Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I cannot give Deputy Adams any such guarantee in respect of treaty change. The eurozone is facing a crisis and it must be dealt with in the immediate future. The next meeting is planned for 9 December. Government leaders and Heads of Government will have to make decisions that will deal with the issue. A range of decisions was made about the EFSF at the previous meeting, which had at its disposal sufficient leverage capacity to become a backstop to prevent contagion into other countries. It is clear that the mechanism and technicalities of that did not prove up to market assessment and the market had no confidence in that. I raised the issue with the German Chancellor. I had previously expressed the view that the ultimate backstop with unlimited financial firepower, as they say, is the European Central Bank. Other countries have different views about that.

In any event, in response to Deputy Adams, a matter being changed in the treaty is one issue but the process of treaty change itself is quite another. As he is aware, if the change proposed is of a limited nature that does not either impinge on sovereignty or involve a major shift-----

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