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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 17 Jul 2013

Vol. 812 No. 1

Council of the European Union (Lithuanian Presidency): Motion

I move:

That, in accordance with Standing Order 102A(2)(a), Dáil Éireann notes and welcomes the Government's priorities for the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.”

I wish to begin by saying how pleased I am to be here with the newly appointed Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. I wish him well in his new office and I congratulate him on his appointment. The Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe, will be replying in the debate.

A little over two weeks ago Lithuania took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time. It is the first Baltic state to do so. In itself, this is a symbolic reminder of how the European Union has helped to heal the divisions of our once divided continent and to secure peace and stability in Europe. I welcome this opportunity to reflect on Lithuania's Presidency priorities for the coming months. Ireland is the first member of the current trio of Presidencies that includes Lithuania and Greece.

Over the past two years, we have worked very closely with the Lithuanian Administration at both political and official level in preparing for our Presidencies, following on from our close co-operation from 2011 to 2012 when Lithuania and Ireland successively held the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. It is not surprising, therefore, that there is a strong degree of commonality in the priorities we have adopted and of continuity between the two Presidencies. Above all, we were clear from the outset that the European Union needed to adopt the measures necessary to put the economic and financial crisis behind us and to return to a path of sustainable growth and job creation. I therefore welcome the emphasis placed in the Lithuanian Presidency programme on promoting stability and stimulating employment, particularly youth employment, as well as economic growth and competitiveness.

As with all Presidencies, the Lithuanian policy programme is shaped to a great extent by the progress made by the preceding Presidency in managing the European Union's legislative agenda. In particular, with the agreements secured by Ireland on the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, with its implications for many key legislative dossiers, Lithuania must manage a large body of implementing legislation required to give effect to the MFF and ensure that funding is available from the start of 2014. The Lithuanian Presidency also comes at a critical juncture, as the European Union's legislative cycle will reach its end during the first semester of 2014, with the elections for the European Parliament scheduled to take place in May 2014. Lithuania will therefore hold the final full six-month Presidency before the European Parliament elections, and there will be a certain pressure to make progress on a range of files by the end of its Presidency. From our close working relationship, I know the Lithuanian Administration is well prepared for the challenges ahead and is adopting a pragmatic approach to running the Presidency. Like Ireland, its ambition is to act as an honest broker in chairing the Council and negotiating with the European Parliament, with a firm focus on results that are of benefit to the Union and its citizens as a whole.

The Lithuanian Presidency programme is divided into three policy clusters under the headings of Credible, Growing and Open Europe. Credible Europe reflects many of the issues the Irish Presidency prioritised under the stability strand of its programme, with an emphasis on a stable financial sector and improved economic governance. Ireland already has secured agreement on two key elements of the banking union package - namely, the single supervisory mechanism and the capital requirements directive - and has made good progress on the banking recovery and resolution proposal. The Lithuanian Presidency will take on this work and will seek to make progress on the remaining elements of the banking union package, the deposit guarantee schemes and the single resolution mechanism. As with recent Presidencies, Vilnius also will work to deepen economic and monetary union and to implement the decisions that were taken at the June European Council. It will continue efforts to enhance economic governance and streamline economic and budgetary co-ordination with the European Union. A further element of the Lithuanian programme concerns combating tax fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.

Under the rubric of Growing Europe, Lithuania stresses the need for a competitive internal market and investment in research, the green economy and labour-intensive projects. Like Ireland, the Lithuanian Presidency aims to make further progress on the Single Market proposals to drive competitiveness, growth and job creation. It will prioritise the digital single market and the research and innovation sector, which are also key areas for Ireland and are essential for long-term growth prospects in Europe. A major event during the Lithuanian Presidency will be the ICT 2013 conference, which will take place in Vilnius in November. I particularly welcome the emphasis placed in the Lithuanian programme on measures to enhance employment, particularly youth unemployment, building on the progress reached on the youth guarantee during our Presidency. It will also encourage the implementation of the social investment package and prioritise better worker protection, including the protection of migrant workers. A particular priority for the Lithuanians - one that is entirely understandable from a national perspective but which is of importance for Europe as a whole - is the question of energy supply and security. The Presidency will work to advance the completion of the internal energy market and to ensure access to EU energy networks for all member states, bringing to an end the energy isolation of a number of member states.

The Open Europe cluster of the Lithuanian Presidency programme deals essentially with external affairs, with a particular priority attached to the European Neighbourhood Policy, enlargement and trade. It is natural that the Lithuanian Presidency should prioritise the European Neighbourhood Policy, and it brings both an important regional perspective and specific historical experience to the matter. In November, Vilnius will host the Eastern Partnership summit, which will mark one of the highlights of the Lithuanian Presidency. Like Ireland, Lithuania is a strong supporter of enlargement, and the accession of Croatia on 1 July was a propitious start to the Presidency. Building on the encouraging developments under the Irish Presidency, Lithuania will seek to advance accession negotiations with Turkey and Montenegro and ensure a European perspective for the other countries of the western Balkans. The Presidency has committed to continue the enlargement process based on firm and clear fulfilment of the membership criteria. An ambitious external trade agenda is also an important priority for the Lithuanian Presidency, as it was for us. It will seek to deepen economic and trade relations with the Eastern Partnership countries in particular, culminating in the Eastern Partnership Vilnius summit at the end of November, at which it is expected that Armenia, Georgia and Moldova will initial next-generation association agreements with the European Union. In addition to taking on a leadership role in protecting human rights and the principles of democracy and ensuring regional stability, Lithuania will work on the post-2015 development agenda. The Lithuanian Presidency will also support the further development and strengthening of the Common Security and Defence Policy in the run-up to discussion on security and defence issues at the December European Council.

The priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency are set out in detail in a programme that runs to more than 40 pages. I have asked that a copy be laid before the Houses. It is also available on the excellent Lithuanian Presidency website, www.eu2013.lt. I hope, however, that it is clear from what I have outlined that there is a common thread running through the Irish and the Lithuanian Presidencies - that is, the need to put the crisis behind us, to get Europe back on the path of sustainable long-term growth, to invest in the smart jobs of the future and to tackle the unacceptable level of youth unemployment that afflicts Europe today. The Irish Government will do its utmost to support the work of the Lithuanian Presidency and we wish our Lithuanian friends every success in the months ahead. I commend this motion to the House.

Fianna Fáil will be supporting this motion. At the outset, I extend my best wishes to the Lithuanian Government and the Lithuanian people on taking up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time. As the Tánaiste is aware from his experience over the past six months, it is a great honour to lead the Council of the European Union. It is also a great responsibility which gives the Presidency in office an exciting opportunity to make a real and significant impact on the direction of the European Union. With a population of approximately 3 million people, Lithuania, like Ireland, has the potential for an influence on the Union that is far beyond its size.

I also wish to take this opportunity to officially congratulate the new Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, on his appointment. I wish him well in his role and much success. It is an honour to represent Ireland in this role and I believe Deputy Donohoe will do a great job in it. I have had the honour and pleasure of working with the Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe, on the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs for a number of years and I know him to be a man of the highest personal integrity. He is someone who I believe to have great intellect and wisdom and I am sure he will bring all that to his new role. I also know him to be a man of great humility, a characteristic which I believe will stand to him exceptionally well in the role he now holds. I wish him every success, and I mean that on a personal basis as well as on behalf of my party.

I thank the Deputy.

Our two countries have much in common, including our size, our history of struggling towards independence and our peripheral geographical location on the European continent. It was apt that Lithuania joined the European Union under the successful Irish Presidency of the European Union in 2004, when ten new member states from central and eastern Europe joined in the largest expansion of the Union in its history.

The theme of this Presidency, as has already been outlined, is "For a Credible, Growing and Open Europe". This theme is more important now than ever before in the development of the European project. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs had an opportunity to hear from the Lithuanian ambassador in recent days and he set out what I consider to be a highly credible agenda. It was clear to members of the joint committee that his Government is both committed to that and has thought it through.

Clearly, it has been in contact with the Irish Administration and our officials in Brussels who do and have done an outstanding job through various Presidencies. I am aware from my contacts with other ambassadors and politicians throughout Europe that our Permanent Representation lends a hand to others and I have no doubt that it has already been working, as part of the troika, on ensuring Lithuania is given every assistance in its efforts. We all look forward to a successful outcome to that process.

Since 2008 the European Union has lacked credibility in a number of key areas. This resulted in the crisis of confidence which engulfed our economic, financial and political systems. After much constitutional wrangling in the last decade, with two comprehensive treaty changes in ten years, the European Union found itself unprepared and unable to deal with the consequences of an unprecedented debt crisis. We have not yet recovered from that crisis of confidence, although the fundamental threat to the cohesion and future development of the Union has, it appears, receded for now. We have talked on many occasions in the House about the unsightly weekly press conferences conducted in front of the Élysée Palace or somewhere in Germany, at which two of the largest member states sought to fill the vacuum because the institutional architecture was found wanting when there was a crisis. I am pleased that, at last, there is an opportunity to work towards ensuring it is never allowed to happen again and that smaller states such as Ireland and Lithuania remain a key feature of the decision-making process. That is why the Commission will have to take such a central role. Unfortunately, when the crisis hit, it was found wanting and we were left with the bilateral approach which did a great deal to undermine confidence in the Union as a whole.

It is welcome that Lithuania will focus its efforts on enhancing the European Union's ability to provide adequate responses to the economic, financial, social and energy challenges. These are comprehensive challenges but certainly not insurmountable. If the European Union had provided for an adequate response to the unprecedented banking and financial crisis in 2008, it is probable that this recession which has now lasted almost five years would have been much shorter. Having established a flawed monetary union in the 1990s, without proper economic stabilisers or a properly mandated central bank, the European political elite failed to remedy these flaws quickly enough when the crisis hit. This resulted in an existential crisis in the Union and has caused much hardship to millions of European citizens who suffer the scourge of unemployment, poverty and inequality today.

Yes, progress has been made in recent months, but it is slow and cumbersome. The delay in implementing a fully functioning banking union, with certain member states squabbling over which banks should and should not be covered, is a clear example that some decision makers in the European Union have simply not learned the lessons of the past. In a time of crisis they looked at the national interest rather than sharing and pooling resources, which was at the heart of the development of the Union. All would have benefited if countries had worked collectively. The failure of the EU institutions to embrace the European Council's commitment to separate sovereign debt and banking debt is a further indictment of the current leadership of the Union.

There is, without question, still much to do to restore the European Union's credibility among our international partners and, most importantly, citizens. Last week we saw a further lack of vision on the part of the member states of the European Union when they sought a reduction of €720 million in the EU budget for 2014. Bizarrely, these cuts included a proposed cut of €194 million from the Union's cohesion budget, the very budget which could spur growth in Europe's weakest regions. To ensure it is credible, the Union must work and deliver progress for all its citizens; from east to west; core to peripheral and rich to poor. Cutting the EU budget is counterproductive in achieving this.

The European Union must promote more growth within its borders. Growing our economies by remaining competitive and consolidating financial stability is vital for the future health of the European economy. The completion of the Single Market would also create huge potential for growth in Europe, as it has done in the past. The lifting of barriers to the movement of goods, services, capital and people in the Union has produced millions of extra jobs and increased European wealth levels. That is not disputed by anybody who has a clear insight into the way in which the Union has worked as a result of these changes. It has happened to unprecedented levels. Now is the time to complete what is left to do and remove the final barriers to a full Single Market in Europe. This means integrating our markets further but with proper Europe-wide supervision which will flag difficulties well before a problem becomes a full blown crisis. Further EU integration and the strengthening of the Single Market, including energy, will bring new opportunities to combat unemployment, in particular youth unemployment, and make the European economic and social model more solid.

