Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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14. To ask the Taoiseach if he has discussed banking with Chancellor Merkel recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17513/14]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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15. To ask the Taoiseach the selection process for the new President of the European Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19927/14]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Taoiseach if he is putting forward agenda items for discussion at the next EU Council meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20851/14]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the implementation of the agreement at the June 2012 EU Council meeting and in particular as it applied to Ireland; the progress that has been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20852/14]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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18. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meetings in Brussels on 27 May; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24127/14]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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19. To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details of his meetings with Heads of State at the Brussels EU meeting on 27 May. [24128/14]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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20. To ask the Taoiseach if the crisis in Ukraine was discussed during his meetings in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24129/14]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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21. To ask the Taoiseach if the rise of extreme right wing parties was discussed during his meetings in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24130/14]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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22. To ask the Taoiseach if he met with British Prime Minister David Cameron during his meetings in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24131/14]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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23. To ask the Taoiseach if he discussed the worsening situation in Ukraine in his recent meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24236/14]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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24. To ask the Taoiseach if the issue of the recent crisis in Ukraine was discussed during his meetings in Brussels at the end of May; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25456/14]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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26. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent visit to Berlin and his conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. [30738/14]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 24, inclusive, and 26 together.

I attended the Informal meeting of Heads of State and Government in Brussels on 27 May. Since then I also attended the European Council meeting in Ypres and Brussels on 26 and 27 June. I reported to the House on the outcomes of that Council in a comprehensive statement on 2 July. While I did not have any separate bilateral meetings with PM Cameron at either meeting I did, of course, see him and all of my colleagues at both meetings.

The agenda for the June meeting of the European Council was prepared in the normal way. President Van Rompuy prepared an annotated draft agenda. This was considered by the General Affairs Council on 13 May which was attended by Minister of State Donohoe.

President Van Rompuy then circulated Draft Conclusions for the June European Council, which were discussed by Ambassadors and senior officials in Brussels and by Ministers at the meeting of the General Affairs Council, attended by Minister of State Donohoe, on 24 June. In the usual manner, at each step in the process, Ireland contributed views, as appropriate.

The meeting of Heads of State and Government on 27 May took place shortly after the European Parliament elections and leaders discussed the results, including those of extremist parties. At that meeting we also discussed the process for the election of the new President of the European Commission and tasked President Van Rompuy to consult with the presidents of the new political groups, and to report back. This led to the nomination, which I welcomed, of Jean Claude Juncker at the June European Council.

The selection process for the President of the European Council is determined by Article 15 (5) of the Treaty on European Union which states that the European Council shall elect its President, by a qualified majority, for a term of two and a half years, renewable once.

The term of office of the current President of the European Council, Mr Van Rompuy, ends on 30 November 2014. The European Council is convening tomorrow, 16 July to discuss a number of high level key appointments.

At our May meeting, Heads of State and Government also had an initial discussion on the Union's future priorities and strategic agenda for the period ahead. There was general agreement that we must maintain the focus on growth and jobs. This important discussion was continued at the June European Council and led to the adoption of a strategic agenda for the EU for the coming period.

The Strategic Agenda identifies the priorities which will guide the work of the European Union over the next five years. These cover: (1) jobs, growth and competitiveness, (2) empowering and protecting all EU citizens, (3) energy and climate policy, (4) freedom, security and justice, and (5) the EU's external relations. The agenda forms part of the Conclusions adopted by the June European Council and are a public document. Overall I am pleased that the Strategic Agenda reflects a clear commitment to strengthening the economic recovery across Europe.

Ukraine

We discussed Ukraine at the meeting of Heads of State and Government in May and again at the June European Council. Although there have been some positive developments in recent weeks – not least the Presidential elections, and the announcement of a peace plan together with a ceasefire by President Poroshenko on 20 June – we remain very concerned about the situation in eastern Ukraine.

At the June European Council leaders called for several steps to be taken, including agreement on a verification mechanism, monitored by the OSCE, for the ceasefire and for effective control of the border; the return to the Ukrainian authorities of three border checkpoints; the release of hostages including all of the OSCE observers; and the launch of substantial negotiations on the implementation of President Poroshenko's peace plan. We also urged the Russian Federation to actively use its influence over illegally armed groups, and to stop the flow of weapons and militants across the border with Ukraine, in order to achieve rapid and tangible results in de-escalation.

In the meantime, there have been contacts between the Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine with a view to restoring peace and stability in Ukraine, and they have adopted a Joint Declaration reconfirming their commitment to that objective.

Ireland supports their efforts.

Direct Bank Recapitalisation.

Deputies as you are aware, the Euro-area Heads of State and Government agreed in June 2012 that "it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns", and that when a Single Supervisory Mechanism, involving the ECB, is in place and operational, the European Stability Mechanism, the ESM, could recapitalise banks directly.

On 10 June 2014 the euro area Member States reached a preliminary agreement on the operational framework for the ESM’s Direct Recapitalisation Instrument. This includes a specific provision in relation to the retroactive application of the instrument. Therefore, the agreement, keeps open the possibility to apply to the European Stability Mechanism for a retrospective direct recapitalisation of the Irish banks, should we wish to avail of it.

Berlin Visit

In terms of recent political contacts with European partners, I visited Berlin on 3 July for a programme of economic and trade promotion engagements, during which I met with Chancellor Merkel. This programme included a networking event at the Embassy of Ireland with clients of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia as well as members of the Global Irish Network. I also participated at the formal opening of a new Primark store in Berlin, the Irish group’s 13^thstore in its expanding network in Germany.

My programme concluded with a speech at the opening session of the annual economic conference of the Wirtschaftsrat Economic Council, entitled “Real Recovery, Sustainable Jobs and Lasting Growth – Ireland’s story and Europe’s next steps”. My speech set out the progress of Ireland’s recovery so far, drawing attention to the sacrifices of the Irish people and to the remaining fragilities in our economy including debt-related issues. I outlined my priorities for an action-focused EU agenda for the years ahead while also setting out the advantages of trading with Ireland given the presence of a large number of major German employers in the audience.

Chancellor Merkel participated at the same session of this conference, prior to which we met together to discuss current European issues and the Irish economy. The main focus of our discussion was tomorrows European Council, which will deal with the ongoing situation in the Ukraine and the remaining appointments to high-level positions in the EU institutions following the nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President.

We discussed the Irish economy and in that context I pointed to ongoing progress with the completion of Banking Union, in particular the recent provisional agreement reached among EU Finance Ministers on the operational framework for the European Stability Mechanism’s Direct Recapitalisation Instrument. As I have already stated, this is a further important step in the context of Ireland’s legacy banking debt.

Chancellor Merkel and I also discussed the strong progress made on our previous agreement regarding the investment by the KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), Germany’s state-owned development bank, in the new Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI). The SBCI will provide over €500million in new credit to be made available to Irish SMEs.