Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

My comrades in Europe, as Deputy Boyd Barrett described them, are in favour of growth. This Government has argued consistently that we also need a growth strategy because the treaty is not sufficient on its own to allow the European economy to recover. That is why we put growth on the agenda before the treaty was negotiated. It is the reason growth is contained in the text of the treaty and why the conclusions in January referred to a parallel growth strategy. It is a good thing for this country and for Europe that there are voices who call for an acceleration of the growth agenda.

See this speech in context