Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

There will be a summit in Prague in May on job creation and job protection. It is one thing to provide financial support for loans but it is another thing to address the fact that every country is haemorrhaging jobs. If we could retain and create jobs, economies could stabilise. We need a combination of financial stimulus, job maintenance and creation and upskilling. Could Ireland play a prominent role in restoring that summit to its original intention, that it would have the Heads of Government of all 27 member states coming up with proposals and then, with assistance from the European Union, delivering them to the member states? If that summit is downgraded and the Heads of State of the main countries do not turn up, we will not make much progress. Could we play the white knight and push the issue with other countries?

The Lisbon treaty debate was an afterthought at the Council meeting. What degree of detail did the Taoiseach offer his colleagues? Very little information has been given to Members of this House, despite commitments. When is the Taoiseach going to share this information and when will he ask for dialogue on the legal preparation of texts? When will this stop being a secret where discussions are going on behind closed doors? A referendum is a public matter where we change the Constitution.

Will the Minister of State explain why the Irish banking system has not availed of the money available in the European Investment Bank to inject into the Irish economy? The banks said they do not have a problem with recapitalisation but they are not giving money to those who need credit and they are not drawing down money from Europe to lend out. Is it because they are not getting the returns they want or because they cannot be bothered? Why is the Government not using its muscle, having guaranteed and recapitalised the banks, to ensure the banks start to resource the Irish economy by providing lines of credit to small and medium enterprises? This is why we have Council meetings, to ensure these decisions are taken and then implemented. If our institutions do not implement them what are we going to do about it?

Perhaps the Minister of State will address my suggestion about a State investment bank so we could bypass the private banks, which have reneged on their responsibilities.

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