Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity of speaking briefly to this motion. There is a direct connection between the level of debt and this fiscal compact treaty. Regardless of whatever wording is designed to be put in front of us, the ECB basically instructed this country not to allow a bank to fail. When an entity gives an instruction, it must back that up with some sort of compensating action. That did not happen in this case. Ireland's bank debts would not have arisen had it not been for the design of the euro and the cheap European funding that was available to peripheral countries from countries such as Germany. The people themselves will make that direct connection.

What we cannot ignore either is the fact that we will be asked to insert the terms of this treaty in the Constitution - the 0.5% structural deficit and the 60% debt-to-GDP ratio. This is why the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, wanted to include this as a constitutional provision. I presume the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, will be aware, one cannot enact legislation that is repugnant to the Constitution. How will we enact a finance Bill in the future if we must keep with those numbers and at the same time have this gigantic debt? There is a direct relationship between the two.

This intergovernmental approach is a disaster for Europe. We are talking about money markets. There are in excess of 500 million people in Europe and we are not looking at what this European project is supposed to be. I know what it was supposed to be, but it is not that. Now it is exclusively about money markets. I appreciate the need for stability and for a currency that is sustainable, but if there is to be more Europe, we need to start talking about what kind of more Europe there will be, whether it will be about money markets or about something with a much bigger vision. I still do not see any leadership in Europe in that regard.

See this speech in context