Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his reply and welcome the substance of what he said. He clearly pointed out the implications for Ireland of such a tax being introduced and being effective here but not applying to our nearest neighbour, the UK. That is something which would be of great concern.

I trust the Minister and his colleagues are using their influence in Europe to ensure the eventual outcome of this will be to our satisfaction. When the delegation from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform was in Germany last week, it was a recurring theme and many of the parliamentarians we met there were clearly very enthusiastic about the idea of a financial transaction tax. We know that France is going ahead unilaterally to implement one this year.

Will the Minister stick to his guns on the issue and ensure that whatever the outcome is at European level, it is favourable to Ireland and that we are not exposed to a situation where our nearest neighbour, an English speaking country with a very large financial centre, can pick up lost business which we will endure as a result of any decision at European level?

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