 Let's go to you guys out in the audience if you could tell us who you are and who you're representing as well this And we have a microphone of course Call Thanks for that time we would take two more questions that we could up the top with Tim and Sean over this side Yeah, we could maybe pull it over getting the mic up. You might want to respond something about from the regulatory impact And yeah, I think it's a broader area of impact assessment I think obviously is an area which needs to be looked at I think it's it's the effectiveness of the process because there is impact assessment in place It's it's a how effective a lot of it has been I think is the question Takes a question I ran the EU 15 average in 2012 it was five points above the average and Unless the rest have gotten worse Sean Just identify yourself, please An actual job and so that was part of your your 20-20 strategy I see from your go by your part of that much With the exception of education I just been very poorly on the 20-20 strategy targets And I think that means to me Social housing we've not be built in Ireland if we're dependent on private finance Under any circumstance in the next day I start with Sean Healy from social justice are you Michelle specific points to you I guess Thank you very much if I may just Starting by impact assessment. I just want to support what has been said We believe in the commission that this is absolutely essential. We need good evaluations of Government policies we need regular evaluations of government policies and when new policies are developed We need impact assessments. We look at cost and benefits of policies, but also regulatory impact assessment Basically designed to choose. What is the best regulatory intervention? We are trying to develop this at EU level with some success I would say but this is hard work to be so it takes time It takes a special expertise, but I really stress this point. It is absolutely fundamental I just want maybe to come to the point about jobless households For me, it's also linked with something Paul said about the integrated package of policies needed For activation. Actually, what I understand is that in Ireland you have jobless households you have long-term unemployed You have people with disabilities. So you have a part of the population which is in the margin and what cannot happen is a Return to economic performance and leave these people in the margins You need if you want to have a sustainable prosperity You need to make sure that those people as well are included in the labor market And so our advice is actually to have an activation policy Which is integrating the different elements the skills issues with the social issues with the health issues all together and we have made some proposals on contribution in this respect One aspect for us is not only that the education services or the education system talks to the social services And to the public employment service. It's also that the population concern the person's concern feel that they have One interlocutor that they are not speaking to ten different faceless administrations But there is a real integration that they feel that they have Somebody in front of them who understand their issues all together because if you want to help Somebody in this kind of or a family in this situation To get back to employment you have to resolve the social issues at the same time as the employment issues They cannot be disconnected. So this is basically an explanation short explanation on this point I agree the point was made about Putting more emphasis on inequalities. We have tried this year in this package to do it But I take very much your remark As a as a point about the importance of keeping that as a priority and our intention is to actually reinforce The priority on dealing with inequalities in our future recommendations Next year in particular Yeah, maybe I stop here. Sure. Rooney. Do you want to respond to any of those questions as well or poll? Feel free to jump in if you do otherwise. Yeah, no, right. Otherwise, we go back to the floor over here Two speakers So I'm Mark Ferguson. I'm the director general of science Foundation Ireland and also the chief scientific advisor to the government. I would welcome recommendations Thank you very much recommendations that 13 and 14 particularly the being Investing on research and innovation. It's very important that Ireland does better market Net net new technology But as you said, they displace a large number of people and we need to be better And lady behind just there as well They try to integrate And maybe if you sprint quickly there's a gentleman over this side had his hand up fast But of course that refugee issue integration question for right across Europe I think not not in any way particular to our answer Remember, it's very interesting. You mentioned the But I just say these things about people Because Ireland is still refusing stubbornly to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Although the European Union has ratified the convention, there's tremendous resistance Council that will hand in the commission to its proper implementation But the core of this convention has to do with accessibility of the built environment And this is atrocious all around Europe, not just in Ireland All around Europe and this represents a tremendous physical barrier to employing people with disabilities And this issue has not been raised at all in this discussion Thank you. Well, could you show a few issues there too? I mean on the CRPD the convention the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities I even myself do not understand why Ireland has not ratified That's very strange. Actually the only member state who has not ratified why But maybe somebody can enlighten me Because frankly there is no reason to stand outside this convention And indeed you said quite rightly that the EU itself has ratified the convention And we are doing everything we can to make sure it is properly implemented Next time, for instance, we have made a proposal which is now in discussion in the council On what we call the Accessibility Act Which is for key products and services which are available on the single market To make sure that they contain accessibility requirements which are the same in the 28 member states It's really extremely important for transport, for computers, for audio-visual services To make sure that the accessibility requirements are the same So that people with