Alan Kelly
Ceist:3. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Europe last met; and when it is next expected to meet. [18561/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 9 September 2020
Ceisteanna (3)
Freagraí ó Béal (10 píosaí cainte)
The Cabinet committee on Europe was established by the Government on 6 July 2020 to oversee implementation of programme for Government commitments in relation to the European Union and related issues. It met on 16 July 2020, in advance of the special meeting of the European Council held in Brussels from 17 to 21 July, when it discussed negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework, the seven-year budget for the EU and on the next generation EU recovery package. It will continue to meet as appropriate, including to discuss issues on the agenda of the European Council. The date of its next meeting has not yet been fixed.
The Cabinet committee on Europe is obviously important and should be meeting pretty regularly, possibly at short notice, given current dynamics. It has been a difficult few weeks for Ireland on the European stage, culminating in the events that led to our previous discussion. All of us in this House need to work together to fight for the best interests of our country. We have lost a commissioner and I wish my former MEP colleague, Mairéad McGuinness, the very best in her new role. I am sure she will do very well in an important brief.
Can the Taoiseach confirm that the Government backs the European deposit insurance scheme that was announced in 2015 and part of the proposals to complete banking union? A deal was done on a €750 billion Covid-19 recovery plan as part of the EU budget that was agreed in July. We do not have much detail about the plan or what the Government is doing. Will the Taoiseach provide some of that detail? We do not know, for instance, how much of a contribution Ireland has made. What were our contributions? Is it known yet what we can expect to receive? This will be critical money. What can we expect to receive? What are the Government's projections in that regard and for what will we use that funding?
We are expected to receive €1.3 billion in grants to help with Covid recovery along with access to approximately €1.4 billion in loans. Does that remain the case?
What were the amounts the Deputy mentioned?
Are the figures still around €1.3 billion in grants and €1.4 billion in loans? We have not much information or clarity in that area. Have we any details about conditions attaching to such money? It would be helpful to know that, particularly the conditions that might apply to loans.
I understand that under the recovery and resilience facility, of which approximately €853 million is available to Ireland, member states must submit draft plans along with a national budget in October. Where are we on that? What stage is that at and how is it complementing budget preparation? Are they being done in tandem because the timelines are similar? Will the Taoiseach give us detail about that?
What did the Deputy say about timelines?
The timelines are similar.
To which timelines is the Deputy referring?
The timelines for applications to the recovery and resilience facility and the announcement of the budget are the same. Are we preparing our submission in tandem with the budget? Where do they cross over? Will the Taoiseach give detail about that?
The potential funding from that facility will cross over a range of areas. Who is in charge of making the submission? Was it discussed at the Cabinet committee on Europe or where has it been discussed? Where is it being drilled through in terms of Cabinet committees? The Taoiseach might confirm if it has been discussed at all because I have a suspicion it may not have been. The Taoiseach might discuss that and detail how we could potentially use the money, what projects are being proposed etc. Quite a lot of detail is required and not much of it is in the public domain, albeit the Dáil has not been sitting. We need to fill in the gaps.
I want to raise two issues with the Taoiseach that I believe need to be top of the agendas of the committee on Europe and the Government. The first relates to the cost of insurance in Ireland compared to its European neighbours. The Taoiseach will know that, for the past two years, my colleague, an Teachta Pearse Doherty, has challenged the insurance industry for its rip-off practices. It is fair to say that he has been a thorn in its side. The report published today by the Central Bank is absolutely damning in its assessment of differential pricing. It verifies all of the criticisms that Deputy Doherty has levelled at the industry and the challenges put by him to the industry. What is the Taoiseach going to do about this? Is he prepared to step up and end the insurance rip-off and the strategy of dual pricing?
I also raise the Council of Europe Lanzarote Convention on preventing child abuse. Armenia has now completed the process of ratifying the agreement which means that Ireland is the only member state of the Council of Europe yet to ratify it. The Taoiseach knows this is a vital convention and leads the way internationally in outlining key measures to protect children against many forms of abuse. This State and former Governments of which the Taoiseach was a member do not have a good record of protecting children. I must mention those who were abused as children at Creagh Lane school in Limerick who will be outside the Dáil seeking justice already granted to them by the European Court of Human Rights and the Irish courts.
