I thank the Chairman. As always, there is plenty of scope. I thank all the members for their comments and input. Some of the points made are for the Government and I to take on board while some were more questions which I will do my best to answer in the fairly limited time I have.
In regard to the Chairman's question on the Common Agricultural Policy, which a number of other colleagues also raised, he was correct to say we have a common interest with our Polish friends and, indeed, with many others. In my bilateral discussions with my counterparts, I have had an opportunity to highlight it as a matter of deep concern for the Irish Government and people. There has been a positive response from my Polish colleague, my French counterpart and others.
It is very early days and as I said, the Polish Presidency will do a lot of consultation, including with the national parliaments, and in terms of advancing the detail of the agenda and the budgetary issues. It will have limited opportunity to do that. Much of it will spill over into the succeeding presidencies.
As a number of members pointed out, at this stage it is likely to be concluded under the Irish Presidency in 2013. It will be a sensitive balancing act for us because we have our own interests but we will also have a responsibility to be impartial in how we chair that. That is something we take very seriously.
I just came from chairing an interdepartmental group on the Presidency and, needless to say, this is one of the issues which is very much at the top of the agenda. Members will be aware that 85% of the moneys Ireland receives from European institutions come under the Common Agricultural Policy, so it is of vital national interest. We are all very well aware of that. We want a strong agricultural sector, to support a vigorous consumer-focused agricultural base and to ensure we retain the highest possible quality of agricultural output. It is a key export area for us and one on which our economy is very much dependent.
The CAP allocation in the Commission's communication declines over time but these are all matters for further discussion, and there will be robust discussion in due course. One of the positive elements in the proposal is, for example, the ringfencing of €4.5 billion for research and innovation on food security, bio-economy and sustainable agriculture, which is contained in the common strategic framework for EU research and innovation funding. This is very important to Ireland because we have great capacity and have skills in that area, an area which is growing. We can see that as a positive. One can be certain that we will focus on that and on all aspects of the Common Agricultural Policy from the reform angle and the budgetary angle in the months ahead.
To allude to the point made by Deputy Durkan on the impact of WTO negotiations on agriculture, this is something of which we are acutely conscious. The big issue coming down the track is the MERCOSUR negotiations. That will be conducted, in large part, by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. It will be a dual approach between that Department and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I will meeting the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Simon Coveney, next week and we will discuss these issues. I have already had an opportunity to mention the challenges which will be facing both Ministers. They are well aware of them and the Departments are very proactive and engaging very well with the European institutions and with each other in a cross-departmental sense. To answer the Chairman's question, we are building allies, we are well aware of the vital interest and all our Ministers will be working to that end.
A number of members naturally raised the debt crisis and Deputy Donohoe mentioned the fact we have, in a sense, crossed a Rubicon through the inadvertent involvement of Italy and Spain. This is a very worrying development. The Government has, for quite some time, flagged this idea of contagion as a point of concern and it is reflected in the Moody's downgrade this week. However, I reiterate the point Deputy Keaveney made that none of the other ratings agencies has downgraded Ireland's rating, so we should be conscious of that and should not lose sight of it.
If there is a positive from this, as Deputy Donohoe pointed out, it is that this is and can no longer be perceived to be an issue of the peripherals versus the core. I was never comfortable with that narrative. It was wrong from the start. A challenge for Ireland, Greece, Portugal or whichever member state is a common challenge. That is the whole essence of solidarity in the eurozone and in the European Union. If this has forced that fact into sharper focus, then it is a positive step.
Deputy Donohoe was also right in regard to the change of tune among newspapers like Bild in Germany which were putting huge pressure on the Bundestag and on the Chancellor’s office and the rest of the Government there in regard to the negligent, spendthrift and profligate peripheral countries versus the core, which were performing well.
That has changed and there is now increasingly a narrative developing in the media, not just in Germany but in other member states who may have had a more sceptical view, that we now need to face this challenge together. That is positive. It has come later than we might have liked but it is not too late. There is now an opportunity to bring the parties together as we saw at the eurozone meeting on Monday and we will see, I expect, at the meeting of the Heads of Government in the next week.
