Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd. The appearances of the French President, Mr. Sarkozy, and the German Chancellor, Mrs. Merkel, in the past few months have become more frequent. Each time they appear on the plinth in Berlin and Paris there is a certain hope the crisis in Europe will abate and we will have a resolution, but, unfortunately, that has not happened to date. Today we have reached a crescendo and there is almost a feeling that the gun is being put to our heads. There are shades of the night of the bank guarantee in 2008 and we believe we are being gang-whipped into accepting something we may regret in the future.

There are two main issues to be raised. I note that the President of the European Commission, Mr. Barroso, has stated today that we should approach the impending summit with an attitude of what we can do for Europe, rather than what we cannot do. It is very important that each country, Ireland included, should protect its self-interests. I will refer briefly to our corporation tax policy. I am delighted that the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade gave a commitment on that issue today, as the Taoiseach has also done. I wish the Taoiseach and his team well at the summit in Brussels. It is vital that we protect our corporation tax rate and under no circumstances should we compromise on the issue. It is equally important that we do not compromise on the common consolidated corporate tax base, on which we agreed to enter consultations. That is understandable, as it is important that it be placed on the table, but it is equally important that we do not compromise on the policy.

Before the implementation of the Lisbon treaty, the French President attended the French Embassy - I was present on the occasion - and the first issue he raised, as head of the country which held the EU Presidency at the time, was the responsibility of each country for its own tax policy, with which he said he had no intention of interfering, which is as it should be. It is not necessary for fiscal discipline purposes to have a harmonised tax policy. However, since the passing of the Lisbon treaty in a second referendum, particularly in the past 12 months, President Sarkozy has been very disingenuous and keeps placing the issue in the ether. This is not helpful to us as it causes uncertainty in multinational companies. It is within President Sarkozy's power to reduce the French corporation tax rate to match that of Ireland if he so wishes, but I ask him to keep his hands off our tax policy and urge the Taoiseach and the Government to ensure our policies in these two areas are not changed.

Two proposals have been brought forward at the summit, one being the Von Rompuy proposal to use one of the protocols to the Lisbon treaty to put measures in place to assist the achievement of discipline. There is pressure from France and Germany to go one step further and implement a new treaty, which may end up being the case. If it comes to pass, we must use a bargaining tool in our self-interests to gain a change in policy on our debt such as a write-down or a change in the interest rate being charged. It only stands to reason we should do this, as fighting another referendum campaign would prove very difficult.

Although people speak about losing sovereignty, the measures recommended by the IMF and the troika should have been implemented in this country long ago. Many broadly welcome such measures. Since the foundation of the State we have shown that we cannot manage our own monetary matters, particularly or even exclusively under Fianna Fáil-led Governments.

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