Bertie Ahern
Ceist:4 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach the foreign visits he proposes to make before the end of July 1996. [8066/96]
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Ireland's Presidency of European Union.
Bertie Ahern
Ceist:5 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach whether he intends to meet any European or other Heads of Government in Dublin prior to Ireland's Presidency of the EU. [8067/96]
Bertie Ahern
Ceist:6 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach the role his office is playing in preparation for Ireland's Presidency of the EU. [8068/96]
Bertie Ahern
Ceist:7 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach if he intends to meet the President of the EU Commission with a view to discussing relations between the Government and the Commission. [8070/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, together.
In regard to outward visits the position, as of now, is as follows. From 24 — 26 April I will pay an official visit to Poland during which I will have meetings with the President and Prime Minister of Poland and with other political figures. On 4 June I will visit Bonn for a meeting with Chancellor Kohl. On 21 and 22 June I will attend the European Council in Florence.
Prior to Ireland's Presidency of the European Union, I am scheduled as of now to meet in Dublin shortly the following Heads of State and Government:
Prime Minister Simitis of Greece, whom I will meet tomorrow;
President Ahtissari and Prime Minister Lipponen of Finland;
Prime Minister Dehaene of Belgium;
President Delamuraz of the Swiss Confederation;
Chancellor Vranitsky of Austria; and President Havel of the Czech Republic.
I will meet the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jacques Santer at the end of May when he visits Dublin. I also expect to meet Mr. Santer early in June in Brussels. All these meetings will afford the opportunity to have a discussion on the current European Union agenda and on the Irish Presidency of the Union.
The Department of the Taoiseach is playing a central role in the planning and preparation for the Irish Presidency. In pursuit of this role it provides the secretariat for the Ministers and Secretaries Group on the EU Presidency and the Intergovernment Conference which I chair. The role of this group is to oversee the co-ordination of the Irish Presidency of the EU from both a policy and an administrative viewpoint and to oversee the co-ordination of Ireland's negotiating position at the Intergovernmental Conference.
An interdepartmental working group of officials chaired by an official from my Department has been established to assist the work of the Ministers and Secretaries group.
In addition, my Department is represented on other Interdepartmental Committees at official level charged with policy and administrative preparations for the Presidency.
Deputies will be glad to hear that my Department is also overseeing the organisation of a special cultural event on 1 July next in Temple Bar area to celebrate the opening of the Irish Presidency. My Department will also be responsible for hosting a conference on local development during the Presidency.
We on this side of the House wish the Government well during the Presidency. I tabled a question about the Ministers and Secretaries group to which the Minister of State, Deputy Gay Mitchell, replied that the first meeting would take place shortly.
Is the Ministers and Secretaries group working on the same basis as during Ireland's Presidency in 1990? How many meetings have taken place? Does the Taoiseach intend to continue those meetings during the Presidency?
Prior to Ireland's Presidency will the Taoiseach set out in the House his priorities for Ireland's Presidency? On three occasions the Taoiseach gave some details, but it would be useful to have a debate on the issues before the Taoiseach has the honour of being the President of the Council.
The Ministers and Secretaries group met twice and will meet again next week. It will meet more frequently during Ireland's Presidency. It is working very well and on the same basis as it operated during previous Presidencies.
It would be useful to have a debate on the Presidency close to its commencement — some time in June would be best for such a debate. Because of the nature of EU work, one is not absolutely certain of the items remaining on the agenda of various Councils until close to the commencement of the Presidency. Some matters may be dealt with during the Italian Presidency which we would not have expected to have been dealt with, but others may be deferred until the Irish Presidency. From the point of view of giving the House the most comprehensive and up to date information on the content and priorities of the Irish Presidency, it would be best to wait until closer to the commencement date.
I am not being critical of the Italian Presidency — everybody understands their difficulties — but is the Taoiseach concerned that four months work of the Intergovernmental Conference seems to have been lost during the Italian Presidency and because of another major event namely BSE and the beef crisis, very little work was done at the Turin meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference. Will the Taoiseach indicate what is happening to try to rectify what effectively has been a four month delay?
It would not be accurate to suggest the Italian Presidency contributed to a four month delay. Prime Minister Dini and Foreign Minister Agnelli and the other Italian Ministers did their work very well during the Presidency and a number of items on the agenda have been advanced. There have been frequent intensive meetings during the Italian Presidency. Notwithstanding its difficulties, the Italian Presidency has worked exceptionally well and will provide a good basis for the Irish Presidency to continue its work.
I accept the Taoiseach does not want to debate the issues until closer to the Irish Presidency but what are his objectives for the Presidency? The Taoiseach may recall that during our Presidency six years ago, the then Taoiseach adopted the environment as its theme and it was known as the Green Presidency. Does the Taoiseach have any such objectives in mind for our Presidency?
I have already answered some questions on that and I would prefer to set the priorities closer to the date of our Presidency. However, I would like to see an advance on justice and home affairs, pillar III, with particular emphasis on the fight against international crime and the drugs menace both in terms of demand, supply and consumption of drugs. Obviously a very important part of the work of our Presidency will be to advance the Intergovernmental Conference and deal with all the issues that have to be dealt with in terms of the efficient working of the Community and the issues that were left over from the Maastricht agreement which need to be dealt with by this Intergovernmental Conference. We will have to deal with international events which it is not possible to foresee at this time and time and resources will have to be available for unexpected eventualities. As of now — and I will make a fuller statement later — our priorities are to focus on dealing at European level with problems of immediate concern to Europe's citizens, in particular crime and drugs and to advance the Intergovernmental Conference so that the working methods of the European Union are visible and win as much support as possible from the citizens of Europe.
The Taoiseach said he would meet Mr. Santer. Does he agree the Irish Government's relationship with the Commission is not as good as the relationship enjoyed by the previous Government with Mr. Jacques Delors? Does the Taoiseach intend using his meeting with Mr. Santer to correct the perception in the Commission that Irish Ministers are continually undermining the Commissioners? I have in mind issues such as light rail, Mutton Island treatment plant, the beef industry fine and of course the mobile phone licence which members of the Commission are discussing with Irish Ministers? Will the Taoiseach take the opportunity to try to stop these unseemly rows in public?
I take it the Deputy is not advising me to advise Ministers not to fight for Irish interests where they differ from those of the Commission. Certainly I would not give Ministers any such advice.
The Taoiseach should clear the lines.
It is my experience in dealing with the Commission, particularly the Commission led by my friend, Jacques Santer, that this relationship works extremely well, as it did with mon ami, Jacque Delors, aussi.
Oui, oui, aussi.
We will watch.