Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion and compliment Fianna Fáil on proposing it tonight. We have a new Government with new priorities; the two fundamental priorities articulated in the Government's joint manifesto are to ensure that we renegotiate the bailout - a dismal piece of negotiation where no Minister was involved - and the creation of a budget for job creation within the first 100 days of the Government. Those two pillars of the joint manifesto are linked; we must renegotiate the bailout deal and ensure there is domestic growth in the economy.

The negotiation to date has been something of a standoff in that there is an offer of a 1% discount if we give up our 12.5% corporation tax rate. That is not a negotiation. Some of the people who strongly favour a change to the 12.5% corporation tax rate, including Mr. Sarkozy and Ms Merkel, are seeking a gesture in the process. That is unsatisfactory. We all remember the Lisbon treaty and legal assurances and guarantees given to Ireland at the time. They were very specific in wording, which was that: "Nothing in the Treaty of Lisbon makes any change of any kind for any member state to the extent or operation of the competence of the European Union with regard to taxation."

The European Union has no specific competence regarding taxation and any changes which may take place must come about unanimously. It was clearly understood that the competence relating to taxation rested solely in each individual member state, and that remains the case. We must ensure that is the outcome of any negotiations and that any reference to our corporate tax rate is not used as a bargaining tool relating to the items discussed. The current Government parties in the 1990s articulated for the first time a 12.5% corporation tax rate and the current Government must stand firm on the matter.

The sooner we begin to move the issue from the nitty-gritty to the broader issue, which is the relationship between this country and the European Union, the better. This country does not stand on its own but is an integral member of the European Union. There is solidarity and that is the basis on which the European Union was founded; it should also be the basis on which we move forward but we have departed from this in recent times, particularly in our financial relationships. The mission statement was both a social and economic common market statement in its initial formulation and it is now time for us to begin the process of establishing relationships in the European Union which have been neglected over the years. As a result we have found ourselves isolated in many ways and that process must change. Diplomatic relationships must be repaired and ordinary neighbourliness and good friendships must be established. Our Ministers, rather than officials, must go to Council meetings and we should change the way we do business relating to the European Union here.

We must ensure that the European Union takes responsibility for the position of the number of countries in the European Union and here. It cannot simply wash its hands and argue that our current position is purely the responsibility of individual member countries. It has been responsible as an entity for much of the difficulty seen in the economies of several countries. It is time for us to broaden the debate into a dialogue. A new environment must be created to deal with the economic crisis and address again the single currency, an issue that needs to be reviewed and revisited and for which new structures need to be established.

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