Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The information I have been given is that the finance committee will convene next Tuesday at 4 p.m. and that it will consider the outcome of the summit today. First, we do not yet have an outcome. As other Members have said, some summit meetings can be entirely predictable and the issues concern the conclusions that are reached, their form or whether further work must be done later. We cannot predict the outcome of that meeting other than to say we very much hope there will be a positive outcome from that summit meeting today. That has been the way in which the Government has prepared for it.

This is really a matter for the committee. I do not know who the committee has invited and that is a matter for it. Obviously, the Government will decide who will make a presentation to the committee, and that will to some extent depend on the outcome of the summit.

See this speech in context