Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy should look at the data that were published today and check the composition of the governments in countries where the economies are growing and the composition of the governments in countries where the economies are not growing. In terms of the big countries, namely, France and Italy, and particularly France which has a left-wing Government, they do not seem, so far, to be achieving the great heights that Deputy Murphy would like to see when left-wing people are in power.

Be that as it may, to answer the Deputy's question, there is a task force examining the potential for investment. It will report to the December meeting. It was sparked by the declaration by the new President of the Commission, Mr. Juncker, that a €300 billion fund should be invested across Europe, particularly in necessary infrastructure. That is a significant sum and is the first amount of money that has been placed on the table officially by the Commission. The President of the Heads of State and Government, the former Prime Minister of Poland, has put a figure of €700 billion on the table. I presume, therefore, the minimum is €300 billion and whether it will work up from that will be a matter for the Heads of State and Government. What needs to be done is to develop projects that will give a real rate of return. I believe that part of the package of investment should also deal with structural failings and weaknesses in some of the European economies as well as some regulatory issues. It should not just be a case of countries saying they have shovel-ready projects and then they are given a bundle of money to spend as they see fit. The object of this key investment will be to get real growth going in some of the European economies where there is no growth at present.