Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

The Government is determined to restore Ireland's standing as a respected and influential member of the European Union. The diplomatic initiative announced by the Tánaiste has this as its overarching objective. It has also sought to ensure understanding of - and support for - Ireland's approach in respect of the EU and IMF programme.

To this end the Government is engaging at senior levels with fellow EU member states. We are making clear the economic and financial realities confronting us and the steps we have taken to get the public finances in order, to repair the banking sector and to restore growth. We are emphasising our determination to see this process through to a successful conclusion and we count on the continuing solidarity of partners. We seek to inform and to persuade, pointing to the benefit for the eurozone and EU as a whole of Irish success.

There are three tracks. First, members of the Government avail of every appropriate opportunity to meet their EU colleagues and representatives of the European institutions; second, there is our embassy network in EU capitals; and third, we look to keep EU diplomatic representatives in Dublin fully briefed.

The Deputy will be aware that a team from the ECB, European Commission and the IMF team completed in mid April the first quarterly review of progress in implementing the support package. This review endorsed the decisive actions by the Government to take control of our banking sector and to address our public finances. The Government has achieved its objective for this review and successfully negotiated the inclusion in the revised memorandum of understanding of a number of the programme for Government commitments, including the jobs initiative, the reversal in the reduction in the national minimum wage and the comprehensive spending review. We will continue work under the initiative and messaging will be adapted to take account of further developments in the eurozone.

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