Much talk has emanated from Europe about youth unemployment. We need far more concrete measures to ensure the appropriate labour activation measures are in place in order that young people who are leaving formal education, be it secondary, tertiary or fourth level, find meaningful labour activation until such time as jobs become available. In our small country we have seen the scourge of unemployment lead to some of our brightest and best people travelling to Australia, New Zealand and further afield in the southern hemisphere to take up employment opportunities there. That brain drain across the European Union will have a long-term impact on our ability to compete, particularly given the significant threats we face from the BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China - countries.

Ireland knows better than most the importance of an integrated energy market. The integration of this market offers us the opportunity to secure energy supply, lower energy costs and export surplus energy to our partners in Europe. Ireland imports over 88% of its energy resources, largely consisting of gas, making our energy market vulnerable to external energy shocks caused by both political and economic change in the wider world. In essence, Ireland's energy market is like a bottle cork floating in a very large and turbulent sea. Fully connecting our energy market within Europe will ground it and notably improve our energy security. It should help to protect us from unpredictable external energy shocks. Crucially, too, it will also guarantee a market for our excess wind energy, making the wind energy sector in Ireland a secure and profitable industry. It will also send a strong signal to the investors we seek to assist in the re-emergence of growth in the economy, particularly foreign direct investment. Energy security is a fundamental consideration for many of the industries seeking to position themselves outside their current locations.

It is true that the openness of the European Union to new members, neighbours and trade partners will not only advance the EU economy but will also reaffirm the founding aims of the Union. These aims, to develop a prosperous, peaceful, democratic, free and open Europe, are as important today as at any time in the past. We welcome Lithuania's commitment to these aims and an open European Union. Ireland has always welcomed new partners to the European Union and often acted as a bridge across the Atlantic between Europe and America. The current negotiations between the United States and the European Union to establish a transatlantic trade and investment partnership are to be welcomed and I hope they will be successfully concluded. If the negotiations are successfully completed, this agreement would be the biggest bilateral trade deal ever negotiated and could add approximately 0.5% to the European Union's annual economic output, which would be an impressive achievement, particularly at a time of economic stagnation across the Union. I hope this agreement can be agreed during Lithuania's Presidency.

I hope that in six months we will have seen substantial progress on all of these issues and, in particular, a banking union in Europe, final steps towards a single EU energy market and the successful conclusion of the EU-US trade negotiations. I wish the Lithuanian Presidency every success in taking brave and bold actions to consolidate and advance the Continent's achievements of the past 50 years.

I wish to be associated with the remarks about the Minister of State. Like others, I will miss his insights and contributions at the Joint Committee on European Affairs, but we will no doubt meet him regularly in his elevated position. I sincerely congratulate him and his family and wish him well and every success in his new role. I have no doubt that he will be as inclusive as he was at the committee in respect of his politics.

Ireland's EU Presidency has officially ended and Lithuania has begun its Presidency. As other speakers said, it is that country's first time to hold the Presidency. I congratulate all those associated with the Irish Presidency, particularly the staff who worked on it in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and at different committees.

I thank them for the energy they displayed and the hard work they did during the very professional and engaging Irish Presidency of the EU. Everyone agrees that, as a result of our financial situation, the costs relating to the Presidency had to be kept to a bare minimum. While I would have some issues with certain expenditures, I welcome the fact that the Presidency came in €9 million under budget.

I wish Lithuania the best of Irish luck with its first EU Presidency. I hope it will be a success. I also hope it will signal both a new beginning and an end to the difficulties facing millions across the EU. This is a vital time for the Union, which is trying to come to terms with the biggest socioeconomic problems to afflict it since its inception. There is no doubt that it is decision time for Europe. Austerity has not worked and, to a large degree, has actually contributed to exacerbating the problem. The financial crisis is having a negative effect on the majority of people across the EU. Politicians in European capitals appear to have no sense of how it is affecting ordinary citizens. Thousands of Greeks hurt by huge unemployment and crippling social cuts have been forced to queue for food handouts, which is a first for them since the Second World War. Unemployment has soared to record highs in both France and Spain, as the impact of government spending cuts and a collapse in consumer confidence is leading to a corresponding collapse in the employment market. A staggering 56.4% of young Spaniards are currently unemployed. In Portugal the figure in this regard is 18%, while in Cyprus it is 15.6%. Tens of thousands of young Irish people are being forced to emigrate, carers hours are being cut, a family home tax has been introduced, child welfare has been cut, hundreds of thousands of families are just about making ends meet and huge numbers of them are being thrown into fuel poverty or skipping meals in order to keep a roof over their heads. Only this week we read newspaper headlines about people suffering with cancer who are going to experience difficulty in accessing medical cards.

It is obvious that austerity policies currently being pursued are deepening the impoverishment of EU citizens and prolonging the financial crisis. It is almost as if we are caught on a runaway train and no one seems to know how to get off. There is no sense of crisis among political leaders. There is no urgency or any understanding of the affect the crisis is having on families and individuals across Europe. At the end of the Irish Presidency, a political agreement was reached on the EU's seven-year budget. This is the first time in 56 years that the EU budget has been cut. I cannot welcome this decision while the Union is facing into its biggest crisis since its inception and is continuing to expand. The reality is that this is an austerity budget which will lock the EU into austerity for the next seven years. It does not contain sufficient spending to boost investment in jobs and growth and it will leave many member states starved of strategic investment in key areas.

