The Minister delivered a very comprehensive briefing on this matter. Does he want to make a further presentation at this stage?
Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion.
It would be no harm because these matters sometimes change, even over a few hours, and I know there were some changes in my briefing.
The meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. I draw attention to the briefing material which was provided for members. Since the provision of the information, the Czech Presidency has made some minor changes to the Council agenda. Item No. 4 on the Council agenda and items Nos. 4 and 5 of the mixed committee agenda have been withdrawn from the new agenda. A number of new items have been added in the form of basic information points under "any other business". These changes are minor and do not materially impact on Ireland's position.
In summary, it is not anticipated the items on the agenda would cause any significant difficulties for Ireland. The agenda of this Council is relatively short and is expected to conclude by lunchtime on the second day. With regard to the format, the Council will be divided into three sessions. These sessions will deal respectively with interior and home affairs matters; asylum and immigration; and judicial co-operation items.
The first item of substance on the main Council agenda is the proposal for the regulation establishing the European asylum support office. The Commission adopted a proposal for the regulation establishing the European asylum support office on 18 February 2009, together with a proposal for a decision to amend the decision establishing the European Refugee Fund. The Commission will make a presentation on these proposals and the first exchange of views will take place.
The Amsterdam Protocol relating to the position of the UK and Ireland applies to these proposals. The protocol provides that the measures adopted pursuant to Article 4 of the treaty do not apply to Ireland. However, the protocol provides for Ireland to exercise an option to take part in any proposed or existing major measures. Subject to detailed analysis of the Commission proposals, Ireland is favourably disposed to the establishment of a European asylum support office and the consequent proposal to amend the decision establishing a European Refugee Fund.
The next item is a report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of what is known as the free movement directive. The Commission published its report in December 2008. In summary, the report concludes that the overall transposition of the directive has been disappointing in that not one of the member states has transposed the directive effectively or correctly in its entirety. Like other member states, Ireland will respond to the points made in the report.
The Council will then discuss the issue of combating illegal immigration in the Mediterranean. There is an information point which will be presented by Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece. The purpose of this is to raise awareness and recommend action as a consequence of the challenges posed to the security of the European Union by illegal migration in the Mediterranean region. In general, Ireland is favourably disposed to the proposals and calls for solidarity on this issue.
In addition there will be a discussion on the situation of Iraqi refugees. The Commission will report to the Council on the information gathered from member states on the basis of the November 2008 Council conclusions on the reception of Iraqi refugees. The current resettlement programme is to be reviewed by the Office of the Minister for Integration, in light of experience to date, anticipated developments at EU level and the current budgetary and economic situation.
The following agenda item is the proposed adoption of a draft Council decision to appoint the Director of Europol. A selection board, comprised of five members of the Europol management board, made a decision on the candidates at its meeting in December 2008. The board has recommended that the Council make the appointment in accordance with the outcome of the selection process. Ireland supports the recommendation.
Following this, the Council will discuss a proposal for a Council framework decision on prevention and settlement of conflicts of jurisdiction in criminal proceedings. The aim of this draft framework decision is to reduce the possibility of conflicts of jurisdiction in criminal cases where the facts of a case fall within the jurisdiction of two or more member states. Ireland supports the proposals contained in the framework decision, although it is conscious of the dangers of imposing a rigid structured mechanism.
The following item is the negotiation of a mandate for a possible mutual legal assistance agreement between the European Union and Japan. The Presidency will then report on the state of play on the implementation of the European e-justice action plan. Ireland supports the work carried out to date and the future direction of the project.
The final substantive point on the agenda falls under the heading "any other business", AOB, where the first item is a discussion of the proposed closure of the detention facilities used by the US Administration at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Presidency will introduce a discussion on this issue. There are indications that President Obama's Administration will ask a number of countries, including EU member states, to accept some detainees for resettlement. In this new context Ireland is ready to examine how we may support the United States Government as it proceeds towards the closure of the detention area at Guantanamo. Although decisions on resettlement are for each member state to take individually, a co-ordinated EU move in this respect would be highly desirable, and such a move would be our favoured approach.
The next issue is the processing of EU originating personal data by the United States Treasury Department for counter terrorism purposes according to the terrorist finance tracking programme to come after the change of system architecture from 1 January 2010. This is commonly referred to as "SWIFT". The Commission will provide information on the processing of EU originating personal data by the US Treasury Department for counter terrorism purposes.
The following item involves a discussion paper put forward by the Presidency advising member states that, in the context of the Council's recently approved European Union drugs action plan 2009-12, it intends to prioritise work in a number of areas. The views of member states and their support for this approach are being sought. Ireland supports the proposals put forward in the discussion paper.
