Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I thank the Taoiseach for describing how the issues are to be progressed at European level and the expected work of the taskforce. Not only is it important that there is agreement at European level on the need to stabilise the currency but it is important that there is agreement at national level as well on the measures that are required to do that. It is with a view to establishing where the Government stands in respect of the issues that have now to be addressed that I am pursuing these questions.

With respect, the Taoiseach's responses on where the Government stands on the future of the regulatory regime in Europe are a bit on the vague side. Issues require to be addressed such as the regulation of hedge funds. It is clear that the speculation we have seen in the recent past against individual countries and the euro gives rise to a requirement for much greater regulation. I interpret what the Taoiseach has said as a somewhat belated move in Government thinking from the era of light touch regulation and what he described as the mistaken view of the past. I presume what he means by that is the kind of policies that were advocated and expounded by the then Minister, later Commissioner, Mr. McCreevy, and the generalist position of the Government. There is a need for the Government to be clear and to outline the position on the regulation of hedge funds, the so-called Robin Hood tax and the other issues which will now be considered at European Union level and which are the next phase of this process.

The Taoiseach did not answer the earlier part of my question, namely, the implications and consequences of the weekend's agreement for our national budgeting. Could the Taoiseach confirm there will not be an early budget? Is it the case that there will be a requirement for greater European supervision of our budgetary process as a result of the agreement? What is the Taoiseach's take on Europe's interpretation of our current deficit and likely deficit given the EUROSTAT decision on the €4 billion that went into Anglo Irish Bank and whether that has to be factored into the national accounts?

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