Much has been made of the agreement to spend €8 billion during the next two years to support job creation, training and apprenticeships for young people. However, that amount is simply not nearly enough to tackle this major socioeconomic problem. More than half of under-25s in Greece and Spain are out of work, while in Italy the figure stands at 40%. In Ireland the youth unemployment rate is over 30% and would be higher but for the haemorrhaging of youth from towns and cities across the island. This current generation of European youth is probably one of the most educated which Europe has ever produced. However, the EU is confining many of them to unemployment, underemployment or emigration by only allocating €8 billion in the form of the youth guarantee. The International Labour Organisation has estimated that €21 billion would be needed over two years to halt the increase in the EU's youth unemployment rate. Like the EU budget, this youth guarantee is not fit for purpose. It promises much in rhetoric but essentially it will not provide enough funding or investment in order to facilitate the creation of essential jobs and economic growth. This is not new funding that we have been promised, rather it comes from within the new scaled-down EU budget. Eurofound estimates the cost of youth unemployment in Europe at €150 billion a year. The social costs in this regard are also evident each day in constituencies across Ireland and Europe.

The provision of €8 billion for the youth guarantee shows that neither the EU nor Ireland, during its Presidency, have reacted to the scale of the problem. The question that arises is whether the Lithuanian Presidency will bring more of the same or something different. Will it facilitate further austerity or can it help to lead us in a new direction towards a stimulus of growth and jobs? I agree with the President of a certain EU member state who recently said that the dominant economic thinking in Europe and elsewhere is "the great flaw of our times", that the reaction of EU leader to the crisis is "disparate, sometimes delayed, not equal to the urgency of the task and showing insufficient solidarity" and that "We need a Europe that shows solidarity with the most vulnerable among us - that throws real energy and determination behind efforts to create real sustainable growth." The EU needs to wake up to the problems of its ordinary citizens. It needs to react with stimulus and solidarity. Unfortunately, such a reaction did not occur during Ireland's Presidency. I hope Lithuania will buck the trend.

I hope the spotlight that the Presidency brings will improve conditions for those citizens held in Lithuanian prisons. I am concerned with regard to the way Lithuania treats prisoners, particularly those from other member states. I recently raised this matter with the Lithuanian ambassador at a meeting of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs in the context of the condition of a particular Irish prisoner, Mr. Michael Campbell, who is being held at a facility outside Vilnius. Mr. Campbell has experienced many difficulties and has been subjected to closed visits. The High Court here and that in the North both refused to extradite prisoners to Lithuania on foot of the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out in the jail in which Mr. Campbell is being held. If there is anything Lithuania can do during its Presidency, it would be to improve the conditions of those Lithuanians, Irish and others who are imprisoned in its jails. Mr. Campbell's court case is due to be heard shortly and the DPP's Lithuanian counterpart has objected to the sentence originally imposed. I hope there will be a speedy outcome to the case and that he can be repatriated to this country.

The Tánaiste referred to his hope that the crisis is behind us. I do not believe anyone in Europe, regardless of the position he or she holds, is of the opinion that the crisis is behind us. It is clear that it is very much still in front of us. We must work collectively to arrive at new ways of addressing the crisis. As politicians who were elected to bring about change, we have a responsibility to provide leadership on this issue. The best way we can do that is to try in this Parliament, the European Parliament and elsewhere to find new ways to address the crisis which is having an impact on so many people throughout the EU.

In the first instance, I wish to congratulate officially my constituency colleague, Deputy Donohoe, on his elevation. It is rather ironic that as one is elevated in this institution, one moves downward in terms of one's seating position. The new Minister of State looks very comfortable in the seat he now occupies. I know him from my time as a Member of the Dáil and from our constituency. I am aware that he is a man of integrity and honesty, that he is hard working and that he has a very nice sense of humour. The latter is all too lacking in this place at times. One of the aspects of the Minister of State's sense of humour, is an ability to laugh at himself. I offer him my very best wishes in his new role.

I thank the Deputy.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge what Ireland achieved during its Presidency of the EU. I also acknowledge the hard work, commitment and dedication of everyone from ministerial level down through the various staff levels.

I am a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and I chair the Irish section of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, AWEPA. In that context, I wish to focus on a number of areas. Our priorities for our Presidency were stability, jobs and growth, enlargement, engaging with our global partners and development.

