, in the vital areas of health and research, are limited to just 5%. Therefore, 95% of the fund, as it is currently set up, is off bounds to public companies. This is a policy decision that we might address, and perhaps my set of amendments can do so constructively. I hope the Minister will be able to assure us that Ireland, in its own applications to the fund, will seek to take maximum advantage of the 5%, limited as it may be, in respect of investment in public services and public companies. That will require co-operation with the Minister for Health and the Minister responsible for higher education and research.

We also need to recognise that the policy decisions can be changed. There is an order of precedence in the documents we are examining today. The fund guarantee is the fund agreement and it does not set policy on the 5%. The policy on the 5% is set within the fund description. The fund description has provisions, under paragraph 12.2, that allow the contributors committee, of which Ireland will be a member, to change the beneficiary mix and the balance - for example, to include public companies that might not simply be in the health and research sector. What about services such as childcare, for example, which may well need to become public services? What about the work of public broadcasters and various other companies, such as An Post? There is scope to change the policy. Ireland will be sitting on a committee by which decisions and proposals might be made. I would love it if Ireland were to propose an expansion of the public service and public company component but, without being overly ambitious, my amendment simply seeks to ensure that, if others propose that, Ireland will support it. That is a modest proposal, and it could be accepted unless there is an objection from the Minister.

With regard to the other aspect of public service, the wider public policy, when the EIB reviews the pan-European guarantee fund it will be important for Ireland to be very vocal about the rest of the recovery fund. I am thinking specifically about the EU coronavirus recovery fund, which may be worth up to €500 billion. Will Ireland be an advocate to ensure that public services, public companies and the public sector — the public and national infrastructure — can gain access to funding under these funds, which are yet to be determined and whose rules are yet to be set? Ireland, as has been said, has a key role. It now holds the presidency of the Eurogroup and it has a genuine obligation to show leadership on policy. An area in which we should be showing leadership on policy concerns climate change, climate mitigation, the achievement of the sustainable development goals and the eradication of poverty. Potentially, these are all to be named objectives within the fund. Will we be proofing to ensure they are reflected in how the fund is distributed?

Transparency and public trust are fundamental. The EIB has been criticised by groups such as Counter Balance and other civil society groups for lagging behind regarding transparency. Counter Balance has presented its findings to the European Parliament.It says that at a time when the EIB is put at the core of the EU's economic recovery, it is crucial that it raises its bar on transparency and sustainability and becomes accountable to citizens in Europe. That is why I will be proposing that there would be a report to the Oireachtas outlining the activities of the Irish representative on the contributing committee of the platform fund and that the report would reflect the decisions that are made on behalf of Ireland and the positions Ireland takes. This is an evolving landscape. The report would also reflect on those important objectives under part 2.12 of the platform rules, which allow us to think about how this fits with sustainable development goals. That part of the rules makes sustainable development goals a priority. Ireland can report on that and can give leadership in reflecting on how those goals are reported on. By giving leadership on transparency, Ireland can give a signal to the European public that this is a recovery for everyone and that this is a process which has learned from the failures of the response in 2008. Hopefully we will not see the loss of public trust and social cohesion we saw during that recession.

I congratulate the Minister of State again on his appointment. I look forward to engaging with him and I hope he might be able to accept these amendments when they are proposed. If they are not accepted, I will note that nearly all of these measures are within the Minister of State's power, regardless of whether they are in this legislation. Perhaps the Minister of State will address that.