Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

His party has been relegated to fifth. Some of the comments I heard might have put them further back, but perhaps that was not the final lap. The issue both he and Deputy Higgins have raised is under discussion at a technical level. The Minister for Finance has spoken to Commissioner Rehn and he will speak to Mr. Draghi about it later this evening. This arose from the comments we have been making here for a number of months, coming to a conclusion with discussions between the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, that the troika should prepare and present a paper on this issue. I expect the troika will do this and we will speak to each individual leader as we approach that. The issue for discussion on Monday is the treaty and the question of growth and jobs.

The issue of the €30 billion promissory note, to be paid over ten years, is crucial and it would be of enormous benefit to Ireland were an improvement to be made. Figures have been mentioned on this issue. The discussions will continue, although hopefully not for too long, but it is not for immediate decision now.

The draft that was finished last weekend is available at the moment, but it is important for Deputy Boyd Barrett to understand that Ireland is in a programme. As such, the programme supersedes the issues that are here. Our programme is due to be finished at the end of 2013. The Government hopes that Ireland can emerge from its programme by then and fly on its own independent economic wings. When we sign on for the rules, however, there must be adherence to those conditions. What went wrong in Europe for many years was that conditions were set out but not adhered to. The importance of the intergovernmental agreement before us is that if we sign on, we must adhere to the conditions. These conditions are in respect of fiscal discipline, better budgetary policy and better governance. The fact that this country is in a programme, challenging though it is, means it supersedes this particular draft until we finish it at the end of 2013, when hopefully we will no longer be in such a programme.

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