Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 May 2004
215 Mr. O’Connor asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will report on his Department’s endeavours in respect of Ireland’s EU Presidency; and his plans for the remainder of the term. [15762/04]
View answerAs I have informed the House on a number of occasions, most recently in my reply to Question No. 603 on 23 March 2004, my Department is organising three Presidency related events, namely, a conference on territorial cohesion, 25 to 27 May 2004, Na Forbacha; a conference on rural development, 30 to 31 May and 1 June 2004, in Westport; and a meeting of national drugs strategy co-ordinators, 15 June 2004, in Clontarf. I might take this opportunity to mention that the EU Presidency corner on my Department's website, www.pobail.ie, provides information about the three events.
216 Mr. O’Connor asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will report on her Department’s endeavours in respect of Ireland’s EU Presidency; and her plans for the remainder of the term. [15763/04]
View answerMy overall focus for the Irish Presidency has been to advance the EU social policy agenda generally and, in particular, making progress in realising the ten year goals set by the Lisbon European Council in 2000. One of the goals of the Lisbon agenda is to achieve greater social cohesion. Based on an analysis of the second round national action plans on social inclusion, 2003-2005, a joint Council-Commission inclusion report was adopted by the Council of Ministers in March and reflected in a key message paper to the spring European Council on employment, social protection/inclusion and gender equality.
The four key social protection/inclusion messages relate to strengthening social inclusion, making work pay — which was the subject of our informal ministerial meeting in January — ensuring that pension systems support longer working lives, ensuring accessibility, sustainability and quality of health and long-term care for the elderly. The spring summit noted these and other key messages with approval and I was pleased to note that these messages were reflected throughout the spring Council conclusions.
One of the priorities of the Irish Presidency was to secure agreement with the European Parliament on the reform and simplification of Regulation 1408/71 which co-ordinates the social security systems of the member states so as to ensure that migrant workers or members of their families are facilitated in terms of social security when they exercise their right to free movement. I am pleased that, following acceptance by the European Parliament and Council agreement, the new regulation was adopted on 29 April. Following the accession of the ten new member states, we hosted a special conference in Budapest on 7 and 8 May, in co-operation with the Hungarian Government and the Commission. The conference addressed both the future implications of the new simplified regulation for all 25 states and the particular immediate challenges facing new member states in implementing the existing Regulation 1408/71.
The issue of migration has also been a priority for my Department during the Irish Presidency. On 1 and 2 April we hosted a conference on the theme of "Reconciling Mobility and Social Inclusion". The main focus of the conference was on the role of social and employment policies in achieving social inclusion for people moving within the EU. In the area of family policy and to mark the tenth anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family, the Irish Presidency hosted a major international conference on the theme "Families, Change and Social Policy in Europe". The Irish Presidency will progress an initiative taken by previous Presidencies by hosting a third meeting of people experiencing poverty in Brussels at the end of this week. Our aim is to further develop ways of promoting participation by, and in consultation with, people experiencing poverty in the context of developing policies in this area.
I will update my EU colleagues on the outcome of the various conferences at the next meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council which will take place early next week. In my view the successful outcome of this ambitious programme represents a significant contribution to advancing the EU social policy agenda.
