Name: Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Uploaded: 2026-07-16T08:30:00+00:00
Duration: 3636 s

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting

16 July 2026

Contents updated on 16 Jul 2026

The Chair opens the EMPL item with Minister Calleary’s presentation of the Irish Council Presidency, outlining its themes of competitiveness, values and security, and detailing priorities on labour market transformation, fair mobility, social protection, anti‑poverty measures and equality, including disability, gender and housing initiatives within the European Pillar of Social Rights framework.

02:21 - 03:52

Speaker 2

All right, colleagues, if I can please ask you to take your seats. So, we continue our committee meeting with the presentation of the Council Presidency's program. I would like to mention first that for this presentation, Irish as a passive language will be provided. And I would like to very warmly welcome Mr. Dara Calleary, Irish Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. And I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the invitation and for your warm hospitality during the informal EPSCO meeting, which I had the pleasure of attending last week in beautiful Ballina, County Mayo.

And I greatly appreciated also the engaging discussions that were held there on preventing poverty, strengthening enforcement and protection of workers' rights, and improving labor market participation of persons with disability, all also topics that have been greatly debated and discussed here in our committee. So today we will hear more about the Irish Presidency program and the priorities, and we'll start by giving the floor to you, Mr. Calleary, for 12 minutes. So please, the floor is yours.

03:51 - 07:38

Speaker 1

Thank you very much, Chair. Good morning, members. I'll be speaking in Irish and in English. Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, a chomhghleacaithe, a chomhghleacaithe Éireannacha, as an bhfáilte agus as an gcuireadh le bheith anseo. Agus táimid ag súil go mór le bualadh libh chun deiseanna fostaíochta agus gnóthaí sóisialta de chuid Uachtaránacht na hÉireann a chur i láthair don choiste tábhachtach seo.

Is cuimhin liom an cruinniú maith a bhí againn nuair a tháinig an coiste go Baile Átha Cliath i mí Feabhra, nuair a phléamar an tábhacht a bhaineann le hionchuimsiú sóisialta, postanna ardchaighdeáin, agus cearta comhionanna don chaighdeán maireachtála is airde is féidir. Táimid ag súil le leanúint lenár gcaidreamh dearfach leis an bParlaimint le linn ár n-uachtaránachta. Go mbuíochas leat freisin, a Chathaoirligh, as a bheith i láthair ag an gcruinniú neamhfhoirmiúil an tseachtain seo caite i mBaile Átha Cliath, inar phléamar straitéis faoi bhochtaineacht na hEorpa, agus an obair dho-chreidte le haghaidh cosaint na n-oibrithe, agus dul chun cinn i ndéanamh clár oibre, agus tionscnamh an AE chun tacú le daoine faoi mhíchumas a thabhairt isteach anseo. Chair, the Irish presidency of the Council has an ambitious agenda which is focused on the central themes of competitiveness, of values, and of security, underpinned by the enduring principle of ní neart go cur le chéile. There is no strength without unity.

These themes interlock, they mutually reinforce each other, they will guide all aspects of our work as presidency. We meet today at a time that is rapidly evolving on a global economic, political, and social landscape that's characterized by constant change and uncertainty. It is difficult in such circumstances to navigate these choppy waters, but all of us here today have an obligation and a responsibility to safely steer the EU, its labour market, and most importantly our citizens through these stormy waters. The world economy is currently one dominated by uncertainty and evolving relationships. We have been facing considerable uncertainty for an extended period now.

Whereas such circumstances were previously infrequent and occasional, global instability and crises are now the new normal. Europe as a whole has consistently and effectively responded to each crisis that we have faced. Those in recent years including Brexit and its fallout, the COVID-19 pandemic, wars in Ukraine, cost of living crisis, now the energy crisis from the war in Iran. The unity and the resilience of the European member state of the European Union has ensured that individual member states were able to act together, otherwise they would have had to confront these global challenges on their own. Our shared values are the bedrock which makes Europe a good place to live and to work.

They underpin our competitiveness and our security. Now more than ever, the European Union needs to defend, vindicate, and protect these values within Europe and globally. Our president priorities demonstrate that our European values are not just abstract ideas, but practical principles in which a more equal and a more socially inclusive society help not just to sustain and grow an economy, but to fuel its growth and development, and most importantly to underpin a society. European labour market is experiencing considerable and significant transformation.

07:38 - 10:45

Speaker 7

There are clear sectoral shifts with notable growth in services, especially information technology and healthcare, while traditional manufacturing sectors remain stagnant. The trend emphasizes the necessity for workers to acquire new skills and adapt to emerging industries, and the importance of us all promoting and undertaking lifelong learning. The Irish presidency will lead the discussion on how we create and support high-quality jobs within modern labor markets and to ensure that workers and employers are equipped to thrive within and beyond our single market. Recognizing that our economic and social model must keep pace in order to ensure Europe remains competitive, the presidency will address how Europe remains an attractive place to work and to live, how we ensure that we have sufficient access to skilled labor, and how we maintain a level playing field that means rights deliver real protections. The Irish presidency will work to eliminate barriers, to tackle regulatory burdens, to drive digital transformation, and to ensure a level playing field for businesses operating across the European Union.

Safe, high-quality jobs should be our aim. Simplification and better coordination of employment and social security rights do not mean a race to the bottom. The presidency will seek to highlight key European initiatives on employment, including the quality jobs roadmap and act, and the forthcoming fair labor mobility package. These initiatives are at the heart of the European employment agenda. They seek to address multiple dimensions of quality jobs such as working conditions, access to social protection, skills, equality, social dialogue, and collective bargaining.

The fair labor mobility package, which we expect to be published during our presidency, is identified as a priority in the One Europe, One Market roadmap. It aims to promote a more efficient EU labor market through enhanced worker mobility by promoting better workers' rights and a level playing field across member states. The Irish presidency will seek to engage with the fair labor mobility agenda, focusing on the proposal to develop a digital European security pass, ESPASS, to make it easier for individuals to exercise their social security rights when they are in another member state, to strengthen the mandate of the European Labor Authority to better support the effective implementation and enforcement of fair working conditions. One issue that we are all facing is that of digitalization and the adoption of artificial intelligence and its apparent unprecedented pace of change. While the adoption of AI offers some opportunities, including the potential for increased productivity, it may be part of the answer in how Europe responds to its changing demographics, it also poses significant challenges.