Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Does the Taoiseach believe that the issue of treaty change which is now being considered by the President of the Council is contributing in any way to the uncertainty in the markets? A possible treaty change in respect of crisis mechanisms is being considered by the European Council while the Heads of some member states are speculating and making suggestions on how those mechanisms might work in practice. This has consequences for the markets.

Other matters have been under consideration by the Council for some time. For example, the regulation of international rating agencies was considered by the Council as far back as June 2008 when the EU was planning to regulate them. As a country, we have been on the receiving end of the opinions expressed by these agencies. Has any progress been made in terms of their regulation or regarding the idea of the establishment by the EU of a European rating agency?

In December, there was a commitment to establish a fundamentally new structure for financial supervision in Europe. Was this matter discussed at the Council meeting and what progress has been made?

See this speech in context