Senator Bacik Welcomes News that Expert Group to be Set-Up to Implement ABC Judgement

Order of Business

Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik: I am delighted Senator Mooney ended on a positive note. That was very welcome. We all agree and wish our very best to the Irish team and Giovanni Trapattoni.

To respond to what he said in terms of the gloomy news, certainly the ESRI report did make for gloomy news as it emphasised the serious nature of the difficulty at European level, beyond national boundaries. Senator Mooney sought greater clarity on Europe. What is lacking in today's headlines was the result of the meeting of European finance Ministers last night which came up with what we all hope will offer a way forward through the crisis, namely, giving the IMF a more dominant role in terms of providing support to states in financial difficulty. Those reports offer a more optimistic prognosis for the future than we see in the ESRI report. Any debate we have must take account of that issue. Our Minister for Finance and other representatives were active in that regard. Senator Mooney referred to our similarity with Britain, but there is a significant difference in terms of our presence in the eurozone while Britain is outside it. Any agreement we reach on a way forward must be in conjunction with eurozone partners. That is very clear. That is plan A and it is also plan B.

I also wish to point out to Senator Mooney that yesterday's Cabinet meeting agreed the establishment of a Cabinet sub-committee on European engagement - an interdepartmental committee on which the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, will play a major role. A formal mechanism has now been established to ensure a more interdepartmental approach to European engagement.

… I am delighted also that Senator Mooney is seeking a cross-party approach to the matter.

… There will be great support for the Senator's suggestion. It would be helpful to have a debate on the Croke Park agreement in the new year. Others have called for that. However, any debate on the agreement must take account of what is happening elsewhere. We see gloomy news today for those waking up in Britain with a day of action and a strike taking place. The bulk of those covered by the Croke Park agreement are low paid public sector workers on salaries of €30,000 to €40,000 per year who have taken immense cuts and pain in recent years and yet we have not had anything like the type of unrest evident in Britain. We have not had strikes. We must take account of that in any debate on the Croke Park agreement.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, of a further cut to public pensions of more than €100,000. Although only approximately 250 people are affected and the saving to the Exchequer is not great, it is important in the interests of fairness that the Government is doing this, as so many lower paid people are taking a lot of hits. I very much welcome it.

I also welcome the report from yesterday's Cabinet meeting that an expert group is being established to implement the ABC judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on access to abortion, and that the group will report within six months. That is extremely important. It is a matter on which successive Governments have dragged their feet for many years but which the Government is committed to tackling.