I thank all of the Deputies who have contributed to this very timely and pertinent debate as we embark on the eighth Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union since our accession in 1973, following the first Presidency in 1975. My dear friend Deputy Ó Murchú has laid out his concerns about the supposed failure of the European Union, to be expected from a party that has opposed every European referendum and Europe in its entirety until Brexit showed up. I appreciate the comments he has made. It is really important in this context to look at how Ireland has changed since we first joined the EEC in 1973. The average income of an Irish worker was two thirds that of the EU average then and it is now more than double the European average. At that time my mother was the victim of the marriage bar. She married in 1971 and was sacked from Ulster Bank, and I can give out about it now that it is no longer in the jurisdiction. In 1973, she had my considerably older brother and was sacked from a supposedly more progressive bank. It did not change until 1976. In 1972, the year we voted to join the EEC and Deputy Ó Murchú's political movement, of course, opposed that referendum, 55% of exports from Ireland went to Britain. Today it is in and around 10%. We were wholly reliant on our former colonial administrator to be the customer for our products and, in many cases, the receptive home for so many of our people. Our biggest export on paper may have been butter, beef or whiskey but really it was people. The era of mass emigration was in full flow and continued for many years, perhaps only starting to stem off when the EEC became the European Union. We were an economically lacking, socially regressive country whose water and air quality standards do not bear thinking about. Deputy Kenny very eloquently provided the muster as to why we need a strong Common Agricultural Policy as part of the MFF. The reason we have the CAP is for the very basis of food security, an issue that has returned to European shores in light of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, the breadbasket of Europe. Food security must, of course, come back to being a central argument in budgetary negotiations. Deputies Gogarty and O'Donoghue very eloquently talked about the need to make sure that we do not just pay lip service to security and that security is one of our values. The fact it is one of the three value points in our Presidency is not just a matter of words. I take very seriously Deputy O'Donoghue's criticism and I take it on the chin but, of course, what he failed to include is that the retention crisis in the Defence Forces is starting to reverse. In the past two years, we have seen more people joining and that is a good thing. The average numbers are turning around. The investment in naval vessels and radar technology is real and it goes to the heart of what the European project really is in its iteration and creation. It is a peace project and it is the most successful peace project. We have had the largest continuous period of peace between what are now EU member states in the history of mankind, and certainly in the history of the nation state. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, in her lengthy intervention, supplemented by the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, in addition to the various speeches today, set out that our policy agenda for the latter half of this year is ambitious. To support this policy agenda we will host an extensive programme of Presidency meetings, with more than 270 events including a European Political Community summit, where the Heads of Government of at least 47 countries will come to Ireland. We also look forward to the informal meeting of the European Council here in Dublin in November. Alongside this, we will host 22 informal ministerial meetings. This is why the Government has been determined from day one that the Presidency belongs to the entire country and not only the capital, a concern laid out by Deputy Clendennen. By hosting six of our 22 informal meetings and approximately one quarter of all of Presidency events outside of Dublin, stretching into every part of the State, we are ensuring the Presidency leaves a truly national footprint. I had the honour of working on our previous Presidency with the European Movement in 2013 and it very much had a Dublin focus. There were only 11 informal meetings compared to the 22 we will host this time, and none of those took place outside of Dublin. Of course, there were no other summits. I will go back to the point concluded on by my friend Deputy Ó Murchú, and alluded to by Deputies O'Rourke and Kenny, on making sure the North is part of this. I was cheered to see the likes of the First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and the leader of the SDLP, Clare Hanna, at the event today. Crucially, one thing left out by Deputies O'Rourke and Kenny was that the reason the European Council agreed unanimously that a united Ireland would be automatically part of the European Union was due to the advocacy of the former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, at one of the first European Council meetings after Brexit. Deputy Gould raised the issue of costs. This is an important issue of misinformation that needs to be tackled. An article is going around the national press, amplified by a number of elected representatives at local and Oireachtas levels, claiming that this Presidency is going to cost us €400 million and that it is, somehow, multiples of the cost of other Presidencies. I do not know how this figure has been arrived at. The exact cost, excluding security, will be €168 million. The cost of the Presidency in France was €145 million, in Sweden it was €121 million and in Spain it was €170 million. Deputy Gould is also outraged that there will be limited access to UCC tomorrow as we host the entire College of Commissioners. