Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

There was no request from Greece for funds before the Council. This meeting was a follow-up on the February Council statement which said it would provide support for Greece. That was to satisfy the markets from which Greece is trying to obtain funds. Greece wishes to handle this matter itself as a sovereign state and it is taking tough measures to do that. There was no request before the European Council for support for a fellow member state. Instead, there was a request for the Council to devise or indicate what mechanisms would come into play as a matter of last resort should such a requirement arise.

The statement from the European Council sets that out clearly in the interests of showing solidarity in the Union and that it is serious about defending its currency. That is important for Ireland, even if the problem pertains to Greece or another member state. Any attack on the currency is an attack on the whole zone of stability the euro represents.

We indicated, as did all other member states, the basis on which we would be prepared to assist should a request come. I refer Members to the statement by the European Council which sets out the mechanism as distinct from the idea we were committing specific amounts of money. We indicated the majority of assistance would come from Europe but would include the participation by the IMF. That represented a compromise from previous views expressed prior to the Council meeting by various Heads of State and Government, notably Germany's.

There is also an agreement to have work completed by the end of the year to ensure such a situation does not arise again. The economic difficulties that arose in Greece during its change of government were because the real public finance position was different from what had been submitted to the European Commission. That cannot happen again. Every member state needs to know each other's true economic position.

Speculation is idle on how the Stability and Growth Pact should operate with excessive deficit procedures and what carrot-and-stick approach should be adopted until this detailed work is done by all member states. It will be at the end of the year when we will know from ECOFIN and the European Council precisely what amendments are needed for the pact. The question will then arise whether there needs to be an amending treaty. We all hope it would be possible to provide the necessary rigour and improvements to the system without such an amending treaty. I cannot anticipate the outcome until we see how the situation develops, it is resolved and what is regarded as a proportionate response to the developments with which we are contending.

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