Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide details of the discussion he had with the EU Humanitarian Commissioner and the EU Development Commissioner regarding Ireland's purposed programme of work during our Presidency of the EU Council. [50100/12]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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A key factor in running a successful Presidency in the area of development cooperation is the building of strong relationships with the EU institutions - the European External Action Service, the European Parliament and the Commission. Over the past six months, I have held extensive discussions with the institutions, and especially with Development Commissioner Piebalgs and Humanitarian Commissioner Georgieva.

I met with Commissioner Piebalgs when I attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels in May and our discussions focused on early planning for Ireland’s EU Presidency. I emphasised that we were working to ensure that the fight against hunger, which is a cornerstone of Ireland’s aid programme, featured strongly in our Presidency programme.

The main development cooperation priority of Ireland’s Presidency will be to ensure that the EU engages actively and coherently in the September 2013 Special Event on the Millennium Development Goals, to be held at the UN in New York. The UN Special Event will consider the progress to date on the Millennium Development Goals and will be an opportunity for world leaders debate for the first time the shape of the post-2015 global development framework. Commissioner Piebalgs and I agreed on the importance of a substantive discussion on the issues involved at the informal meeting of EU Development Ministers which will be held in Dublin on 11/12 February 2013.

When I attended the development segment of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 15 October, I met both Commissioner Piebalgs and Commissioner Georgieva, and updated them on Ireland’s Presidency work programme. I also informed the Commissioners that Ireland will host an International Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice in Dublin on 15/16 April 2013.

Ireland’s Presidency will also seek to promote efforts to link relief, recovery and development by forging stronger links between the development and humanitarian agendas of the European Union. This was the main focus of my discussions with Humanitarian Commissioner Georgieva. We have recognised for some time that building the resilience of vulnerable people to natural and man-made disasters and creating greater links between our humanitarian and development activities is a vital component of development work. I welcomed the Commission’s recent Communication on Resilience, issued jointly by both Commissioners, and stressed that I looked forward to building on it during Ireland’s Presidency.

Commissioner Georgieva and I also discussed how legislation to establish a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps can be progressed in the first half of 2013 and the Commissioner expressed her support for the volunteering initiative which we are working on in Ireland, including our focus on the contribution which recently retired public servants can make in developing countries.

Both Commissioners have expressed strong support for our approach to the EU Presidency. I have arranged a further meeting with Commissioner Piebalgs later this month to review our preparations and I look forward to welcoming both Commissioners to the informal Development Ministers’ meeting in Dublin in February.