My overall focus for the Irish Presidency will be to advance the EU social policy agenda generally and, in particular, make progress in delivering on the Lisbon agenda. One of the goals of the Lisbon agenda is to achieve greater social cohesion. In this regard, the second round reports on national action plans for social inclusion were evaluated recently. The results are currently being compiled into the second joint inclusion report for approval by the Council of Ministers and for presentation to the European Council at its spring meeting during the Irish Presidency.
Ireland will also host a conference of people experiencing poverty, the aim of which will be to further develop ways of promoting participation by and consultation with people experiencing poverty in the context of developing policies in this area. Making work pay, that is, addressing the financial incentives to encourage people to seek, take up and remain in work is one of the key policy areas which we will address as part of our contribution to modernising social protection systems. This issue has been chosen as the main theme for discussion at the Informal Council of Ministers for Employment and Social Policy in January next. The issue of migration will also be a priority for my Department during the Irish Presidency.