I draw Deputies' attention to the fact that the definition of the Framework Agreement includes amendments to it. That has been included for the very good reason that there will be fairly technical amendments to the agreement from time to lime and it would be a gross misuse of resources to have to prepare amending legislation each time. For instance, the definition would accommodate the accession of Estonia to the euro and the consequential amendments that will have to be made to the agreement under Article 13(7). The most significant change that can be made to the agreement would be an increase in the overall ceiling of €440 billion. Under section 3, the maximum amount that the Central Fund can pay out is €7.5 billion. I am asking for some leeway over the current maximum exposure to allow for an emergency increase in the agreement's ceiling of €440 billion, potentially when the House is not sitting. The leeway could permit agreement to an increase of approximately €28 billion on a euro-wide basis over the current €440 billion ceiling without requiring further legislative amendment. That is an appropriate balance. Any increase above that level will require an amendment to our legislation before we could agree to it.

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