Mr. Pierre Moscovici:

This Commission has been defined by its President, Jean-Claude Juncker, as a political Commission. That does not mean that we are politicised and working in an arbitrary manner but we are men and women who happen to be former Prime Ministers and former Ministers. I have been a Member of Parliament and a Member of the European Parliament and a Minister for seven years and now I am a Commissioner. I have worked at all sides of the triangle of the institutions, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. I can assure the Deputy that I am as worried as he is about the race to populism but I would look to the grassroots of that populism.

I would not say it is about this or that proposal but about a lack of jobs, growth that is too slow, too much debt and the fact that the economy of the eurozone is in recovery. However, it is too slow and we seem to be losing ground in competitive terms. In particular, we need to create jobs. It so happens that I am also Commissioner for tax as well as for implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact which I would not oppose. What I am trying to do as a Commissioner is to create jobs through tax as well as fiscal policy.

Members must tell me if some questions are unanswered as I agree that would not be satisfactory. We are at the beginning of a discussion and if at the end all of the questions have not been answered, we will not have a compromise. Where I differ is that I do not believe we should withdraw this proposal. I think we should take it as a starting point - a rather interesting and good starting point - and try to improve it together. When I say "together", I mean the Commission and member states through their governments controlled by their parliaments. If I was not deeply convinced that this proposal is capable of creating jobs, ensuring fairness and having a better fight against tax evasion and tax fraud, I would not submit it, but I am convinced that is the case. I do not say it in order to charm the committee; the only thing I expect from the Irish Parliament today is that it will enter into it without a principled refusal, that it will consider and discuss it and that we will improve it together. In the end, let us see whether we can move on. That is not in contradiction with what members have said about the Stability and Growth Pact.

In terms of the proposal, I am proud that the Commission, under the leadership of President Juncker, introduced more flexibility in its interpretation of the Stability and Growth Pact. As soon as it came into force we established on 13 January 2015 a communication of flexibility to encourage those countries with structural reforms, difficult investment conditions, which were suffering from earthquakes, as our Italian friends did several times, or on the front line in welcoming refugees. There will still be improvements, but there is one thing I wish to reiterate, that is, that while we can introduce flexibility in the Stability and Growth Pact, we cannot have flexibility against it.