Oireachtas Committee to meet Minister for European Affairs on European Semester process

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs will meet Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs Paschal Donohoe TD tomorrow Thursday 17 October at 2pm.

16 October 2013  

The Minister of State’s presence at the meeting will allow Committee Members to question him in advance of the upcoming meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC), to be held in Brussels at the end of this month.

Vice-Chairman of the Committee Dara Murphy TD, who will chair tomorrow's meeting, says: “Our Committee meeting tomorrow is a valuable opportunity to explore Irish government policy with Minister Donohoe in advance of the key monthly General Affairs Council meeting. The GAC is expected to discuss the lessons learned from the European Semester process in 2013. This process, introduced in 2010, involves Member States aligning their budgetary and economic policies with the objectives and rules agreed at EU level. The Irish parliamentary calendar has already been impacted, with Budget 2014 announced this week rather than the customary first week of December. However, the influence of this process on the national budgetary process is likely to be fully felt next year following Ireland's anticipated exit from the bailout. The Committee will have an opportunity to engage with Minister Donohoe on how the European Semester process might be improved and to consider how Oireachtas involvement can be secured."

“The meeting in Brussels will also prepare the ground for the meeting of the European Council at the end of the month, which is expected to concentrate on progress towards a Digital Single Market by 2015.”

The meeting takes place tomorrow Thursday 17 October at 2 pm in Committee Room 3, Leinster House 2000. Committee proceedings can be followed here. 

Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926

Committee Membership
Deputies: Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard J. Durkan, John Halligan, Dominic Hannigan (Chair), Seán Kyne, Dara Murphy (Vice-Chair) and Joe O’Reilly
Senators: Colm Burke, John Kelly, Terry Leyden, Catherine Noone and Kathryn Reilly