Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests today. I also welcome two colleagues from the French embassy who are very prominent visitors to Leinster House and very effective in representing their country.

I wish to address the issues of political and democratic legitimacy and monetary union. Many of us feel that it is important to draw clear lines of delineation between the role of national parliaments and that of the European institutions. That division is very clear in terms of policies on deficits, Government spending and taxation. It is acceptable and beneficial for the European Union to require that Government borrowing stays within certain limits but I do not believe it is the role of the EU to determine how much any country raises through taxes or spends. If one country wants to tax at 50% of its national income and spend at 53% of its national income, while another wants to tax at 30% and spend at 33%, that should be the decision of the national parliaments. That is why we would have concerns about tax harmonisation. It seems that everyone is in favour of harmonising tax measures that tax other people, apart from their own citizens. Everybody is in favour of taxing multinational companies that are not based in their own country. They are also in favour of taxing global capital that does not originate in their own country. At the same time, everyone is against harmonising tax measures that affect their own people. That is my concern about tax harmonisation. France is adopting a stance on the audiovisual component of the free trade agreement which is in the French national interest, which is its right to do. Similarly, Ireland has concerns about measures that would negatively affect our ability to move to recovery. Only three years ago, our national deficit was almost 30% of our national income. Next year, it will be at 4.5%. Our country has made gigantic sacrifices to get to that point. We will ensure that what we think is needed to allow our country to move forward is recognised and respected by other countries, just as France will do. I say that in the context of a country that has regularly had referenda on European treaties and has always voted for their acceptance. I include here our adoption of the fiscal compact in the middle of gigantic difficulties for all of our families.

I will conclude by thanking France for its support during a period of difficulty for Ireland. I assure our guests of our continued support for European progress, as our Presidency has shown. However, I must also emphasise that our country and its people have made huge sacrifices to deal with the challenges facing us. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that our country moves towards recovery.