The Council will look at a proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and the Council amending a directive, 2005/35/EC, on ship-source pollution and the introduction of penalties for infringements. The Presidency will provide information on the current position with regard to the co-decision procedure on the proposal I have outlined. Ireland supports the intent of the Commission's Proposal.
Some new items have been added under the AOB part of the agenda. Germany wishes to provide information on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Greece wants to report on the third global forum on migration and development and Sweden wishes to raise transparency as a tool for strengthening citizens' trust in the EU institutions.
In addition to the regular Council formation, the Council also sits in mixed committee formation and discusses a number of specific points in this format. This is a formation of the Council in which the EU member states are joined by the non-EU Schengen states. The first issue is an update from the Presidency on the state of play in respect of the Schengen information system, SIS II. Ireland has consistently taken the approach that it will develop its national systems to link with the SIS II system. Arising from technical difficulties with SIS II there is concern at continuing slippage in its timeframe. Work on a possible alternative system has commenced and Ireland can support that decision as a prudent approach, provided SIS II remains the priority and the alternative is regarded as a fall back.
The next scheduled item is a Presidency progress report on the visa information system. Ireland and the UK are not taking part in the adoption of the regulation because of their limited participation in Schengen but it is expected there will be a mechanism for co-operation which will allow for exchange of information between the VIS and Ireland's visa system.
The final point is an information point on the Schengen evaluation of Switzerland. The full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis to the Swiss Confederation commenced in mid-December 2008, with the exception of air border provisions which are due to come into effect on 29 March 2009. Ireland was pleased to see the admission of Switzerland to the Schengen area.
I thank the Minister for the briefing. What are the particular issues about Iraqi refugees and why is the review being carried out in the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for integration? How soon after the Justice and Home Affairs meeting will the Dáil or this committee be briefed on the outcome?
On the outcome of this meeting?
With regard to the Iraqi situation, we will receive a report from the Council on the information gathered from member states. Ireland has a significant resettlement programme and is one of 20 countries participating in the UNHCR resettlement programme. Ireland joined the programme in 1998 and we have somewhere in the region of 200 refugees per year. We increased our quota from ten people in 1998 to a current quota of 200 per year from June 2008. A total of 10,000 Iraqi refugees are mainly in Syria and Jordan. The EU has agreed to look at the possibility of receiving some of those. A number of countries will be required to come up to the table in that regard. Ireland's quota is more or less full but we are reviewing our resettlement programme. I had a visit from Mr. Gutierrez, the head of the resettlement programme recently and he also met the Taoiseach. We gave an undertaking that in so far as possible, we would continue with the programme. He expressed great appreciation of Ireland's efforts in the resettlement of programme refugees. We will come up to the plate as much as possible.
As regards the follow-on from this meeting, it is largely a matter for the committee if it wishes to ask me to return. However, I will be attending this committee quite often prior to the meetings taking place which is the essence of EU scrutiny. This is what members want and what we discussed during the Lisbon treaty referendum, that rather than the Minister returning to the committee after the meeting when everything is decided, that I should come here and discuss issues and listen to the concerns of members about proposals that are yet to be discussed. As the members will note the agenda is very wide and work is ongoing. I will return to the committee to discuss quite a number of these issues as they progress.
I thank the Minister for the briefing. Rather than dragging him in here on several occasions, I suggest a brief written report could be supplied to the committee as soon as possible after the meeting as this would be helpful.
I have no problem doing that. I would suggest that the manner in which EU scrutiny is dealt with by Departments could be taken up with the Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
I suggest the matter could be raised at the working committee composed of committee chairs.
I am quite happy for the Chairman to pursue the matter at that level.
I thank the Deputy.
The Council reaches conclusions at the end of every Council meeting. These conclusions are posted on the web almost immediately following the meeting. It may not detail the discussions but the decisions are available on the web.
The report of the decisions is the relevant report.
That is available on the Justice and Home Affairs website.
I thank the Minister.
Towards the end of his contribution the Minister referred to the Schengen information system, SIS ll, and said Ireland would develop its national system to link with it. What costs will be associated with that, either in the development of our own system or in contributing to the development of the European system, even though we are not fully part of it?
There will be costs, mainly regarding the technology required. Towards the end of the year, we will go to tender on this project. Much depends on how things unfold at EU level. The proposal has fallen backwards, because of the complexity of the issue and the difficulty in pulling it all together at EU level. We stand ready to participate but we would have to provide the necessary resources. The resources are not huge, in the grand scheme of things.
The Minister does not anticipate the costs being very large.
We do not anticipate any difficulties with regard to this.
The joint committee adjourned at 4 p.m. sine dine.