Emer Costello MEP
I was deeply honoured to have been elected in March 2009, by members of the Labour Party to go before the people of Dublin as first substitute in the 2009 European Election, and I am delighted to have the opportunity now, to succeed Proinsias as MEP.
I am looking forward to taking up the challenge of serving the people of Dublin. I believe that my experience of working with Leargas (Irish National Agency for European Co-Operation)_ and as a City Councillor and particularly as former Lord Mayor of Dublin will be invaluable in representing Dubliners’ interests in Europe. In particular I look forward to taking up the place on the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee, and bringing to it, the benefit of my own experience from the Lord Mayor’s Commission on Employment which I established in 2009.
I understand the bread and butter issues that are affecting people and I am rooted in the reality of our current economic climate. The last time there was a global economic crisis of this magnitude was in the 1930s. Then, like now, it was ordinary people who suffered – whose homes, livelihoods and futures were on the line, even though it was not of their doing.
We can turn this crisis around providing that Ireland and the other European states co-ordinate our policy responses, ensuring that as many people as possible can hold onto their jobs, homes, decent incomes and pensions, while providing adequate support for those who are thrown out of work or lose pensions. This is also the occasion to put in place sufficient regulation so that citizens are never again left to the greed of the bankers and speculators.
Our task now is not only to rebuild our economy. We must also rebuild our community based on fairness and solidarity. In Ireland this requires investing in social and physical infrastructure, investing in people and above all investing in our children, their care and their education, guaranteeing their future, not destroying it.
This is the approach Labour representatives have taken in the European Parliament up to now and which I hope to continue