I particularly want to focus on the priorities involving the developing world and the global south. I acknowledge the support of the Irish Government and Irish Aid for the recent AWEPA conference entitled "Hope, Hunger and Land", which President Michael D. Higgins opened in the Royal Hospital. It coincided with the end of our Presidency. It was attended by parliamentarians from Africa, Ireland and the EU and by many representatives from NGOs and the development community. The issues that emerged from that conference and a conference in May on nutrition and climate justice have shown areas where Ireland has been a leader, where it has been very productive and where achievements have been made, but they also highlight ways to move forward that I hope Lithuania will continue. Both conferences highlighted how we live in a world of gross inequalities. Some of the issues raised and the speeches made by the people at those conferences really brought that home. On the area of hunger, they focused on the vulnerabilities of small farmers, fishermen, women and children. We are living in a world where 870 million people go hungry and 6 million children die from malnutrition yearly. I know the Minister of State had an opportunity to visit one of those countries and he has seen this at first hand. I know he was conscious of the contrast between his own children and the children he met on that journey.
A certain few corporations completely dominate areas such as grain, tea, bananas and confectionary with the result that they control prices. It is sad to know that 10% of deaths in the developing world are due to armed conflict, but 90% of deaths are due to chronic lack of access to food. There is a very serious immorality when the poor in the developing world are paying for the central heating in the developed world.
Whenever I have the opportunity at the foreign affairs committee and in parliamentary questions to the Minister I have supported calls for tax justice. I hope this is an area that Lithuania will continue to support. I call for scrutiny of double taxation agreements, the country by county auditing, automatic sharing of tax information between countries and an end to the tax haven secrecy curtailing profit shifting and tax dodging by multinationals especially in poor countries. Various reports and statistics show that developing countries lose $160 billion every year due to unscrupulous multinational companies dodging tax. I know there are other reasons for this such as unscrupulous practices in accountancy and also where there is weak government, weak institutions and corruption. They also play a part in that. I note the calls from NGOs like Trócaire, the Debt and Development Coalition, Christian Aid and Action Aid on this to ensure that the citizens in the developing countries can hold their governments and businesses to account on these matters in order that natural resources in those countries benefit the whole country.
Considerable progress has been made and Ireland played a significant role in securing the signing into law of the extractive and forestry industries new payment disclosure requirements. Ireland also oversaw agreement on full country by country reporting for the banking sector. I hope it will be a first priority of the Lithuanian Presidency, with Irish support, to take on the other sectors and include sectors such as transportation or exports, as tax avoidance and corruption were not only confined to the extractive industries.
I want to make a few points on bio-fuels. Ireland is taking one particular line which I believe has to be adopted but I am not sure if Lithuania will make this a priority. In 2009, the renewable energy directive set a binding target on all member states to achieve at least 10% renewable energy in transport by 2020. The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, in a reply to a question said that the primary means for most, if not all, member states of meeting this target will be by increased use of bio-fuels. He also said in a reply to a question I submitted that he shares the concerns that bio-fuel production, unless properly regulated, can have a negative impact on food production and on food prices. In October 2012, the European Commission, following a number of studies, published a proposal to amend the directive and the Commission included a proposal that the 10% quota would be reduced to 5%. I have discussed this with the Minister and he is also supportive of this because bio-fuels mean higher food prices. There is the irony that a renewable energy directive which has the grand ideal of working to combat climate change can have a negative effect. We know that the bio-fuel industry is driving land grabbing in Africa. One of the NGOs told us that 40 million hectares of African land have been taken for bio-fuels since 2000, leading to land displacement and evictions, which in turn cause hunger and water shortages. The Minister of State, Deputy Costello, has said that countries, particularly in eastern Europe, would see any change to the 10% quota as interfering with their industrial status. We devote 20% of overseas development aid to tackling hunger so we cannot give aid to alleviate hunger with one hand and take it back with the other on the energy issue. I hope that Lithuania will put this on its agenda as one of the priorities of its Presidency.
Deputy Crowe, myself and others at a meeting of the foreign affairs committee earlier today brought up the fact that there has been so much failure when it comes to Syria. How many more people have to die? How many more people have to go into the refugee camps where the conditions are appalling? A delegation from our committee, of which I was not a part, visited one of the camps in Jordan. We have heard reports of appalling abuses within the camps. We have learned of a smuggling network, of brothels being set up and of the lack of education for children. These are people who are leaving Syria daily. We know the numbers - almost 100,000 people have been killed already. We know that chemical weapons and scud missiles are being used. We know that people want a political solution but it is not happening. One wonders who is speaking to Mr. Assad about this. If there is going to be a military solution, what will happen to the populations who have been fighting him to date? Given the number of people who are calling for a political solution in Syria, the fighting cannot be allowed to continue. Mr. Guterres described Syria today as another Rwanda. Somebody else described it as having five Srebenicas there. It has been just allowed to continue.
It is very reminiscent of what happened the Palestinian people. We know the mistakes that were made there and the way in which they were completely displaced from their land. They were put into refugee camps, and some of these camps were subject to appalling brutality. There is another serious humanitarian, political and moral issue in Syria.
The Minister was very positive about transformation coming in Burma but serious human rights issues arise for the Rohingya people, and that issue is not being addressed. I hope that Lithuania might take on board some of the issues on which Ireland has been working, although without much success in some areas but it has highlighted them.
I want to make two further points. First, in the action plan on human rights that Ireland worked on, adopted by the EU Council in June 2012, there was a guideline on the promotion and protection of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender intersex people. It was adopted at the final Foreign Affairs Council of the Irish Presidency but serious issues arise in Lithuania for people who are gay, bisexual or transgender because 61% of that community suffer from discrimination and harassment. It has the highest rate of hostility towards lesbian and gay people among the 27 EU member states. They are discriminated against when looking for work, in education, in health care and in social security. They face attacks and threats of violence. Lithuania must fulfil the principle of non-discrimination, including on grounds of sexual orientation, as in the EU Convention on Human Rights.
Second, the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, are aware that a group of Members, both cross-party and Independents, are working on prisoner rights issues in the North of Ireland. As Deputy Crowe said, one of those people is Michael Campbell. Regardless of the crime for which he is in jail. it is about his human rights issues, and it is happening in Lithuania. The appeal was caused by the director of public prosecutions in Lithuania who wanted to try to increase the sentence. That is fair enough if this man is deserving of that sentence, but it must be done in a humane way and the situation in Lithuania for prisoners is far from humane. That has been highlighted by the Council of Europe's committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. I will not detail what we have been told about the conditions in both prisons but it is a challenge to the Lithuanian authorities taking up the Presidency to address this issue.
It is a momentous occasion for Lithuania. We wish it well. It has had a very tragic, sad history which it has come out of and one would hope its experiences would make it sympathetic and empathetic when it comes to human rights.

Before I begin I, too, would like to extend my congratulations to the Minister of State, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. I have known the Minister of State since we were both elected to the Seanad in 2007. He was a member of the European Union affairs committee from that time.

Indeed, he chaired the sub-committee that examined the fall-out from the first referendum on the Lisbon treaty. That sub-committee was instrumental in getting the subsequent second referendum passed. I wish the Minister of State well in his new job. I am sure it might seem daunting at times. I would like to remind him of a motto with which he will be familiar. I hope Deputies do not mind me lapsing into Latin. I refer to the phrase audere est facere, which means "to dare is to do". I am sure he will do very well in his new role.

I would like to say a few words about the Minister of State's predecessor, Deputy Creighton. She was always on top of her game when she appeared before the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. She did some outstanding work during the Presidency. She visited 44 countries on behalf of the Irish Presidency and clocked up over 120,000 miles. I think I speak for all the members of the joint committee when I say we always found her to be very open and amenable to meeting us to answer our questions. We thank her for her work and we wish her well in the future. It would be remiss of me to neglect to mention that the Clerk of the Dáil is present in the Chamber tonight. Given that he is in his final days in that position, it is a great honour to have him here before us. We would like to wish him well in his future.

