Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Last week's European Council saw the concern of many states about the threat to the stability of the euro being aired in public. In advance of the European Council meeting, I attended a summit meeting of the leaders of the European Peoples Party. While there was general consensus that greater oversight of fiscal plans is necessary, there was also recognition that a broad re-opening of the Lisbon treaty would not be desirable as it would lead to difficult and complicated ratification processes in several member states, including Ireland.

Fine Gael agrees that we need for tighter fiscal plans to be put in place to ensure the current crises across many EU states, including Ireland, does not recur. There were reports from Greece and Portugal at the same meeting. Fine Gael also notes the President of the European Council, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, has been tasked with engaging in each member state on how this fiscal tightening and control can be achieved. I look forward to meeting Mr. Van Rompuy in that regard and I hope the Taoiseach will keep Opposition parties informed of the Government's discussions with him.

There is nervousness among many European member states about any, albeit limited, change to the treaty so soon after its ratification just a year ago. I understand that the President of the European Council hopes to explore options that would not necessitate fundamental amendments to the EU treaties which would require a change in competency. I understand general preparatory work on a new fiscal mechanism will now take place and it will be discussed at the meeting of the Council in December.

The issue of improved economic governance was also discussed at the summit. At national level, the task force recommended the use or establishment of public institutions or bodies to provide independent analysis, assessments or forecasts on domestic fiscal policy matters as a way to reinforce fiscal governance and ensure long-term sustainability. I can support that. Fine Gael has always supported greater EU economic governance and we have never objected to greater EU scrutiny and coordination of budgetary proposals, subject to two conditions: we must reform the parliamentary procedure here for the budget process to ensure meaningful debate, as well as independent oversight of budgetary principles. We must also ensure that it not just about member states in deficit. Germany also has a role to play to ensure effective and smooth growth in the European community.

Fine Gael has been demanding reform of the budgetary process for many years. Before a budget is adopted, independent expert fiscal advice must be made available to the Dáil to expose over-optimistic assumptions and reckless budgeting. The Government has consistently refused to allow the Dáil to have proper scrutiny of the budget. The catastrophic consequences of this undemocratic approach by the Government are obvious in the dismal state of the public finances. Coordination and consultation with our colleagues in the eurozone is essential for recovery. The only way to deal successfully with this crisis in the eurozone will be through a strong European economy based on independent democracies that share power in an appropriate way and which develops the necessary growth policies to achieve that objective.

I also used the opportunity of the EPP summit to reaffirm to Fine Gael's allies my party's commitment to dealing with Ireland's fiscal crisis and to fulfilling our obligations as members of the eurozone. This statement of Fine Gael's position was received very positively by our colleagues around the table.

See this speech in context