The Taoiseach will recall that he correctly took a very firm stand against the previous Government in terms of its delay in enabling victims to access the State redress scheme established for the survivors of abuse in national schools. Today, the Creagh Lane men are calling on him to take direct responsibility to ensure that their claims are accepted by the scheme and that they are offered compensation. I invite the Taoiseach to respond to those men very directly today and confirm that he will back them up and ensure that they are recognised and receive the compensation they are rightfully due.
The Cabinet EU committee will primarily deal with the EU Council issues and EU issues more generally. There is a separate Brexit and Northern Ireland committee. We met before the latest EU Council meeting, which was successful. From the Irish perspective, we took a very honest broker approach, believing it was important that the EU worked in a collective fashion to borrow money to assist Europe's recovery and particular member states who will be in greater difficulty than others because of their fiscal and economic capacity and environment.
There was a fairly strong and robust debate on that initiative around the amount that would be allocated in grants and loans and the division between the two. Eventually, a compromise was arrived at - €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in loans. Ireland was always clear that we were going to be a net contributor. The Union published material in advance that suggested that between now and 2058, we would have to repay billions of euro. That has since been revisited. Rather than providing speculative figures today, I will come back to the Deputy with detailed figures as best as we can get them on repayments over that length of time.
There are various estimates as to whether the figure will be €1.3 billion or €1.5 billion for Ireland. Ireland could do better in those areas where we do not get a direct proportionate allocation but there are various competitions for funds. Over recent years, we did well in the Horizon 2020 fund or the research funds where we competed with colleges, SMEs and businesses. As the Minister at the time, I was involved in setting up Enterprise Ireland to have a lead Irish person to co-ordinate everybody to go after funding under research and it worked. Our levels of funding went up. There are quite a number of other funds that we should be competing more practically for, over and above what we might get in the form of grants.
In respect of loans, we are entitled to borrow from this fund, but the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform have been in touch with the NTMA and others. We are borrowing at very low rates at the moment. That is a decision that will be made technically and we will take technical advice on the optimal route to borrow. Nonetheless, there will be a facility there for us. We have to now prepare a plan for the recovery and resilience fund, and we are doing that. The Cabinet economic committee will assess that.
The Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform are centre stage in the submission that will be made to Brussels. It will have to be in line with the key themes that have been published, including the green and digital strands of the recovery plan that has been published at a European level. The responses of member states have to reflect the published objectives. That dovetails quite neatly with the programme for Government's commitment on the environment and climate change. I do not have any doubts about our capacity to have a robust plan to submit to the Commission to get the maximum funding to which we would be entitled.
A formula was devised at the Council, which was revised following the negotiations and discussions. Significant funding will be front-loaded in respect of criteria relating to the pre-Covid position of the various economies. The agreement was amended so that consideration will be given to the impact of Covid from 2022 onwards on unemployment levels and the economies of all member states. That was agreed to try to give a greater equilibrium in the allocation of resources to member states across the board. I can get the Deputy more detailed documentation on that and will forward it to her.
I want to take this opportunity to wish the new Commissioner, Ms Mairead McGuinness MEP, every success. She has a very important portfolio. Throughout this, I have had the best of relations with the President of the Commission and they have not been harmed in any way. We have had, and will continue to have, good, constructive engagement on a range of issues. The portfolio that Ms Mairead McGuinness MEP has received reflects the continuing good relationship between Ireland and the Commission, contrary to what people were speculating on. I also want to pay tribute to the former Commissioner, Phil Hogan, who gave distinguished service to the country in his roles as agriculture and trade Commissioner.
On the insurance issue, I believe Europe has a stronger role to play in liberalising the industry and creating greater competition so that consumers can benefit from such competition. The Government will establish a special sub-committee of the economic committee to deal specifically with the insurance issue, which will bring in different Departments and make sure there is a cross-cutting departmental approach to tackling the costs of insurance to reduce the negative impact on businesses, enterprises and people more generally in their daily lives.
I will check out the process of ratification of the Lanzarote Convention.
In respect of the survivors of primary school sexual abuse, the Department of Education and Skills is currently undergoing a comprehensive review, which the Minister and I are awaiting. I raised this issue at a very high profile level and fought for those affected for quite some time. I got results for some, including raising the profile of the issue. The Iarfhlaith O'Neill report yielded results for some, but not all, victims. The Deputy mentioned a remaining issue in respect of the Creagh Lane survivors. I will contain to pursue the issue. We await the outcome of the review the Department of Education and Skills is currently carrying out following the outcome of Iarfhlaith O'Neill's report.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.