disabilities can use these services and products in the same way In different member states and also it's good for business Because it means that the same standards will apply across the single market So for the time being we were hoping to get a general approach on this in the council in the month of June It has not proven possible yet but it's clear that in the coming months We will work with the presidency to make sure that we have an agreement Actually this proposal is one of the few priorities which the three institutions agreed for 2017 Meaning that parliament, council and commission agreed that there should be a conclusion on this legislative file in 2017 So it's clear that for the commission it is a priority, we are working on it And I hope member states will follow us on this proposal Because people with disabilities actually we made an impact assessment when we prepared the proposal You have 80 million people inside the European Union who have disabilities But when you look at people who have temporary disabilities this is a much larger population And so it is really important that we take better into account the rights of persons with disabilities And to be also maybe more clear on this we have obligations with the UN In June actually in two weeks our performance how we implement well or badly this convention will be examined by the UN secretariat So it is a process in which we have every reason to be performing well Investment in research and development and innovation I fully agree that this is going to be a priority How the job market is evolving means that we need more innovation, we need more skills The two things are linked it's clear that we are not in an economy where we compete on low wages We are in an economy where our competitiveness depends on innovation and the skills of the workforce And so for this reason alone I think it's really crucial for Ireland to invest more in research and development Rowena you wanted to say something about the RNG piece as well Thank you very much, just to pick up on that innovation piece It's actually very interesting when you read what the commission had to say particularly about smaller companies And they said that there seemed to be an over focus on the research and development tax credits Which larger companies use and more targeted policy mixes with more direct funding Might better address the needs of Irish young and a bit of firms and I think that was well worth noting One thing that struck me in reading that as well was the need for innovation that is arising Surely from the fact that the UK decided to leave the EU 12 months ago And because there's an innovation required now for companies to actually start to think about Maybe selling their profits and services into the future And with that in mind I think some of the measures that the government have already started to put in place Through Enterprise Ireland through only two days ago the announcement about the support for really small companies Through the local enterprise offices is hugely important People have to actually now I don't know where we're going to put 270,000 tonnes of Irish beef Genuinely I mean we really do need to try and have as our first outcome still being able to put it into the UK But at the same time I think innovation generally has had one meaning But I think in the context now of this changed environment that we're going to be trading in Innovation resources are actually going to have to be put into companies who may do what they're doing quite well at the moment But may need to start innovating as to who they're now going to sell it to into the future Paul if you want to come back on some of those as well Yeah, I suppose to rightly focus on the issue of jobs and access to quality jobs as a response to poverty But in addressing poverty it must be as said a holistic approach So it's obviously around access to decent income but in and out of work Access to quality services and we know we have been mentioned including within communities And I mentioned healthcare as well and health outcomes And then access to quality jobs is extremely important And just in terms of inequality as we mentioned earlier And one of the issues of things has been highlighted by the government and by the commission Is that Ireland is probably one of the most effective countries in reducing poverty levels and inequality through social transfers But it also kind of is because Ireland is one of the most unequal society Highest level inequality and poverty before transfers And a lot of that relates to pay and to work and so on So I think we need to get under the hood and try and understand why Ireland is so unequal Such levels of inequality before social transfers And just one final thing in terms of migrants and some access to work and so on It has to be also social integration and integration to labour market I think the finding of the Supreme Court in relation to asylum seekers right to work I think is very important this week Ireland is not signed up to the reception directive, the EU reception directive So while most other countries, apart from Ireland and Lithuania Allow migrant workers to work in this country after a certain period In the countries of a certain period of time, Ireland doesn't And I think that's something now we need to go back and look at We have five minutes to a lot of time Let's go to another round starting here and lady up in the middle there Thank you And I'm going to end the record of your family A new agency based in Ireland about working very closely with the commission My question is around the public services Because that's something that we study in our collaborative research Access, availability, quality And before, there's no mention of the recommendation to the law But it is in the preliminary part And that's one of the issues for me And let's believe that while Ireland is investing more than the average Of the opening union, the outcomes in terms of the access and availability are lower And that's if you compare that maybe with other services Like in case you were a part of the first national public Thank you for that, Pablo And lady up there in the middle of the hall One more if there is, anybody? Just a number of points I would like to add We talked about social dialogue being one of the strengths of recovery And to also then have you kind of talked about that rate of bias for the tourist industry And I suppose it's just important to raise this forum That that rate of