Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2025
10. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of preparations to ensure a successful EU Presidency in 2026; if the Government will publish plans for Ireland's upcoming Presidency to deliver against strategic priorities for Europe and Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4445/25]
View answer12. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to report on the preparatory work within his Department in advance of Ireland assuming the Presidency of the European Council in 2026. [4436/25]
View answerI ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of preparations to ensure a successful EU Presidency in 2026; if the Government will publish plans for Ireland's upcoming Presidency to deliver against strategic priorities for Europe and Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 12 together. I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his question. I congratulate him on his re-election and wish him well for this term in the Dáil.
As the Deputy rightly says, Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2026. Our preparations for Ireland’s Presidency are now intensifying across both policy and operational strands of planning. These are being led by my Department, in close co-operation with the Department of the Taoiseach and with input from all Departments across Government.
Currently, two cross-departmental groups, chaired by my Department, are co-ordinating this preparatory work. The interdepartmental group on Presidency policy planning and the interdepartmental group on operational Presidency planning - we do lots well but not names of groups - have now met a combined total of 24 times, with participation from senior officials from across all Departments.
The interdepartmental group looking at policy has been actively following significant policy developments at an EU level and this will help shape the context for Ireland’s 2026 Presidency. My Department is currently taking forward initial work, in consultation with other Departments, to develop our Presidency priorities and policy programme. This will be developed against the backdrop of the EU strategic agenda for 2024 to 2029 and the range of legislative initiatives proposed by the European Commission, including those set out in its work programme, which is expected to be published shortly. Of course, this work will also be shaped by our own priorities with regard to the EU.
We are consulting other EU member states and the EU institutions as the process of programme development continues. We will ensure that relevant stakeholders in this country, including both business and civil society representatives, are consulted. That is going to be really important. This will help ensure that the programme addresses issues of national importance felt by citizens across the country.
The evolution of the Council’s legislative agenda through successive Presidencies over the next 18 months will also, of course, have a bearing on the specific priorities we will get to take forward in 2026. We expect that our programme and priorities will be finalised shortly before the start of our Presidency.
Overall, I assure the Deputy that our Presidency priorities will reflect the areas in which it is judged by the Government that we can best advance a positive policy agenda for the Union and for all its citizens.
I thank the Tánaiste. I asked that question originally in the last Dáil, back in June or July of last year, because there is some excitement about the Presidency coming to Ireland for 2026. Unfortunately, the response is kind of similar to what the Tánaiste gave then. I understand that there is certain stuff he cannot reveal and we are 12 months out from the Presidency but at the same time, the Tánaiste has said that the cross-departmental committee group that was established has met 24 times. Is there anything the Tánaiste can elicit that has been discussed at those meetings with respect to priorities?
I understand as well that while Ireland is in the Presidency, we must be conscious of the fact we are representing Europe first and foremost, and not just being parochial and national in our own self-interest. However, after 24 meetings I hope the Tánaiste could maybe reveal something or that he could even reflect tonight on key priorities for himself that, as he would see it, might dominate with regard to us publishing our own agenda.
I take the point the Deputy makes but I assure him it is long-standing practice that we publish our proposal much closer to the Presidency. That is done for a variety of reasons, including the fact that we need to see where the legislative agenda in the European Commission is at at that stage.
Let me say this. We will want to do a number of things but crucially, we will want to be efficient and effective at progressing the legislative priorities that are set out at a European level at that stage.
We will want to put a focus on issues that matter here in Ireland, such as agriculture, the Common Agricultural Policy and where that would be at during that stage and playing an important role in competitiveness and economic priorities. Of course, for all of the reasons we have discussed, so much of Europe's bandwidth has been focused, quite correctly, on defence and security, which I understand. We also need to carve out space around competitiveness, jobs and investment because that in and of itself is an issue in terms of the security of the Union, economic security and well-being. The Deputy can expect a focus on agriculture and the economy. It is early. We will come back to the Deputy closer to the time. We welcome his thoughts.
I appreciate the Minister making those suggestions. Maybe I can throw one in as well. The Polish Presidency is in place at the moment and it, as the Minister said, has understandably prioritised security and defence, the protection of people and borders, resistance to foreign interference and disinformation and so on. It has prioritised the issues that are most pertinent to it.
When the Irish Presidency starts in 2026, I would like to make the case for our pharmaceutical industry, in particular. It is important to us in the south. I have discussed with the Minister on numerous occasions rare diseases, orphan drugs and how we improve accessibility to drugs for patients. We seem to be caught in an archaic system. Regarding the proclamations that have come from the United States in recent weeks, in terms of possibly putting tariffs on the pharma sector, I would like to highlight that as part of our list of priorities.
The Deputy is right. The pharmaceutical sector is obviously of huge economic importance to our country. I hope and expect it will continue to be. So too is the benefit to patients, not just in Ireland but across the world. I agree with the Deputy that we should make it our business to be better in terms of innovative ways of accessing new medicines and willing to work more at an EU level with other member states in terms of joint procurement. Some of that has been done through the BeNeLuxA initiative, but probably not nearly enough. Who knows, perhaps we might even get to have a few Presidency-related meetings in Cork so that we can all experience in real time the very positive impact the pharmaceutical sector has had in terms of economic well-being, jobs and investment in that region.
Before I move to the next question, I am very sorry for cutting Deputy Dempsey's time short. I apologise. It was my mistake.
