Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy raised the position of other countries, particularly the Czech Republic. Following our decisive referendum result on the Lisbon treaty, we are keen to see it enter into force as soon as possible. I appreciate this position is shared by the majority of Members of the Oireachtas.

In that context I welcome the signature of the Polish instrument of ratification by President Kaczynski last Saturday. There has been speculation, much of it unhelpful, about what it will take to satisfy Czech President Václav Klaus so that he would sign the Czech ratification instrument. We need greater clarity on what exactly the Czech Republic is seeking in the first instance, which is a matter for the Swedish Presidency to ascertain in consultation with the Czech Republic. I would then expect consultation with other member states either before or at the next European Council scheduled for 29 and 30 October. In the meantime, it is not helpful to add to speculation.

I repeat that we wish to see the treaty enter into force as soon as possible and we are conscious of the role of the Presidency in the matter. It is important we obtain institutional certainty for the reasons outlined in other parts of the Deputy's question. I am aware of a meeting involving the President of the Commission and the Czech Prime Minister, Mr. Fischer, yesterday but there is a need for the Presidency to be allowed some time and space to deal with this matter in a way that I hope will see ratification of the treaty as quickly as possible.

On the question of the position of Presidency of the European Council, I spoke to President Barroso on the day it emerged that we would approve the referendum ourselves. He made the point that the question of the position of high representative, which would be a vice president of the Commission, must be designated by the European Council. There is a current issue in that there is institutional uncertainty as a result of the Czech position as to whether the next Commission will be established under the Nice or Lisbon treaty.

When I spoke to President Barroso, I reminded him of the importance to the Irish people of the Commission and Commissioner issue, as was evident in the context of our referendum. We discussed the matter further. Regardless of the treaty basis, each member state is currently considering who they will nominate and for my part, I am now giving careful consideration to the matter.

On the issue of the President of the Council itself, there are no officially declared candidates as I understand it. Speculation has arisen about the matter and in the immediate aftermath of our referendum I was asked a question on a programme for UK television about former Prime Minister Blair. I said that if Mr. Blair is declared to be a candidate, we will favourably consider that candidacy in view of our knowledge of him and the contribution he has made to this country during his tenure as Prime Minister. We will wait to see if other candidates are declared but I wanted to indicate the esteem in which that person is held in this country in view of the contribution he made to bilateral relations and progress on this island when he was Britain's Prime Minister.

The Deputy raised another issue relating to the G20 meeting. The G20 leaders last month agreed to launch a framework laying out the policies and ways to act together to generate strong, sustainable and balanced global growth. They also pointed to the need to shift from public to private sources of demand and to establish a pattern of growth across countries that is more sustainable and balanced, and to reduce development imbalances. G20 members pledged to avoid destabilising booms and busts in asset and credit prices and to adopt macroeconomic policies, consistent with price stability, that promote adequate and balanced global demand. They also undertook to make decisive progress on structural reforms that foster private demand and strengthen long-run growth potential. They called on their Finance Ministers and central bank governors to launch the new framework by November by initiating, with the assistance of the IMF, a co-operative process of mutual assessment of our policy frameworks and the implications thereof for the pattern and sustainability of global growth.

In response to the economic crisis, the G20 agreed to continue support for economic activity until recovery is assured. This approach has also been endorsed at EU level and is consistent with the strategy underlying the European economic recovery programme. The G20 leaders also agreed that the reform of pay and bonuses for bankers is a priority issue and that it must be dealt with in order to avoid a business-as-usual attitude creeping back into the financial sector. The main changes envisaged involve the reform of remuneration practices in order to increase financial stability. These changes include avoiding multi-year guaranteed bonuses; ensuring that compensation for senior executives and other employees having a material impact on a firm's risk exposure will be aligned with performance and risk; and making companies' compensation policies and structures transparent by means of disclosure requirements.

See this speech in context