Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The Taoiseach in his contribution stated: "At the same time, of course, there is a balance to be struck to ensure that we do not adversely constrain member states' room for action as we face varying challenges in sometimes quite different circumstances." I agree with this comment in response to the position in which Greece found itself. It is very interesting to note how the newspaper comment on the position in Greece ignored the transition in government that took place and, with it, the transition in economic policies in regard to Greece. Prime Minister Papandreou is being advised by Joseph Stiglitz in a particular form of reconstruction of the Greek economy.

Does the Taoiseach agree it is time to introduce to the Council a consideration of transaction taxes at global level? This is in fact the restatement of the case for the Tobin tax. There is no doubt that what was deeply disappointing in the run-in to the Council on which the Taoiseach is reporting was the nearly irresponsible attitude of the German Chancellor, who ignored the significance of the speculative cloud hanging over the Greek currency. In addition, let me place on record the inglorious and disgraceful activity by international institutional forces, such as Goldman Sachs, in facilitating this threat to the Greek currency. These matters are not abstract ones invented by me; they are real. I would welcome the Government taking a strong position of advocacy in regard to a transaction tax.

With regard to the balance between monetary and fiscal policy, it is a matter of first order that, while we have economic and monetary union, we have a set of mechanisms to achieve stability. At the same time, we must bear in mind a breakaway is taking place from all forms of economy internationally, and this is being reflected in different ways in individual economies. This is not just a matter for the G8 and G20, whose thinking sometimes interferes with solidarity thinking within the EU itself. In that sense, there is rightly a huge difference between fiscal policy and monetary policy. While the German Chancellor may favour a treaty amendment that would extend monetary policy to encroach on what is fiscal policy and, therefore, a national responsibility, this would be very dangerous. The reality, of course, is that she may well be swept away and we will be dealing with an entirely new paradigm that will prevail in Europe.

For the first time in the history of the State, we have a Minister with the title of "social protection". It was one of our not so glorious achievements that during the time of speculative levels of growth sustained by among other things, the property bubble, we had low levels of social protection. We can leave the argument about how that is measured for another day. Nonetheless, however it is measured, the level of social protection was low. Therefore, in regard to the other agendas to which the Taoiseach referred, an issue arises as to how we will achieve social inclusion at a time when 80 million people are unemployed in the European Union.

One of the most important points is to return to the debate about European citizenship, in that European citizenship must not be confined by the experience of unemployment. Member states differ in this regard. If one is unemployed, one should be able to participate fully as a citizen in regard to the public space, public institutions and so on. It also provides the best opportunity of not moving from being a cyclically unemployed person to being a long-term unemployed person.

With regard to the matters raised by Deputy Costello in regard to climate change, while of course Copenhagen was a disappointment, as we prepare for the conference in Mexico, it is important that Ireland takes a lead in building alliances with, for example, the bloc of developing countries in regard to their capacity and the transfer of resources and technology. We must also ensure that the preparations for a European Union position in Mexico will not be confined to the rather dubious relationships of the strong but will include a genuine set of relationships and alliances. In other words, Ireland can be responsible as a member of the common European Union position but it is also uniquely placed to have a very positive constructive position on matters that will affect those most vulnerable to climate change through its development model.

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