Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 136: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has held discussions with the incoming Czech Presidency of the European Union with regard to the objectives held for this Presidency, particularly in view of recent statements from the Presidency. [1944/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As is customary at the start of each presidency, the Czech Foreign Minister presented its priorities to the General Affairs Council yesterday (26 January). Under an over-arching motto of "Europe Without Barriers", the Czech Presidency will focus on the Economy, Energy and the European Union in the World. The first few weeks of their EU Presidency have been dominated by major issues connected with those priorities: the Ukraine-Russia gas crisis and the situation in Gaza. The Czech Presidency will have an important role to play in shaping the Union's continuing response to the current, extremely difficult economic conditions. These events have underlined the value of having our distinctive European nations work closely together under the EU umbrella in order to advance our many shared interests.

In addition to the formal briefing at the General Affairs Council, my officials, my colleague Dick Roche and I have had various contacts with Czech counterparts in the run-up to and during the first few weeks of their presidency. I particularly look forward to co-operating with the Presidency in taking work forward on the legal guarantees on the Lisbon Treaty promised to Ireland at the December European Council in response to concerns that surfaced during our referendum campaign. It is important that we finalise these guarantees to our full satisfaction in the coming months.

The Czech Presidency is a fitting way to mark the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet system. I wish the Czech Government well for their Presidency and expect that they will discharge their responsibilities in an effective manner.