Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Deputy is making allegations that do not stand up. I am only one of the 17 leaders who represents the eurozone countries and one of the 27 who deals with the question of the European Union and the issue of treaty change or not. There was a serious discussion about the governance of the eurozone, how countries should have fiscal discipline and fiscal responsibility and why some countries are AAA rated and some are not. The Deputy will appreciate that the situation that arose in this country has led to a position where we are not AAA rated. We are in a bailout situation. There were serious discussions by serious people about what needs to be done when countries are clearly out of line. How does one grow the Single Market Act which gives so much potential to the European Union? Why do we not have a competitiveness league across Europe where people can say one is now measuring up? This country is improving but we still have a long way to go. Why is it that when one discusses business and finance in the United States or in China that Europe is rarely rated? The answer is that it is all over the place. That is why there needs to be a focus on doing the job properly and within the agreements that are set out.

What was agreed on Sunday is that there would be a report back in December on issues about governance including the possibility of limited treaty change. We have had no problem with a limited treaty change. I just state the reality that one is not going to deal with the eurozone crisis by talking about major treaty change because it takes too long when one has all of the countries that must have Intergovernmental Conferences and meetings of the European Parliament and the Council. Every country would then want to put issues on the table for treaty change themselves. One could be engaged in that process for a considerable period and it would not deal with the eurozone crisis we face today.

The Government is not authorising the payment of €700 million next Wednesday. It is a fact that before the Deputy came to the House that the previous Government signed off on a promissory note of €3 billion every year for ten years.

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