Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I do not envisage any support for it to be progressed as an EU project. It is a question of trying to get a wider consensus around this issue. The mobilisation of capital and financial services, the provision of financial services in industry and the jobs this provides make it important that a wider consensus applies rather than simply one involving Europe. That was the basis upon which the transaction tax issue was being discussed and put forward. We would prefer to see a consensus emerge but not one restricted to the EU only.

I refer to the question of levies. As the Deputy will see from the conclusions, the discussion related to levies or other mechanisms being provided against the banks in an effort to repay or to recognise the fact that taxpayers have had to step in throughout Europe in all counties as a result of the impact of the financial crisis on the banking system. This is something we are doing at the moment through the guarantee scheme. It is a matter for national governments to decide how that should be dealt with. National circumstances differ from country to country.

I refer to the budgetary question. This does not involve a change in our budgetary procedures. It is a question, rightly in my opinion given what has taken place in the financial area generally throughout Europe, of the need for better and more effective surveillance and monitoring by the European Commission and the European Central Bank of budgetary policies to ensure the obligations under the Stability and Growth Pact are adhered to. It is a question of providing macro-economic data sooner and setting out the overall strategy of governments using peer review as a means of ensuring that the Stability and Growth Pact issues are dealt with effectively. This is the issue. It is not a question of producing a budget in March that will not be effected until December.

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