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and I know that we are not in term time now. While there are staff members in UCC, one day and a couple of hours of limited access is not somehow an attack on people by the elites. We need to have a bit of relativity and reasonableness in these debates. A successful Presidency is about two things. First, it is about making real progress on important legislative and policy proposals that will help to shape Europe’s future. I do not intend to repeat the areas led out by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, or the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, but I will touch on two points raised respectively by Deputy Ward and Deputy Ó Murchú. Crucially, there is also the importance of the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, which was also touched on by Deputy O’Donoghue. I appreciate Deputy Ward’s desire to highlight expectation management, but in the very same period, in the grips of the financial crash, this same responsibility landed on the last Irish Presidency in 2013. I have no doubt that we will be able to move budgetary proposals into a position where we will be able to hand them over in a very good condition to be agreed under the Lithuanian Presidency. I really want to underline, as the Minister of State with special responsibility for international development, as Deputy Ó Murchú laid out, that the abolition of USAID puts the focus on Europe. The European Union and its member states now account for over 50% of global development co-operation. Throw in Norway and Britain and we account for over two thirds of the world’s development co-operation. When it comes to budgetary discussions, Europe cannot fail the Global South. Irish Aid has stood tall. We are one of two member states, the other being Spain, to have increased our development budget. I look forward to seeing all-party agreement on that again in this budget. It is why we want to make sure that it is at the heart and the soul of the process when we have the first development informal meeting in 18 months in Dublin on 8 and 9 October. I thought of bringing it to Leopardstown Racecourse and maybe having a night at Johnny Fox's, but common sense prevailed. The second aspect in this context is really important. It is about communicating effectively with people so they understand what these decisions mean in practice and how they affect their communities, jobs, opportunities and daily lives. This is why it is important that everybody across Ireland has the opportunity to engage with the Presidency. Our Presidency provides a valuable opportunity for reflection on what it means for Ireland to be a member of the European Union in 2026 and what our enduring place within the Union means. This is why we have had serious levels of extensive consultation and outreach across the State. I was delighted to hold a development consultation on 8 December. The views we heard all contributed towards an ambitious policy programme that we can and will absolutely deliver on. It is also reflective of the shared priorities and aspirations. Deputy Clendennen also highlighted the need to make sure this is used as a template for re-engagement. This is why we see a children’s version of our Presidency policy programme. The Blue Star programme that he referred to was born out of the 2013 Presidency. I had the honour of working on the pilot project in that year. We also see the county pairings with member states. Dublin is tied with Greece, and I am delighted that the Greek ambassador could join me for Europe Day in St. Brigid’s Boys National School. Deputy Gogarty, also known by his stage name, His Sweet Surprise, in reference to his singing abilities, rightly championed the breathtaking cultural performances we heard in Dublin Castle today. Throughout this Presidency, we will see a real focus on our cultural offering as a nation and a people. This is also the first time where Gaeilge will be an official working language of the European Union under an Irish Presidency. This gives us a great opportunity. In conclusion, we have an immense challenge in front of us, which is coming at a stage when the world is in flux. We have a great opportunity and a great responsibility, and we are absolutely blessed to have a diplomatic and official team of over 500 individuals in Brussels and hundreds of people around our network who will drive an ambitious policy agenda and, crucially, a smooth Presidency that will be inclusive and welcoming and will get the job done. I look forward to all Members of the Oireachtas contributing to that and not just using these annual debates or the Europe Day debates to air whatever local grievances they have. Go raibh maith agat.

Sentiment score: 0.24