All of us know how much hard work went into Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union. We know it took many months of planning to make it happen. I am sure many people in the various Departments are still recovering from our recent Presidency. Lithuania has now been in that role for three weeks. We have already had a great deal of engagement with the Lithuanian authorities. I was in Vilnius last week for a meeting of the chairpersons of European affairs committees from across the Union. The meeting, which was organised by COSAC, was held in the Lithuanian Parliament, the Seimas. It was expertly chaired by Gediminas Kirkilas, who is a former Prime Minister of Lithuania. The success of the Irish Presidency was remarked on time and time again at that meeting. Every single person who mentioned the Presidency to me during my three days in Vilnius spoke about how well we organised it and referred to the great achievements and steps forward we took over the last six months. Advancements were made with the banking union, the European semester and the economic and monetary union. The Tánaiste and the Taoiseach came in for particular praise in Vilnius because we managed to get the multiannual financial framework budget across the line. There will be a vote on this in October. People were very thankful that we managed to hand over the Presidency with that particular portfolio file closed.

We discussed the future of the economic and political union at last week's meeting of chairpersons. The Vice President of the Commission, Maroš Šefovi, spoke about how the Commission intends to extend the economic and political union so that it also includes a social dimension. Everyone in this House will welcome that because we all remember how many times it was raised by our citizens during last year's debate on the fiscal compact. Under this social dimension, types of social indicators such as employability, long-term unemployment and poverty will be examined to see how countries are doing. Countries will be measured against these baseline indicators. It is hoped that help will be provided, in one form or another, to countries that fail to reach those benchmarks.

Like Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, I have some concerns about LGBT rights in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, who addressed the chairpersons while I was in Vilnius, accepts that there is still some homophobia in certain elements of society and recognises that it has to be tackled. I met the Irish ambassador in Vilnius and the Lithuanian Gay League to talk about the forthcoming Baltic Pride march. Our ambassador there is doing some great work to try to make sure that parade takes place. The Lithuanian ambassador to Ireland, Vidmantas Purlys, addressed last week's meeting of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. He discussed the specific priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency. He made the point that a huge amount of time and effort has gone into the planning of what is Lithuania's first Presidency. He said that Irish and Lithuanian civil servants have been engaged in ongoing work since 2010 to jointly plan the handover. We have extended to Lithuania the knowledge we have acquired during our seven Presidencies. This shows again the high regard in which Irish civil servants are held across the Union.

The work that Lithuania will do during its Presidency will focus on a credible, growing and open Europe, much as we did during our Presidency. Economic growth, job creation and financial stability are the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency. Of course Lithuania has a specific interest in the eastern partnership, involving countries like Belarus and Ukraine. The ambassador, Mr. Purlys, spoke with great energy about the possibilities that the next six months hold for his country, for the Presidency and or Europe. When I spoke to him again last night, I said I hoped he would appear before our joint committee again before Lithuania's Presidency comes to an end. That will probably happen in October, in advance of the visit to Lithuania of a delegation from the committee. The members in question will attend the 50th plenary session of COSAC, which will take place in Vilnius over two days. The Lithuanian authorities have put together an interesting agenda for that conference. I will address a session of the conference on the evolving and important role of national parliaments in the European semester. I do not doubt that this will add to the debate that is under way in that regard. Having heard about the Lithuanian priorities from the ambassador and at least week's meeting in Vilnius, I have no doubt that the Lithuanian authorities will deliver on their plans for a very progressive and ambitious Presidency. I look forward to it. I wish them well.

I invite Deputies to put questions to the Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe.

I have one or two questions. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan spoke about bio-fuels. I attended a conference at which the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, spoke about how Ireland was pursuing the possibility of reducing the bio-fuels limit to 5%. It is extraordinary that companies are buying good land in Africa and poorer countries around the world - they are essentially land-grabbing - and using this land to plant bio-fuels rather than to grow food. At the same time, Europe has a policy of setting aside viable land because it does not want to produce too much food. Perhaps that land could be used for bio-fuel production. There needs to be a register of European companies that are involved in land-grabbing so that people can know what Irish, German or French companies are up to. That would give them an opportunity to lobby their Governments and use their spending power to show these companies that their actions are seen as unacceptable. Does the Minister of State have a view on the matter? The relevance of Europe's set-aside policy to this issue struck me in recent days. It came up earlier when I attended a meeting with the Minister. There seems to be an obvious relationship between the two issues. I know that many farmers are totally opposed to, or do not like, the idea of agricultural land going fallow.

I thank Deputy Crowe for his question and his kind comments on my appointment and the role I played at the Joint Committee on European Affairs. I also acknowledge Deputy Hannigan's comments about the work I did during my tenure on the committee and thank him for them. I assure both of them and the other speakers that I view my engagement with the joint committee and with this Chamber as being central to the work I will do in my new role as Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs. I might get an opportunity at that forum to respond to the point made by Deputy Hannigan about the role of national parliaments in the semester. I believe this is going to be a central issue for this Parliament and for parliaments all over the eurozone and the European Union.

In respect of Deputy Crowe's specific question about the role of bio-fuels and the developing world, my view on that and related issues was strongly influenced by a visit last year to Malawi with Trócaire. I saw at first hand the impact of some of the broad issues raised by Deputy Crowe and Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan. It is one thing to read about these things in the confines of the developed world from the comfort of our living rooms, but when one goes to countries grappling with challenges vaster than perhaps we can imagine despite our huge difficulties and sees their heroism and the efforts they are making, it really brings home all we need to do to support them in their work. When I received the great news regarding my appointment as Minister of State, amid contacting all those who contacted me, I contacted Trócaire and GOAL to tell them that while I acknowledged that my constituency colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for trade and development, Deputy Costello, was doing an excellent job on development issues and our role abroad, if I could offer any assistance whatsoever, I certainly will. Having seen the difficulties many of these countries face, I would be very eager to give whatever small amount of help my office can to help that work.

