As Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and at the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment, I am pleased to join the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in welcoming the opportunity to address the Dáil on the first day of Ireland's eighth Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is a significant responsibility for Ireland and a moment of real opportunity for us to shape the European agenda at a time of profound change and challenge. Our Presidency priorities have been developed through broad consultation with people and organisations across the country and with our European partners. I strongly believe that these priorities reflect what Europe needs to do to deliver effectively for people across the 27 EU member states. From today until 31 December, Ministers and officials from across the Government are fully committed to serving in our roles as honest brokers to ensure positive outcomes for all of the Union’s 450 million people. We will chair the Council across its formations, anchoring every negotiation in our core priorities of competitiveness, values and security. By setting clear agendas, building consensus and brokering compromises, we will achieve a critical legislative programme in the interest of all 27 member states. The scale of the task we face is huge, but we are ready. In Brussels and Luxembourg, our Ministers will chair dozens of formal Council meetings. On the ground, our exceptional diplomats and officials will steer the vital day-to-day work of more than 170 Council preparatory bodies. Irish Ministers and Ministers of State, including me, will also lead on our engagement with the European Parliament across numerous complex policy areas, while leading and co-ordinating the work of the EU in major international negotiations, including significant United Nations conferences. By working with our partners across Europe to deliver an effective Presidency, we will ensure that Ireland’s position, influence and reputation in the EU is maintained and enhanced. We want to ensure the EU can respond effectively to the needs of citizens, communities and businesses across the 27 member states. One area that will be of particular importance during our Presidency will be circularity and the circular economy, which ties directly into the themes of competitiveness and resilience. At our upcoming informal meeting of environment Ministers, we will discuss the role of circularity as a critical component of resilience against external shocks and global supply chain impacts. Recent developments, including the conflicts in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have highlighted the far-reaching consequences of supply chain disruptions, extending well beyond energy security. Turning to small businesses, which is an area I feel particularly strongly about, Ireland comes into this Presidency with a clear commitment to co-operation, ambition and delivery. We want to work constructively with our European partners to strengthen our economies, support workers and ensure Europe remains competitive in the long term. The Department will host the SME and Clusters Assembly in Dublin in November. This flagship Presidency event will build on our core theme of competitiveness, bringing together more than 600 entrepreneurs, business representatives, experts and policymakers from across Europe. The assembly will focus on practical measures to strengthen the SME sector, including improving access to finance, promoting entrepreneurship, accelerating digitalisation and supporting businesses to expand into new export markets. Through our work in leading negotiations and building consensus across the competitiveness agenda, we will help to deliver practical outcomes that enhance the competitiveness, resilience and long-term growth of Ireland’s and Europe’s small businesses. I will turn to space policy, which might seem a bit removed from day-to-day concerns, but is not. It is becoming increasingly important for Europe’s economic security and technological leadership. During our Presidency, we will advance work to enhance Europe’s economic resilience, ensuring the European Union is well positioned to compete and prosper in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing global environment. This ambition also extends to the space sector, which is becoming ever more important to Europe’s economic security, technological leadership and strategic resilience. The Irish Presidency will prioritise measures to strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s space sector by unlocking the potential of the Single Market for space, fostering innovation, supporting the growth of SMEs and enabling European space enterprises to scale and succeed. We will also work to ensure that the EU’s ambitious space agenda is underpinned by a sustainable long-term framework through progress on the EU space services agency regulation. At the same time, we will seek to advance the EU Space Act to help to maintain safe, secure and sustainable space operations as activity in space continues to grow. Through these efforts, Ireland will help to reinforce Europe’s open strategic autonomy, strengthen our collective security and resilience, and support the European Union’s position as a global leader in this strategically important sector. When we talk about competitiveness, it is important to say it is not just about business; it is about people too. A competitive Europe must also be a fair Europe and we will strike the right balance between supporting businesses to grow and innovate and protecting workers and maintaining strong social standards. As highlighted by the Draghi and Letta reports, Europe faces significant competitiveness challenges, including an innovation gap, slower productivity growth and the need to deepen the Single Market. Our Presidency will support the European Commission’s competitiveness compass by promoting an environment where SMEs can grow and scale, emerging technologies can flourish and investment can drive sustainable economic growth. A key priority during our Presidency will be advancing the European employment agenda, including work on the forthcoming quality jobs Act and the fair labour mobility package. These initiatives will help to shape the future of work across Europe by supporting quality employment, fair working conditions, skills development, social dialogue and labour mobility.

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