asked the Taoiseach if he will provide details of any recent written communications he has had with the French Prime Minister, Mr. Jospin. [23372/98]
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Official Engagements.
John Bruton
Question:2 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the schedule of engagements he is likely to fulfil with the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jacques Santer, when he visits Ireland on 19 November 1998. [23487/98]
Ruairí Quinn
Question:3 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the additional foreign engagements or meetings, if any, organised with other heads of state other than those referred to in Parliamentary Questions Nos. 10 to 13 of 7 October 1998; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23683/98]
Ruairí Quinn
Question:4 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with the Polish Prime Minister; if the issue of EU enlargement was raised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23691/98]
Ruairí Quinn
Question:5 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the positions, if any, he will adopt at the European Council meeting in Vienna in December 1998; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23692/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 together.
The Polish Prime Minister, Mr. Jerzy Buzek, completed a two day official visit to Ireland yesterday. I met with him on Monday morning for a two hour working session. I also hosted an official dinner in honour of the Prime Minister and Mrs. Buzek in Dublin Castle on Monday evening. I discussed in detail with the Prime Minister Poland's preparations for accession to the European Union. I assured him of Ireland's support and co-operation in maintaining the momentum of the enlargement process. We considered the ongoing negotiations in Structural, Cohesion and CAP funding and the need to adhere to the March timetable for their completion. We also discussed possibilities for increasing Irish-Polish trade and wider economic bilateral relations between our two countries.
I will meet the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jacques Santer, for a working lunch tomorrow. We are likely to discuss Agenda 2000 issues, EU support for the peace process, the Vienna European Council, institutional reform issues and enlargement.
Since I informed the House on 7 October of my foreign engagements and meetings with heads of State or Government, I have arranged to meet with Austrian Federal Chancellor, Viktor Klima, on 27 November as part of his tour of capitals in advance of the Vienna European Council on 11-12 December. I have also arranged to meet the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, on 15 December.
The agenda and proposals coming forward for the Vienna European Council are not yet set and accordingly the positions to be adopted by Ireland are not yet finalised. However, it is clear that one of the main items to be discussed at the council will be the Structural and Cohesion Funds and the CAP.
The Cardiff European Council in June called for substantial progress to be made at Vienna so that political agreement can be reached on key aspects of this package no later than March next year. The negotiations are on course to meet the timetable set, provided that the political will is forthcoming. Ireland for its part will co-operate constructively with the Commission and the Presidency as well as with the incoming German Presidency with a view to meeting the March deadline.
The Austrian Presidency has not yet specified in any detail how it envisages handling the Structural Fund negotiations in Vienna. However, it seems likely it will be able to note significant progress on the detailed regulations and to give useful impetus to the negotiations through a further discussion of the most sensitive points at political level. The European Council will also discuss a range of economic issues, with particular emphasis on employment. Justice and home affairs questions, the functioning of the Union's institutions, CFSP issues and enlargement will also arise.
I wrote to the French Prime Minister, Mr. Lionel Jospin, on 30 September raising the concern in Ireland regarding the ending next year of duty free sales for persons travelling within the European Union. In particular, I referred to the Capet report which the Prime Minister Mr. Jospin's Government commissioned and which recommended that the excise duty component should be phased in rather than being introduced abruptly.
Did the Taoiseach receive a response to his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Jospin? Regarding the discussions tomorrow with the Commission President, Mr. Santer, would the Taoiseach, in the case of regions in the country for which the retention of Objective One status is sought, consider the possibility of breaching county boundaries by including district electoral divisions which qualify under the criteria of having an income below the Community average and which are on the border of counties for which the retention of Objective One status is sought? I speak of certain areas in Carlow, west Cork, west Limerick and north Kilkenny where the income is very low and is below the 75 per cent average. Would it be possible to allow district electoral divisions, which are legitimate administrative areas recognised by the EU for other purposes, to be included with the areas for which the retention of Objective One status is sought so that they do not find themselves losing any hope of attracting industry because better grants will be available a mile or two down the road across the county boundary?
I received an acknowledgement from the Prime Minister, Mr. Jospin, not a detailed reply. Regarding tomorrow's discussions with the Commission President, I do not know what the level of detail will be but I hope to outline the Government's thinking on this issue with President Santer and explain to him the arguments in favour of allowing as much funding as possible. Having discussed this privately before, I know he believes the issue to be one for Eurostat.
Will the Taoiseach, when he meets Chancellor Klima, raise the possible candidacy of Deputy Spring for the position of high representative acting on behalf of the Union in foreign affairs?