On the options on the table, nothing is prescriptive yet and a body of work has to be done. It is very clear from the communiqué that came from the eurozone meeting on Monday that the member states "stand prepared to act" on certain options, such as the purchase of debt in secondary markets to which Deputy Donohoe referred. It also refers to the issuing of guarantees to certain countries by the fund, special credit lines and so on. That, coupled with the potential to extend the repayment of debt over a period of time to reduce the interest rate expected from all programme countries and other elements, shows that there is now a willingness to work together and to act swiftly to ensure that the issue is resolved. We should not have what has been happening, which was a finger in the dyke approach that dealt with one crisis after another in isolation. Now there will be a much more comprehensive and holistic approach. It is high time that happened, but it is happening.
We have heard from the Minister, Deputy Noonan, in various interviews during the week his optimism that many of the changes which have been agreed in principle will be of major benefit to Ireland. We can have all the success we want in Ireland but we cannot ignore the fact that the situation in other member states has a direct bearing on us. We have to get this right for the whole of the European Union and eurozone. I hope that addresses the point.
On the Schengen agreement, I have been very concerned about what I have seen in recent months and I think we all share that concern. One of the fundamental freedoms of the European Union is the free movement of people across the union. Ireland has not been in a position to participate because of our relationship and bilateral agreement with the UK which is regrettable. I would love if it were not the case but I do not know if it will be possible to change the situation as long as we have agreements in place with the UK.
That is not to say we do not have a direct interest in this; we do. What was achieved through the discussions at the General Affairs Council in June and followed up, developed and finally agreed at the European Council meeting is a very good compromise. It acknowledges and reflects the huge concerns of certain member states about the volume and scale of pressure that has been put on them by virtue of their geography within the Union.
A very fine balance has been achieved because we want to retain and preserve the freedom while ensuring that certain member states do not have to carry an undue burden. In a nutshell, what has been put in place is an agreement to devise a mechanism which will ensure, except in very exceptional circumstances which will be objectively assessed by the European institutions and not by one member state, that one member state will not close down its borders to the detriment of others as a sort of unilateral action.
If there is a need, in extreme circumstances, to take some sort of action it will be done by agreement and on the basis of an impartial and objective assessment of the situation. As we are not a member of the Schengen agreement our input is somewhat limited but our interest in it is significant. We have participated in those discussions even though we are not centrally involved.
Deputy Dooley referred to the impact of contagion from Greece. I have addressed that. In terms of a strong approach taken at an early stage from the ECB it is very easy to blame the European institutions. In this country we have had a tradition of it. In referendum campaigns the European Commission tends to get all the blame for everything. It is easy for the political class to blame the institutions.
The ECB warned repeatedly about the risks of private sector involvement and we have seen the fall-out from that in recent days. It has impacted directly on Portugal and Ireland. We cannot afford to ignore the advice of the ECB. It is an independent institution and it acts in the best interests of the union as a whole. By and large it does its level best to ensure that it is objective. We might not always like the decisions, particularly on interest rates, but its underlying objectives are positive.
The solution to the Greek situation and broader crisis will emerge over the days ahead. We have to wait to see the details before we can analyse it. I know the Minister, Deputy Noonan, and his officials will keep a very close eye on that and are in constant contact with the institutions and Council.
On the view that Ireland took on too much of a burden, we are all on the record. The Government and Opposition agree that we felt we did not have an interest rate that we considered fair and there was too much pressure to pay back too much too soon. We will see a change in that regard which will benefit Ireland. We look forward to that happening pretty quickly.
Deputy McLoughlin raised a number of the same issues but from a different perspective. I respect his opinion and the points he made. On Anglo Irish Bank, which he highlighted here and at the meeting last week, the position of the Minister, Deputy Noonan, is to try to have burden sharing in regard to a substantial amount of the capital that is required. He reiterated that position when he was in the US and he is working to try to find a solution.
As a member state of the European Union and part of the eurozone, we cannot have unilateral action. It has to be by agreement with the ECB and member states. The Minister and his officials are working very hard to try to make that happen.
On the question of solidarity from the European Union, we all have competing national interests. It is difficult for taxpayers and citizens in Germany to understand the need for solidarity with Ireland and taxpayers and citizens in Greece. It is difficult for us to see it from their perspective. We are moving more towards a meeting of minds by necessity which is a good thing.
