Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

When I asked the Taoiseach yesterday about President Sarkozy's statement that Ireland cannot benefit from the EU's financial aid package while maintaining its low corporate tax rate and the lack of a response from the Government, he told me that the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Roche, had responded to the statement on behalf of the Government. I cannot find his response on the Government website. By what means did he make the response? Was it directly to President Sarkozy or a Minister in his government? Was it in writing? Is there a statement somewhere which refers to it? If so, can he direct me to that?

I refer to the treaty change in respect of the permanent mechanism. The Taoiseach said no referendum is required to ratify the change and I note that he said after the summit that the Government would seek the advice of the Attorney General regarding the matter. Has the advice been formally obtained in respect of the wording agreed at the December summit? If so, can he make it available to Members?

See this speech in context