bias is not understanding the fact that hotels and federations Refuses to engage in the burden of treatment on wages So we have a real competition there I mean in the public services as well We're not so sure that social dialogue is monitoring Is going to actually see us through Because this concern for foundations doesn't really point to the law of wages And Poggenel spoke about it as well The issue of the carry's work And we know very much that Through the gay economy, the rights of the gay economy now And the various forms of the carry's work That low pay is a really serious problem Particularly in the hotel sector for instance And it affects women primarily For a very, very large extent So the child care is not just the only issue for women's participation It's also the problem of carry's work And just lastly, it's limited to this point of view That we don't really have a preparedness around Brexit In terms of the recognition That Poggenel are very, very one of the vectors of clothing And the commission has tools of disposal In terms of the globalisation of clothing That needs to be located in those areas And we should be much more proactive Particularly if we need one of the most effects of the economy In the New York on all things Thank you for that Let's start closing it up We'll start with you, Paul You might want to respond to that Particularly on the pay issue Which I think is quite interesting If you'll have Exchequer returns later today So we'll be looking at the income tax returns See if that is starting to manifest itself as an issue Yeah, I suppose that we mentioned quite a bit In terms of the issue of pay And the issue of precarious work And the living wage I suppose in a sense of ensuring that people who are working Can take home decent pay So it's not just about the hourly rate It's about what people have in their pocket At the end of the week to spend And the certain issues around that The level of in-work poverty So when we're talking about low-contensity households Jobless households are moving people Right into employment It's also important to look at the types of jobs That are there and the support that people need To get a decent job So I think there might be some issues Looking at legislation I think I've heard proposals in relation to legislation To deal with some issues around precarious work But this scenario is going to take a lot more focus Rowena Okay, thanks Just to pick up on the last point That Lorraine made, Lorraine I couldn't agree with you more I actually thought it was a bit like Harry Potter and Voldemort That wouldn't be mentioned In the country-specific recommendations There was references to external shocks But no reference to Brexit It ties in a small bit, I suppose, with the experience That we've had up until this point That we've been told repeatedly in Europe That Brexit hasn't happened yet Therefore, when we were trying to get people to engage on it It's not happening But I think the point that you make Is it is our responsibility To take the recommendations Or our government's responsibility To utilise them to address Brexit-specific issues I mentioned earlier The innovation piece that I think is Can be taken from this And used positively and effectively And I think next year's Country-specific recommendations Will be severely lacking If they don't actually make Greater and more explicit reference To the impact of Brexit And how it could impact Or will impact on our Economic structures And our public finances Thank you Maybe they don't make recommendations Because Brexit isn't an EU Or a national policy But on the other hand, it's so serious Do we need to wait for these guys To tell us what to do We should be doing something ourselves Michel, do you want to pick up On those last few points? I think you're right You should not wait for us To tell you what to do on Brexit, for sure No, but seriously When we prepared this set Of recommendations We thought carefully About what to say on Brexit And finally we decided to say Nothing Because, and I'm just telling you What also our president thinks Our president thinks that Brexit Should not dictate the European agenda The European agenda is about Coming together We have to define now The new mission statement Of the European Union Of 27 member states This is it This is not about Brexit We have to negotiate The divorce settlement But we need first and foremost To think about us, us the 27 So this is why these recommendations Do not talk about Brexit This being said, we are dealing with Brexit And Michel Barnier came to Dublin To explain what we are doing And I can tell you that we have In these negotiations The European interest And the Irish interest Very much at heart You have seen the negotiating directives They are quite clear In what we want So this is just an explanation If I may And I just want to say Because I forgot to reply to the point On the integration of refugees This is a problem Which is happening In several member states And there are some excellent examples Good practices In particular in Sweden and Germany Of measures Which have been developed On the spot And it's really I would say learning by doing almost Things which are really Working to help the refugees And their families In particular to be integrated In the labour market quite quickly They have some language programs Also some jobs that do not require A full proficiency in the language And this I think I recommend And maybe we can help you Also to look at these good practices Because I think this is what is working So instead of receiving a recommendation From Brussels Sometimes it's simply good that we show The good things which are done In another member state And I stop here That's great Michel Thank you very much for that It is true to say that comparisons With other countries' practices Are very valuable And also just from a media point of view The folks who watch television Just love to see what's going on In other countries And how they've addressed issues there Thank you very much for your attendance Here today We've got a lot to think about In a fairly short paper But well worth a read Focusing our thoughts on To do with fiscal, peace, investment Jobs, growth, equality and all that I suspect a lot of it is tied together By one horrible three letter word Tax And that's something we're going to have To think about a lot as well I'd like to thank Michel, Rowena And Paul for being our speakers Here today And thank you for attending Thank you