The purpose of the meeting is to consider the European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2006 which was referred to the select committee by the Dáil on 30 May. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Treacy, and his officials and invite him to comment on section 1.
European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage.
With the Chairman's permission, I wish to make a short opening statement.
A Chathaoirligh is a chomhleacaithe polaitíochta, is cúis móir áthais é dom a bheith ag an gcoiste an-tábhachtach seo ar maidin. I am pleased to present this Bill to the select committee today for its Third Reading. It allows Ireland to give legal effect to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union by making the necessary amendment to the European Communities Act 1972. This is an essential step in Ireland's ratification process which must be completed by 31 December. To date, 17 member states, as well as Bulgaria and Romania, have ratified the accession treaty. The European Union is pressing Bulgaria and Romania to make a final push to ready themselves for membership next January. For our part, EU member states must fulfil their obligations by ratifying the accession treaty. It will be important for Ireland to keep pace with the other member states in this regard. The Dáil has already taken one important step towards ratifying the treaty by passing a motion on 24 May approving its terms. The select committee will recall that it debated the motion on 17 May and I was pleased to find on that occasion such strong support for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
During the debate on Second Stage last month strong support was expressed for the Bill by Deputies on all sides of the Chamber. That no amendments were tabled in advance of Committee Stage only serves to underline this strong support. The Bill is necessary to amend the European Communities Act 1972 to provide that certain parts of the treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union shall form part of the domestic law of the State once Ireland ratifies the treaty. The content of the Bill is in line with earlier amendments of the European Communities Act 1972, through which provisions of previous EU treaties have been given domestic legal effect. The last such amendment was made in the European Communities (Amendment) Act 2003 which took account of the accession of ten new member states to the European Union on 1 May 2004.
Section 1(1) of the Bill adds a new paragraph (v) to section 1(1) of the European Communities Act 1972, providing that the provisions of the treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union signed at Luxembourg on 25 April 2005, in so far as that treaty relates to the European Communities, shall be included in the definition of the “treaties governing the European Communities” in the 1972 Act. Section 1(2) makes a consequential amendment to the table in section 1 of the European Communities Act 1972 which lists those treaties defined as “the treaties governing the European Communities” to include a reference to the treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union. Section 2 provides for the Short Title, collective citation and commencement.
I trust this is to the satisfaction of the Chairman and members. I look forward to the comments of members.
I welcome the Minister of State. That I have tabled no amendments indicates total agreement on the desirability to pass the Bill as speedily as possible. No purpose would be served by delaying its passage with unnecessary contributions. I acknowledge the co-operation I received from the embassies of Romania and Bulgaria in Dublin. The Bulgarian ambassador appeared before the committee and made an impressive contribution. She was forthright and honest in her dealings with it on the questions she was asked, on which she later followed up by providing supplementary information. I acknowledge the co-operation I received from the Romanian embassy on many of the issues that were of concern to us, including those relating to agriculture, a progress report on the system in place for handicapped persons, progress at the Competition Council, property restitution, anti-trafficking measures, reform of the judiciary, a report on anti-corruption measures in respect of taxation systems, child protection and matters related to the Roma minority. The reason I refer to each of these is that we did not have an opportunity to speak with the Romanian representatives. The level of co-operation between the committee and the two embassies, to which I offer my thanks, has been impressive. Members look forward to visiting the two countries in the next few weeks.
I tabled a priority question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs relating to human trafficking, asking what contact he had had with his counterparts. I was amazed when the Department refused to answer the question. However, the Ceann Comhairle upheld its decision not to respond. I found this unusual and irregular. This has nothing to do with the people of Bulgaria or Romania; it is solely a domestic matter. I found it strange that I had been denied a response to my question. Given that the Minister of State and his counterpart in the Department, Deputy Conor Lenihan, had previously made statements on human trafficking and attended meetings on the issue, I could not understand how the Department had washed its hands of the matter. I asked what discussions had taken place with the Department's counterparts throughout Europe. This is a serious issue. The problem lies here because I do not understand how 16 and 17 year old single females can get through our passport control system. How do they get visas when most of them are non-EU citizens? The system appears to be porous. The reason I tabled the question was I wanted to flesh out the difficulties involved in coming to grips with this trafficking problem but I was denied that opportunity. I was told it was a matter for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The Minister of State may respond if he wishes.
I thank Deputy Allen for adopting a positive attitude in not tabling amendments. It shows a unity of purpose in our political system in endorsing the applications from Bulgaria and Romania to join the European Union which we all fully support.
I endorse what Deputy Allen said. We have received the full co-operation of the ambassadors and staff of the Bulgarian and Romanian embassies. We acknowledge their presence and thank them sincerely for their collaboration and co-operation with us on a bilateral and multilateral basis on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union but also on many other issues of common interest to our three countries. Ireland has a long record in recognising the unique contribution made by our diplomats, by our ambassadors and all other staff. In parallel with this, we recognise and value the major contribution made by the diplomatic corps here, from ambassador level down to all other staff, and its constant collaboration with us, as politicians, with Ministers in successive Governments and relevant Departments, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs. Our closeness with it is a great strength of our democracy and presents us with a major opportunity to ensure we have an impact at all times in international affairs.
The issue of human trafficking has been the subject of close scrutiny throughout the accession process for Bulgaria and Romania. While both countries have fulfilled the political criteria for membership, the European Union has continually stressed the need for them to take additional measures to address the remaining issues. The European Commission's comprehensive monitoring report on Romania states it remains a country of transit and, to a lesser extent, a country of origin and destination. It states that, overall, certain progress has been made in fighting trafficking in human beings but that administrative and operational capacities remain weak. The Government is seeking the elimination of the practice of human trafficking here and is fully aware of the abuses of human rights suffered by victims of such trafficking. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has made it clear that the Garda is actively pursuing those guilty of abusing and violating the human rights of victims of trafficking. The Government is fully committed to the promotion of full observance of universal human rights standards. To this end, it opposes the practice of human trafficking and seeks its elimination.
As I said previously at this committee and in the Dáil, legislation is being prepared by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to provide primarily for compliance with two EU framework decisions on combating trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children in child pornography. The courts were strong in their decisions on these issues in recent weeks, something about which we are pleased. The legislation will also take into account a number of international conventions, including the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations convention against transnational organised crime. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will bring the draft legislation to the Government shortly with a view to publishing it before the end of the year.
As regards Deputy Allen's parliamentary question, it would never be the desire of the Department to refuse to answer any question but on this occasion it was pertinent to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to whom I hope the Deputy will table the question and receive a sufficient response as quickly as possible.
We will agree to disagree. I specifically asked about the contact the Minister for Foreign Affairs had had with his counterparts. The question was carefully drafted to elicit an answer.
Perhaps the Minister of State will examine the matter.
Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall. I hope the Deputy is happy with the answer I have given.
Sections 1 and 2 agreed to.
Title agreed to.
Bill reported without amendment.