Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 16, inclusive, together.

I attended a meeting of the Heads of State or Government of the euro area in Brussels on 21 July. The meeting was convened to consider the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and future financing of the Greek programme. We took important decisions in three key areas: improving Greek debt sustainability, addressing the risk of contagion and committing to improve the eurozone's crisis management. We agreed to support a new programme for Greece and, together with the IMF and the voluntary contribution of the private sector, to cover fully its financing gap. The agreed official financing of an estimated €109 billion will be designed, notably through lower interest rates and extended maturities, to improve decisively the debt sustainability and refinancing profile of Greece.

We also agreed important enhancements to the EFSF. It will get more flexibility to intervene in the areas of precautionary assistance; recapitalisation of banks through Governments, including in non-programme countries; and secondary market interventions in exceptional circumstances on the basis of an analysis by the ECB. Member states are now engaged in the process of legislative change needed to enable the new arrangements to enter into force. For our part, the necessary Bill was passed last week and now has been signed. The measures agreed in July were based on a clear acknowledgement that the Greek situation is different from that of other countries and required an exceptional response, including as regards the participation of the private sector.

The decisions made at the meeting will mean that the EFSF will lend to Ireland at a significantly reduced rate. This will apply not only to moneys yet to be drawn down, but also to future interest payments on existing loans. This is a saving in the order of several billion euro over the term of the loans. In this regard, I very much welcome the decision of the European Commission to propose that loans under the EFSM will come with zero margin.

The meeting in July recognised Ireland's resolve to press ahead with implementation of our programme, and expressed its strong commitment to our success. We tasked the President of the European Council, in close consultation with the President of the Commission and the president of the Eurogroup, to make concrete proposals by October on how to improve working methods and enhance crisis management in the euro area. This work is now being advanced, including through bilateral consultations at official level.

With regard to corporation tax, there was no new language agreed at the meeting. We agreed to engage constructively in what I expect to be a very long debate on the Commission's CCCTB proposal, and more generally in the structured discussions on tax policy issues provided for within the framework of the euro plus pact. There was nothing new in this and the Government's position on the substance of the matter has not changed in any respect.

In the period since the end of July, there has been significant and ongoing engagement at Minister for Finance level and through associated euro area structures in giving effect to the measures that we agreed. I will meet several colleagues when I attend the meeting of the Eastern Partnership in Warsaw later this week. The next meeting of the European Council is scheduled for Brussels on 17-18 October. It will discuss economic policy, including, I anticipate, any developments regarding the eurozone, preparations for the G20 summit and climate change.

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