That will be on the agenda. I will raise it if the Deputy wishes the matter to be pursued. The Deputy can be assured that Deputy Spring's name is being openly spoken about at this stage and I know Chancellor Klima has raised his name in various discussions.
Will the Taoiseach in his discussions with President Santer tomorrow indicate to him the desirability from Ireland's point of view of the country being divided into two regions? Does he expect to have any substantive discussion with President Santer or is it his view, the Government having made its decision, that the matter is one exclusively for EUROSTAT and that any such discussion with President Santer would be neither productive or relevant?
I do not believe any discussion with President Santer will affect what we are doing. An application in line with Government thinking will be forwarded to EUROSTAT within the next few days through the Director General of the CSO, which is the usual process. A substantive reply will be expected from EUROSTAT when it has considered the application. I understand from those who have been dealing directly with EUROSTAT over the past six to eight months that the application is seen by it as very straightforward and not requiring prolonged consideration.
On the Taoiseach's meeting with the Chancellor of Austria, Viktor Klima, does he intend to discuss with him possible institutional changes within the European Union? I know the Taoiseach has in the past indicated that, until such time as the Amsterdam Treaty is ratified, any possible future changes to the institutional structures are premature. However, having regard to the fact that Agenda 2000 is a matter for discussion and constitutional and institutional change is considered a prerequisite for further enlargement, will the Taoiseach inform Chancellor Klima that our view is that, notwithstanding any other type of constitutional or institutional change there may be in the workings of the European Union, small member states would be required and would insist upon having at least one Commissioner representing their interests?
That is a point I would make. I continually raise that issue because it will be a case in whatever structural or institutional changes are made. The level of discussion I will have with Chancellor Klima, based on his recent meeting with me here, will concentrate on what can happen in the General Affairs Council, and some of those issues. As part of his Presidency he is anxious to at least tidy up some of these matters, as he would put it, and get a more structured operation of the agenda in the General Affairs Council. At the Portschach meeting he stated that he would continue to move that agenda forward in the second round of meetings he will have next week. Deputies will recall that the question was whether we should continue with the current system or hold it over two days, and I believe he was moving towards having a two day session. There was an option in regard to who would represent but, more likely, it would be Foreign Affairs Ministers.
In regard to my proposal that district electoral division statistics should be prepared so that district electoral divisions in other counties contiguous to those being included in Objective One can be considered, will the Taoiseach consult the current EU regulations where, in particular, the arrondissements of Auvergne, Douai and Valenciennes are included even though they are in NUTS III categories because of what is described in the regulation as their unique adjacent position and their regional GDP? In this case these counties are adjacent to Objective One areas? Will the Taoiseach consider that the precedent of Auvergne, Douai and Valenciennes could be used to allow areas in west Limerick, west Cork, Carlow and north Kilkenny——
The Deputy is broadening the scope of the questions.
This is in respect of matters the Taoiseach might raise with the Commission President when he has lunch with him tomorrow where clearly the Objective One issue will be discussed.
We cannot broaden the scope of the questions.
I am not broadening the scope, I am narrowing the scope to a specific question which is to ask the Taoiseach to address that precedent where adjacent areas are included, on the grounds that they are adjacent, with a view to allowing areas currently being excluded, which are on the borders of Objective One proposed areas, to be included on the basis of that precedent so that they will not suffer a sort of rural or urban blight where all industry will cross the border to get higher grants in the neighbouring area.
I am glad the Deputies are looking at the issues raised this morning. Other member states have done precisely what we are doing. As Deputy Bruton pointed out, some of those stretch into local districts. Almost every member state has operated some of these schemes. As I said earlier, in the discussions with EUROSTAT, our officials, who have tried to promote some of these issues, have examined various combinations. I will bring this suggestion raised by Deputy Bruton to their attention if they are not already aware of it. I know they have examined various types of regional divisions and additions and I will bring the one raised by the Deputy to their attention.
District electoral divisions.
I refer to the questions answered by the Taoiseach. I was interested to hear the reply to Question No. 1 because I wanted to know whether he had raised with the French Prime Minister the experiment to have a car free day in 23 cities. I thought that might be relevant, particularly in the context of Dublin. In relation to question No. 2, will the Taoiseach raise the importance of retaining the duty free allowance with President Santer, an issue of great interest to many people here? In regard to question No. 3, given the Taoiseach's statements in China that the Chinese leaders should meet the head of the Tibetan people, has he any intention of inviting the Dalai Lama to this country? I know this question was asked previously of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. In regard to question No. 4, did the Taoiseach raise with the Polish Prime Minister the issue of the decommissioning of the old nuclear plants in Eastern Europe? That issue is of interest to many people, not just in terms of the safety aspect but also the cost implications for the European Union.