In respect of the Deputy's broader point about bio-fuels, I know this issue was discussed at the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade earlier today. If there is an opportunity for me to raise it within the General Affairs Council or at any point in supporting the Tánaiste through his work on the Foreign Affairs Council, I will do so. In the interim, I will take time, through Minister of State, Deputy Costello, and his office, to acquaint myself with the issues about which the Deputy spoke. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I am aware that he has raised other points in his contribution earlier on and if he wants to ask any questions relating to them, I will certainly do my best to answer them.

I reiterate what other colleagues have said. I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe, on his appointment and wish him all the best. I know he has the capacity to deal with the onerous task ahead of him. I also wish Deputy Creighton all the best in the future. She did an excellent job during our Presidency and I wish her all the best for the future.

I have a question relating to the Lithuanian Presidency. Does the Minister of State envisage that the Lithuanian Presidency will push for a pan-European effort to get multinationals in sub-Saharan countries to pay their fair share of tax in order that those countries can at least get some sort of footing regarding being able to help themselves?

I thank the Deputy for his question and thank him for his very kind comments. This issue was raised by Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan in her contribution. It goes back to the issue of tax justice on which many people have been campaigning for many years. I should say that I worked for a multinational company before I got into political life. I think we must be balanced and accurate in how we talk about their role within our economy and the economies of other countries, as Deputy Lawlor has been. In respect of the role of multinationals within the developing world, what we have already said through our involvement in many organisations like the OECD and the work we are doing across the European Union is that we support all efforts that are made in respect of increasing tax transparency and making sure the activities in which any multinational company is involved or the decisions it makes are not to the detriment of the natural jurisdictions within which it operates or the ability of these countries to govern themselves in the future.

I am very much aware that the potential lost resource that could be coming out of these economies is in many cases greater than the development aid and support that is going into them. Ireland has made very clear that we have a long-standing commitment to development aid and a clear appreciation of the role of tax transparency and ensuring people pay the right tax in the right place to the right people. I will certainly ensure the points made by the Deputy are passed on to the right people within my Department and again assure him that in my participation in the Foreign Affairs Council, I will certainly raise those points. I will conclude by saying that they are very much infused by the short amount of time I spent in a country grappling with many of those challenges, as I know Deputy Lawlor has done as well. I know the value in supporting those countries on their way towards getting the right tax revenue and right kind of governance for themselves.

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe, on his new appointment. As a member of the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs myself, I know he was a very capable member of that committee and I was always confident that he was destined for greater things, and certainly that came true. I look forward to questioning him in the committee in the near future. I also commend the former Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, on her role as Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs over the past two years. She certainly excelled herself during the Irish Presidency.

I noted from the Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs that the Lithuanian Presidency has plans for a summit in Vilnius regarding EU-Russian relations. Obviously, it is a close neighbour of Russia. In respect of energy supply and given the importance of Russian oil and gas supply to the EU, could the Minister of State comment on that?

I thank Deputy Kyne for his question. I was going to refer in my concluding contribution to the huge contribution of my predecessor but I want to take the opportunity to refer to Deputy Kyne's question. Deputy Creighton did an extraordinary job in this role. Her service to our country and the European project was demonstrated by her intellect, energy and long-standing interest in European issues. While I know she wishes she was continuing in her office, I know she made a decision because of what she believed was the right thing to do, which we respect and admire. I very much look forward to working with her in my current role to ensure her expertise is still available to the country, as I am sure she would wish. I join Deputy Kyne in wishing her the very best of luck in the future, and I look forward to working with her.

In respect of the specific question asked by Deputy Kyne, for obvious geographical and historical reasons, Lithuania is deeply aware of all of the opportunities and challenges that Russia presents. The Deputy already touched on one of the implicit challenges, namely, the security of energy supply across the European Union and for ourselves. That is why the European Union has put so much effort into looking to do all it can to develop an integrated energy market across Europe and, despite the difficult financial circumstances we are in, still prioritise capital spending to put in place the infrastructure to make us more secure in the future and to make our energy supply more sustainable. I know Lithuania, along with many of its neighbours, is using all opportunities to develop its relationship with Russia. I know it will be using the Presidency to do the same and I can assure the Deputy that through my work on the council, I will support its efforts to develop a successful relationship with Russia.

I have raised the issue of Michael Campbell, as has Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, with regard to the prison conditions he is enduring in Lithuania. Does the Minister of State share my concerns not only about the jail conditions in which he is being held but also his safety and the impact of closed visits on his family, about which concerns have also been raised. The courts refuse to extradite people from this jurisdiction and the North to Lithuania because of what European human rights groups have described as inhumane and degrading treatment in its jails. It is a worrying development and I ask the Minister of State whether he has any comment on it. A delegation of parliamentarians from the House will visit the jail in which Mr. Campbell is being held and everyone hopes he will be removed from the conditions in which is being held and repatriated as soon as possible.

I thank the Deputy for this question. I am aware of his interest in the matter because I attended the committee meeting held last week at which he raised it with the Lithuanian ambassador. I have requested an update on the issue. In my work as a constituency representative I have visited a prison because I entirely agree with the point made by Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan that regardless of the crime committed, everybody is entitled to the right kind of facilities in detention while serving a sentence.

I will give the Deputy an update on the work which has taken place on this matter. Our embassy has informed us that it has been in regular contact with the appropriate Lithuanian authorities. The Irish citizen to whom the Deputy referred has received more than 20 prison visits since his initial detention in 2008. Most recently he was visited on 3 June. I will give some information, but I will be happy to give the Deputy more information later if it is of interest to him. In 2008 the Irish citizen in question was visited in January, February, March, April, May, October and December. In 2009 he was also visited frequently and in 2010 received four visits. In 2011 he was visited twice and was also visited twice in 2012. As I have mentioned, he was also visited a number of weeks ago.

