12 Jun 2014, 17:44
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs this afternoon discussed with the Minister for State European Affairs, Pascal Donohoe TD, a range of policy concerns central to Ireland’s budgetary approach in the coming years.
12 June 2014
These include job creation and poverty reduction, healthcare and pharmaceutical spending, reform of the legal profession and reducing the levels of private debt, in the course of its consideration of the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) for Ireland, recently published by the European Commission.
The Committee was meeting with Minister of State for European Affairs Paschal Donohoe TD to consider the next step in the European Semester process, the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) for Ireland, recently published by European Commission.
Chairman of the Committee Dominic Hannigan TD says: “Following Ireland's exit from the bailout programme, the influence of the European Semester process on the preparation of our national budget is being fully felt for the first time. Minister Donohoe explained that the process was fundamentally about advancing Ireland’s interests and ensuring that bad policy decisions both here and in other European capitals are not repeated.
“This afternoon saw lively debate in our Committee on the CSRs presented by the EU Commission. Sustained job creation was highlighted as the key to easing the budgetary difficulties being experienced in Ireland and other Member States. The CSRs on reducing the levels of household and SME debt were also discussed.
“Healthcare reform and the increasing costs for pharmaceuticals were debated. The EU Commission have highlighted that Ireland’s health spending is the highest in Europe despite having a relatively young population. Similarly, Ireland’s relatively high legal costs were instanced by Members as the EU Commission have called for urgent implementation of the Legal Reform Bill in another of the CSRs. Minister Donohoe pointed out that, while the EU can and should give advice to its Member States, it remains the responsibility of national governments and parliaments to rise to the challenge of implementing these necessary reforms and to deliver for their citizens.”
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Committee Membership
Deputies: Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard J. Durkan, John Halligan, Dominic Hannigan (Chair), Seán Kyne, Dara Murphy (Vice-Chair) and Joe O’Reilly
Senators: Colm Burke, Aideen Hayden, Terry Leyden, Catherine Noone and Kathryn Reilly