Vol. 463 No. 4
6 Mr. T. Kitt asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his Department's communicating Europe initiative; if he has satisfied himself that a balanced approach is being pursued in raising the awareness of students concerning key European issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5866/96]
A task force on communicating Europe was established in 1994 by the Deputy when he was Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs. I launched the report of that task force in February 1995. The report set out a number of recommendations aimed at raising public awareness of the European Union. The areas singled out for particular attention included the media, the education system and the voluntary sector.
Approximately £170.000 was expended by the Exchequer in 1995 as part of the communicating Europe initiative. The projects assisted were as follows: the Europe Week programme dealing with European Union issues on local radio; a project organised by the CARREFOUR network to raise European awareness through local radio and press; an essay competition on Europe for second level transition year students; publication of the information booklet "Twenty Questions on the European Union" and grants to the Institute of European Affairs, the Irish Council of the European Movement and to the Irish Country Women's Association. I also circulated, separately, leaflets containing details of the issues which will be on the Intergovernmental Conference agenda.
The publication of user-friendly material on EU funded schemes was also identified as a priority to be addressed by the report of the Task Force on Communicating Europe and a comprehensive publication in this regard is now close to completion and will be published shortly. I am satisfied that a comprehensive plan is in place to raise public awareness of important EU issues, including seminars on the Intergovernmental Conference with which I am co-operating with the Irish Council of the European Movement in each Euro-Constituency, and co-operation with the European Commission on a publicity campaign which will endeavour to make the public more aware of the issues being discussed. The launching of the Government's White Paper on Foreign Policy also illustrates the Government's commitment to greater public awareness of the European ideal.
The Department of Education, which is represented on the task force, is planning the introduction of a European awareness programme in the school second level transition year to commence in September 1996.
I am happy that the communicating Europe initiative has been pursued in a balanced and pro-active manner.
In accepting the Tánaiste's statement that foreign policy should be more accountable and accessible to the people, the publication of this White Paper two days before the Turin Summit represents the greatest fudge in recent times. It is a waste of taxpayers' money although it is a very glossy production. The Taoiseach may smile but his party, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left put their toes in the water in this very sensitive matter and ran like hell.
That is a mixed metaphor.
I would remind Deputy Kitt that this is Question Time. The Deputy is embarking on a speech.
I will now ask my question.
The Deputy is tangled up in his memoirs.
Will the Minister of State accept that in this book he considers everything but he is doing nothing. Will he accept, in his role of communicating Europe, that his job is virtually impossible on foot of this publication and that he has literally nothing to communicate? What is the Fine Gael position at this stage? We know he had strong views in the past.
The Fine Gael position is centre forward. The document to which the Deputy refers is probably the finest publication ever issued in the area of foreign policy: I quote no other more impartial authority than today's issue of The Irish Times. I recommend that the Deputy read it.
I advise the Minister to be careful about that. If the Minister is relying on the fact that he got two pages in The Irish Times and a nice headline from Paul Gillespie I would advise him to read the smaller print. Will the Minister accept that the communicating Europe initiative gets only a line or two in the White Paper? What role will the Task Force on Communicating Europe play in explaining Europe particularly in the light of the Irish Presidency of the European Union?
As I outlined to the Deputy, the Task Force on Communicating Europe has a very ambitious programme, into which the Deputy had an input, I have been proactive in putting in place the proposals I outlined. The White Paper is a publication of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Task Force on Communicating Europe is located in the Department of the Taoiseach. It will be my pleasure as Minister of State at both Departments to advocate its contents and to ensure the public is made aware of it.
I thank the Minister of State for outlining the very ambitious programme and it is a tragedy that is was such an abject failure. I realise I am not allowed quote at Question Time but if I were to do so I would refer to page 17, paragraph 34, of the White Paper on Foreign Policy, which states: "The Government have decided to discuss with the Western European Union the possibility of..." There is nothing like clear decision making and that is nothing like it.
It is waffle.
The purpose of a White Paper is to indicate Government thinking on policy and to give the public the opportunity to comment on it. I am thankful to Fianna Fáil for the opportunity to refer to these matters since it was Fianna Fáil who brought us into observer status with the Western European Union in the first place.
May I ask the ambitious Minister of State, in the absence of his adviser in the bull pen today, to outline his understanding of a White Paper, which is outlining Government policy, and a Green Paper, which is a discussion document on what might happen in the future, having discussed it with somebody else? Is it a White Paper outlining decisions or a Green Paper on which he might get some guidance from somebody at some time in the future with a view to arriving at a decision?
It is obvious that we have many bulls in the pen today. The White Paper is a very fine document which has been welcomed by a wide range of independent sources. I commend it to the House and suggest Deputies read it.
Will the Minister of State accept it was always impossible for the Government to produce a common position because he and his party supported full membership of the Western European Union in their manifesto for the last European election and Democratic Left and the Labour Party opposed membership of that group? He should forget about Fianna Fáil, a party with a very clear position. Was it not always impossible for the Government to produce a report that would secure the agreement of the parties and will the Minister of State accept that this is a fudge?
This is leading to debate and argument. I am proceeding to the next question.
