Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Deputy McDonald confuses structural debt with the deficit in this country. I assure her the officials from this country who worked intensively over the period since Christmas with officials from other countries were not given a mandate to frustrate anybody's democratic rights but a mandate to maximise Ireland's interests. In the discussions that took place, the officials constantly referred to the position in so far as Ireland and its national interests were concerned, as did other countries.

When Deputy McDonald speaks of austerity programmes, she must understand this intergovernmental agreement and treaty is about getting political agreement for fiscal discipline, proper budgetary management and the running of the affairs of each country and its public finances in a proper fashion. It is about stimulating the Single Market and making available the potential for jobs and growth in a European Union of more than 500 million people, which is central to the agenda. Deputy McDonald should also bear in mind that central to the issue debated by the Irish officials and myself is that it is clear that nothing in this treaty affects the fact Ireland is in a programme until the end of 2013. This supersedes all of the discussions in so far as the intergovernmental treaty is concerned. This was endorsed again by the conclusions of Monday's meeting where the Heads of Government specifically referred to the fact that a country leaving a programme will continue to receive funding so long as it measures up to the conditions for which it signed on. That is the story.

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