Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Like other speakers, I congratulate the Tánaiste and the Ministers on the progress to date on the Irish Presidency. I have a few questions, in particular with regard to the breakthroughs on capital requirements and banking bonuses. To what degree are non-eurozone member states likely to be affected by the cap on bankers' bonuses and to what extent are they likely to concur, albeit reluctantly in some cases? Can the Tánaiste give us some indication as to whether the principle has been established and will be accepted?

In respect of the two-pack on economic surveillance and the EU-US trade agreement, are budgetary cutbacks in the US likely to impact on it and the potential for growth which we need to develop to a greater extent? To what extent is it becoming more accepted that debt management, along with fiscal policy, is likely to be co-ordinated throughout the EU inside and outside the eurozone?

Energy costs are fundamental to economic recovery. Brent crude is about the price it was four years ago yet oil prices for the consumer have relatively doubled. To what extent can the EU during the Irish Presidency and thereafter use its influence to ensure that any savings are made available for economic recovery throughout the EU as opposed to going for other purposes such as oil company profits?