Joe Walsh
Question:114 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number and dates of the bilateral meetings he has had with his German and United Kingdom ministerial colleagues on the stalled Poverty Four Programme. [14700/95]
Written Answers. - Poverty Four Programme.
This matter was raised by the Deputy by way of priority question last Wednesday and was the subject of a full debate at that time.
I have used every opportunity to influence our German and United Kingdom counterparts to progress the fourth EU Poverty Programme, both directly at meetings of the Council of Social Affairs Ministers' meetings which I have attended, and indirectly through the Commission both on my own part and through my officials. Nothing has been left undone that could reasonably have been done by the Irish Government to advance this issue. Both I and my officials have been to the forefront in the last year in pressing for agreement on a fourth EU Proverty Programme. At the Social Affairs Council in June, I forcefully stated the Irish Government's position in this matter, a position I again restated at the meeting of Social Affairs Ministers in Luxembourg last week. At that meeting I put forward a specific proposal to break the log jam on advancing this matter which was supported by both the Spanish Presidency and a number of other countries, including some of the Nordic Countries. As a result, the Commission have been asked to look again either at the current proposal or an alternative proposal which might find acceptance.
The matter has also been pursued vigorously by the Taoiseach and his Department. My own officials are in frequent contact with their counterparts in Germany and the United Kingdom, and indeed all other member countries, appraising them of the Irish Government's position and attempting to find a way forward. I have recently appointed a permanent representative to the Irish delegation is Brussels to enhance our capacity to impact on the social affairs brief at European level.
However, the crux of the matter is, that, under Article 235 the proposal for a fourth EU Poverty Programme requires unanimity and until such time as the German and United Kingdom Governments can be persuaded to support the proposal, or an alternative, it cannot go further. Nonetheless, I will continue to avail of every opportunity, formal or otherwise, to ensure that social exclusion is kept as a central part of the agenda at European level.