Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his Department will be recruiting or seconding extra staff for the duration of the EU Presidency; if so, the areas to which they will be seconded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50876/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade received a temporary reprieve from the impact of the Government’s Employment Control Framework and was also allocated 50 temporary extra posts for 2012 and 2013 in order to enable it to plan and fulfil its EU Presidency responsibilities and activities in the first half of this year. The sanctioned additional staff are now in situ and have been assigned as appropriate, either to front line Presidency-related activities or to back-fill positions vacated by experienced officers redeployed to Presidency roles.

At headquarters, nine staff have been redeployed to my Department from other Government Departments and Offices, to which they are scheduled to return in summer 2013. Ten administrative and 11 clerical staff have also been engaged on fixed-term contracts through the Public Appointments Service and 9 Interns have been recruited on the same basis directly by the Department. Furthermore, a small number of staff have been temporarily seconded to the Department from other EU Member States and from the EU’s External Action Service, at no cost to the Exchequer, and one retired officer has been temporarily re-engaged until July 2013.

As regards Missions abroad, the majority of Presidency-related posts have been assigned to the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels, with smaller numbers allocated to other Missions including the Permanent Missions to the UN in New York and Geneva and that to the OSCE in Vienna. The Presidency staffing plan for the Permanent Representation in Brussels was prepared following a carefully coordinated inter-departmental needs evaluation. Overall, the staffing of the Permanent Representation has been temporarily increased by 80 officers in various grades, with the majority of staff assigned by other Departments and Offices at their own expense and from within their own staffing resources and some 30 administrative and clerical staff temporarily locally recruited.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has any special arrangements made for the term of the EU Presidency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50917/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union will centre on delivering results on three core priorities: promoting stability, and creating the conditions for job creation and sustainable growth. Renewed growth and employment creation require strong and stable economic foundations. This is why the Irish Presidency is attaching such strong importance to the Banking Union proposals, and in particular advancing agreement with the European Parliament on the Single Supervisory Mechanism to restore confidence and to strengthen credit flows to SMEs to get Europe’s economy growing again. At the December General Affairs Council, Ireland presented its roadmap for implementing the European Semester, the new system for coordinating economic and budgetary policy within the European Union. Effective implementation of the Semester process is critical to restoring health to public finances across the Union. Stimulating sustainable economic growth to create employment is a key priority for the Presidency. In the run-up to the Presidency the Government reviewed work agendas across all Council formations to highlight proposals that have the potential to deliver jobs and growth. The Irish Presidency will place a particular emphasis on tackling youth unemployment which remains far too high in many Member States, including Ireland. As Presidency, Ireland will push for a comprehensive EU approach to tackling this challenge, starting with the Youth Employment Package. In particular, we aim to achieve consensus on the principles of the Youth Guarantee. The objective is to ensure that young people, who are not working or studying, receive an offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship. Identifying ways of tackling youth unemployment will also be the main focus of the Informal meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers which is taking place in Dublin in February.

The Presidency has identified other areas to promote growth and jobs. These include an emphasis on securing agreement on draft legislation to improve the operation of the Single Market.

The Presidency will also work to secure agreement on a number of proposals and programmes aimed at supporting the next generation of research and innovation in Europe. It will also seek to advance proposals that support the growth of the digital economy and the broader digital agenda, including areas such as cyber security, e-signatures, data protection, web accessibility and high-speed broadband rollout. Progress in this area will deliver benefits for European consumers and business alike.

The EU’s external trade agenda is one area where we see significant potential for a greater contribution to growth and to jobs, particularly for Europe’s SME sector. 90 percent of future global growth is set to be generated outside Europe. That is why economic relations with key strategic partners, including the US, Canada, Japan and China, feature strongly in our Presidency programme.

With the benefit of Ireland’s close links with the US, we will work hard to agree the opening of Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the US. Ireland will be the first country to hold an informal meeting of Trade Ministers during its Presidency which signals the priority given by Ireland to this issue.

These are just some of the key priorities that Ireland has identified as central elements of its Presidency programme which was published last week. The programme was discussed with the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Commission College who visited last week. The Taoiseach formally presented the programme to the European Parliament on 16 January. I am very encouraged by the response that the Government has received from the institutional partners and our partner states in support of the Irish Presidency’s objectives.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will detail all planned costs to his Department of press activity relating to the EU Presidency. [50875/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Costs arising from press activity relating to the Ireland’s Presidency of the European Council will be borne from the existing press budget in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Arrangements for the informal ministerial meetings that are the responsibility of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are covered by the common Presidency Press arrangements put in place by the Department of the Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if during Ireland's Presidency of the EU particular attention will be given to the ongoing violence in Syria, Israel and Gaza; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52231/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which started earlier this month, will be informed by the values and priorities of Irish foreign policy. Contributing to the search for a lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict and of the Syrian crisis are major priorities for me at present and will remain so over the coming months. Supporting the work which the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy is doing on these issues, we will do everything possible to bring about an end to violence and repression and to violations of human rights and the rule of law in the region. We will make a strong national contribution to efforts to promote the “two-State solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to bring into being a new, democratic Syria. Deputies will, of course, be aware that, under the Lisbon Treaty, issues such as these which form part of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy have been placed under the coordination and direction of the High Representative and the External Action Service. There is no longer any direct role to be played by the rotating Presidency. We will, however, use the influence which Ireland has on these issues to support and promote the EU’s vital efforts, working closely with our Council colleagues and with the relevant official structures.