I do not intend to have any discussions tomorrow about the car free day.
The question about the car free day referred to President Santer.
I will raise the duty free issue with President Santer. The Deputy will be aware that the campaign is continuing apace.
How will the Taoiseach raise it?
On what basis?
I will raise the ongoing issue and the fact that the German Chancellor indicated yesterday that his pre-election position still stands and that at the beginning of next year he intends to launch an initiative to put this matter back onto the agenda of the ECOFIN Council meeting. That will be good news if it is followed through but that is the information that was made available to the European campaign. I have long accepted that we cannot do this on our own and that is the reason I have tried to widen the campaign, as have the employers and employees.
I did not discuss the nuclear plants issue with the Polish Prime Minister but we discussed his efforts generally in regard to the environment. He is anxious to use as much resources as he possibly can to improve the environmental position. He is interested not just in the issue of the old nuclear plants but also the outdated equipment in many of the traditional industries, and is anxious to move forward in modernisation. There are huge costs involved in that but he is a scientist and an expert on pollution. He is passionately committed to moving forward that agenda.
What about the Dalai Lama?
I have no proposal at this stage.
In the consideration given to deciding on Objective One status for different parts of the country, was consideration given by the Government to disadvantaged areas?
That matter has been already discussed. It does not arise now.
It is an important aspect.
It is important but it is not appropriate to these questions.
It is in order.
It is appropriate and I am sure the Taoiseach would like to answer.
The Deputy must ask a specific question.
Given that we spent years trying to get areas of the country regarded as disadvantaged and convinced Europe in that regard, could we now make an application to include at least all the disadvantaged areas in Objective One status?
Hear, hear.
That might address all the problems Deputies have with the application. We all support the application. The more money we can get for Ireland, the better.
The Deputy is broadening the scope of these questions.
It is an important issue for people in my constituency.
I am not disputing the importance of it, I am disputing the relevance of it in regard to these matters.
We spent ten years trying to get areas recognised as being disadvantaged.
The Taoiseach is meeting President Santer tomorrow and he can raise the matter with him.
Will the Taoiseach raise the matter with him?
Unfortunately, the answer to the question is "no". The disadvantaged areas will not be included in the plan. That would involve us including areas throughout the country. Nobody has succeeded in doing that and we will not succeed either.
In terms of blackspots, whether they be urban or rural, the Government has taken those into account in its position and has prepared a separate memorandum on the issue to ensure urban and rural blackspots are protected, that the programmes operated in them are maintained and that the necessary resources required to continue the ongoing good work, which is more or less paid for by the Exchequer, will continue.
John Bruton
Question:6 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the official engagements he plans to undertake on his visit to London on 27 November 1998. [23373/98]
I will have two official engagements during my visit to London on 27 November 1998. First, I have accepted an invitation to visit the offices of the Safe Start Foundation in West Hendon, London. This is my second visit to this organisation. My first was during my term as Minister for Labour when I was invited to launch a promotional video when the foundation was first set up in 1989. Safe Start was founded by the Mayo Association along with the Irish business community in London who recognised the special needs of young Irish people faced with homelessness or unemployment in London. It is a community organisation which works closely in partnership with statutory bodies in assisting single young people to access accommodation, training and jobs. Safe Start has been funded by the Irish Government through the DÍON Committee in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the past eight years. Since its inception the foundation has helped more than 20,000 people.
My second visit is to the Irish Studies Centre in the University of North London where I will meet Dr. Sarah Morgan and her staff to discuss their work. The University of North London was the first university in Britain to establish an Irish studies centre. The centre has been involved in carrying out research into issues surrounding emigration and Irish communities in Britain.
Will the Taoiseach conduct any Fianna Fáil party political business, such as fundraising, while he is in London?
I shall attend a function later that evening. I am not sure if its purpose is to fundraise.
Does the Taoiseach not inquire if functions he attends are held for the purpose of fundraising?
Functions which are called fundraisers normally cost us money in the end.
I am very glad to hear that. It is not my experience of fundraising functions.
At least we hold them.
Will the Taoiseach pay a proportion of the proceeds of the function towards the cost to the State of transporting him to attend this Fianna Fáil non-fundraising function?
Should the Taoiseach travel in a haulage truck?
He is the Taoiseach.
I could go on the bus, maybe.