We have seen a certain amount of solidarity from other European member states. They are lending us money and investing in the EFSF which is money we need to run our services, run our schools on a day to day basis and keep the show on the road to ensure that we have a banking sector at the end of all this.
Senator Healy Eames asked about credit flows to SMEs into the country. It cannot happen until we have a functioning banking system and that is what the Government is working to achieve. The funds that have been made available to us by the ECB, EU and IMF programme has played a critical role in that. We cannot diminish or belittle that. It is an element of solidarity.
I have already referred to Deputy Keaveney's comments on the rating agencies with which I agreed. He pointed to the fact that Ireland would be responsible for the cap and multi-annual financial framework during our presidency and we are working very hard to prepare for that.
On the question raised by Senator Healy Eames on greater support for SMEs, I would point to the detail of the Polish programme. I assume she has a copy of it. The committee may wish to circulate it if it has not already done so. I had a good discussion with my Polish counterpart on this matter. The priority and the focus will be on trying to implement the Single Market Act, a series of 12 legislative measures, which the Polish Presidency is very enthusiastic about trying to implement by the end of the year. That will be very challenging given that much work remains to be done by the Commission, although it is working very hard on this issue. This is important seminal legislation, 12 Bills, coming from the Commission. I am very invigorated by it. It consists of various measures dealing with everything from services. We have a problem in the European Union whereby we have a fairly well integrated single market in terms of products but in terms of services, for example, venture capital for small business, it is virtually impossible for SMEs across the European Union to access venture capital outside their own member state. This is a practical example of what needs to happen and what can happen. We will be very excited by the output from the Polish Presidency and it will probably carry into the agenda of the next Presidency.
In regard to the European Court of Human Rights, I remind Senator Leyden that is not on the agenda and has nothing to do with the decision on the European Court of Justice. While the increase in the number of judges is significant, the increasing volume of cases going before the ECJ is also enormous. If we set up these institutions and expect them to cope with the volume of work we have to resource them. That is a major challenge in the present constrained environment but one that must be met.
Deputy Ann Phelan raised the question of the sugar industry about which I understand the various concerns. Towards the end of the last Government there was very intensive engagement either in the agriculture committee or in the Joint Committee on European Affairs on the European Court of Auditors' report which unveiled many issues of concern. It is not a topic, unfortunately, for the General Affairs Council on Monday and I would not like to make commitments, but I suggest it is an issue that could be addressed by this committee with the Minister or through the agriculture committee. Certainly it is an issue in which the Oireachtas should play a role in pursuing.
Deputy Durkan raised the issue of the multi-annual financial framework which I have dealt with. President Buzek's proposal that Deputy Durkan prepare a White Paper on the whole issue of cohesion and solidarity would be a very worthwhile exercise for the Deputy who is the former chairman of the committee. There is no better person to do it. I look forward to co-operating with him on it. As Senator Healy Eames did, Deputy Durkan mentioned the need to focus on growth as a core agenda for the European Union, not just for the Polish Presidency but for the future development of the Union. I also agree with his point in regard to international economists. It is very easy to change one's opinion as an economist overnight. There are no political consequences and there is no fallout that one has to deal with. We are the politicians, the practitioners, who have to deal with this and have to find solutions, not simply commentate from the sidelines. The same applies to the ratings agencies which also played a part in fuelling many of the problems, the consequences of which are obvious within the Union and the Eurozone. These ratings agencies are quick to dismiss countries that are performing well, such as Ireland, and downgrade them to junk status without any objective reason. This afternoon we will have a press conference from the troika, the ECB, IMF, Commission, the people who have been working in recent days on Ireland's progress. I expect a very positive outcome at that press conference this evening. I expect that the notion which may be put out by Moodys about Ireland and our economic prospects will be entirely debunked by what will be said this afternoon.
Deputy Kyne asked about the nomination to the European Court of Justice. Governments nominate members to the European Court of Justice, so it is a national domestic decision. The Deputy also asked about the CAP and how it will be dispersed. It is a little early to say as yet but I am sure it is an issue on which the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has an opinion and will put forward it views.
Senator Kathryn Reilly asked about cross-Border issues. I understand there is a proposal to reduce roaming charges. The Senator asked if I would wholeheartedly support such measures. It is one of the great benefits of the European Union and the Government will throw its weight behind it.
I thank all members for their engagement. I have answered all the questions as well as I can.