I have been informed that the transfer of prisoners between Lithuania and Ireland takes place under the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons which lays out the conditions and processes by which a request from a prisoner in one jurisdiction for a transfer is evaluated and judged by the jurisdiction in which the prisoner is based and how the transfer happens. As the Deputy will no doubt realise and accept, we must all recognise the ability of jurisdictions to make a decision on these matters on their own. At times Sinn Féin has correctly and wisely pointed to the dangers of national sovereignty being encroached upon by other organisations and we must respect how the Lithuanian authorities will make their decision on this matter. Our officers in our embassy in Lithuania will offer all assistance they can to the concerned citizen.

I was not aware - I thank the Deputy for telling me - that a delegation of parliamentarians would visit, as is their right, and I hope their visit will assuage some of the concerns raised by the Deputy. I will continue to monitor and pursue the matter in any way I can. The Lithuanian ambassador offered us his assurances regarding what was happening in the prison, which we accept, but one of our citizens is serving a sentence there and I would be grateful if the Deputies informed me of the results of their visit. We will continue to monitor the position and give any help we can, while clearly recognising the rights of the Lithuanian Government and its authorities to handle the matter in line with its own laws and how it believes it should be dealt with.

Before I ask the Minister of State to make his concluding remarks, I congratulate him on his elevation to the office he now holds. In the short time I have known him I have found him to be a fine public representative, a hard worker and a man of integrity. I wish him many years of good luck in his role, although I suppose not too many, as we hope to be back some day ourselves. For the period he is in office I wish many years of health and happiness in his role.

What the Acting Chairman should have done was wish me an appropriate number of years in office.

I thank the Acting Chairman for his kind words and colleagues for their contributions and questions. I genuinely assure all of them of my deep respect for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs which is ably chaired by Deputy Dominic Hannigan. I look forward to working with all members of the committee in my time in office. I also thank my party colleagues, Deputies Anthony Lawlor and Seán Kyne, for their questions.

I urge the House to accept the motion. For me, the context is the day in May 2004 which many Irish people remember when the wonderful ceremony was held in the Phoenix Park to recognise the accession of Lithuania and nine other member states to the European Union. We now find ourselves at the wonderful point where, just less than ten years later and less than 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lithuania, a small country like Ireland and which is also facing many challenges, is moving into its first Presidency of the European Union. This clearly demonstrates the strength of the project of the European Union and the enlargement process. I wish to put this in context in terms of what has happened in Europe during the very deep crisis we are looking to chart our way through. It is worth making the point that despite the deep sense of crisis in the European Union, now 28 member states strong, we still find five countries looking to get in and three other potential candidates looking to commence negotiations. Despite the huge pressure and sense of crisis we all share, many are looking at the values for which the project stands and its institutions and want to join and participate. Deputy Seán Crowe made comments on the eurozone and I look forward to debating them with him. It is worth emphasising that nine other countries are looking to join the 17 members of the eurozone, despite the crisis the eurozone has gone through. Most recently, this has been exemplified, as many Members have mentioned, by the accession of Croatia to the European Union.

I look at the priorities Lithuania is bringing to its Presidency, its programme which, in many ways, is similar to ours and what it is looking to do. One reason I particularly welcome it is Lithuania understands, in the same way as Ireland does, that the way in which the economic and political sovereignty of many countries can best flourish is through integration with their neighbours on the Continent. Amid the huge difficulties and opportunities which small states, in particular, face, the surest way of navigating is through participation in a project such as that of the European Union.

The late Tony Judt, a very famous European historian, wrote a book which inspired in me an interest in European history and politics. The conclusion of this book is that there can be no going back to the world of the autonomous free-standing nation state sharing nothing with its neighbour but a common border.

However, he also concluded that men live not in markets but in communities. These are issues of which all of us as public representatives are aware - the sense of disempowerment many people feel as they look at forces that are nearly greater than their control. I will argue in office, as I have argued previously, that the best way of navigating such challenges is through a project such as the European Union. However, let us be clear; much needs to be done to get the European Union back on track. While a degree of financial stability has been achieved, that is not the same as economic growth or creating the kind of living conditions and employment levels we all want for the people we serve, just as leaders all over Europe want for the people they serve. That is why Lithuania, like Ireland, has prioritised action on the Single Market, the digital agenda, investment in research and innovation and the external trade agenda, all with the aim of improving competitiveness and meeting the needs of the citizens we all serve and whom we represent.

I wish the Lithuanian Presidency every success in its work in the coming months. I look forward to travelling to Vilnius at the end of August to meet many of my counterparts at the informal meeting of the General Affairs Council. I also take the opportunity to thank all the officials for the wonderful work they have done for our Presidency and for bringing it to such a successful end.

Deputy Hannigan has already touched on the fact that the new Presidency will prioritise how to maintain close engagement with the European Parliament if a country is to secure its own strategic interests within Europe. That is high on the Lithuanian agenda. It is also high on my agenda. I completely agree with Deputy Hannigan’s point that we face a huge challenge in terms of how we reconcile the requirements of economic governance with the prerogatives of political legitimacy. It is a huge tension. I welcome the new frankness in identifying this across Europe. Much needs to be done in this regard. I look forward to discussing and debating the issue in the House and in the Joint Committee on European Affairs chaired by Deputy Hannigan.

The kind of narrative that sustained Europe for a period was about how to rebuild a continent in the context of many countries that had been ravaged. That was then replaced by the concept of how to build and secure Europe in the context of the Cold War. All of that is gone now, and we need a new concept and a new message. Much work has been done in that regard. To date, it has not had the success many of us want, given the fact that the eurozone is now in its sixth successive quarter of contraction and the many difficulties people face. I am clear that the kind of Presidency we recently delivered will be pivotal in rising to the new challenge. I am also sure that the work our Lithuanian friends and colleagues do will be pivotal to that. In that spirit, I commend the motion to the House and thank all my colleagues for their contributions. I look forward to maintaining this work and continuing it in the future.

Question put and agreed to.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 18 July 2013.
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