Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I will try to stick to the topic at hand. I welcome Deputies' contributions and, while I do not agree with the sentiment of many speakers, I appreciate their point of view. Growth and stability are key foundations for our recovery, at home and in Europe. The new treaty will help to build the stability Europe needs for the future. The discussion tomorrow evening will help to inject real momentum into the drive for growth. This is something the Government has been seeking for a long time and it is welcome. Europe now has a real opportunity to move things forward, an opportunity that must be seized with both hands.

The impact of the crisis in Europe is acting as a drag on the global economy. We have seen the concerns of our international partners, including at the weekend's meeting of the G8. We must be ready to take the decisions needed to turn things around and have the courage to move decisively and swiftly. Tomorrow, we must send a strong signal that Europe is determined to turn things around. We need to show that we have the capacity to match our commitments with action and to think boldly and innovatively about what needs to be done. President Van Rompuy has rightly said that there should be no taboos. I hope the informal format of the meeting will help to achieve that level of free-flowing engagement. Leaders will not be endeavouring to agree conclusions or take firm decisions, which creates the much-needed space for an actual exchange of ideas and views. For this, I warmly commend the approach of European Council President, Mr. Van Rompuy.

President Van Rompuy has identified a number of key elements, or building blocks, for discussion. As the Taoiseach has highlighted, these include sound national economic policies, EU policies bringing added value, measures to improve the financing of the economy, and measures to strengthen job creation. The first will allow us to take stock of implementation of the structural reforms agreed in the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy and the European semester process. President Barroso will brief the meeting with a preliminary assessment of the national reform programmes and will give a preview of the package of proposals to be adopted by the Commission on 30 May, particularly the set of country-specific recommendations.

On action at EU level, the Single Market agenda will be a priority. President Van Rompuy has identified a number of initiatives where high-level political commitments have not been followed through and he has pointed to delay on issues including patents and energy efficiency. Both are of vital national importance to Ireland and have the potential to contribute to significant growth here if we can get agreement on implementation at European level. President Van Rompuy has our full support in his efforts to remove any blockages and obstacles. The time has come for people to think of the big picture and to live up to the commitments they have made. We would go a long way to achieving the growth we desire if we could have the implementation at European level of commitments already agreed to.

The discussion on how to improve financing of economic growth will be of vital importance. There are ideas with potential - such as increasing the capital of the European Investment Bank in order to support SMEs and the development of key infrastructure – but we must be sure that any new arrangements will be capable of delivering where they are most needed and where they can have greatest impact. Similarly, the Government strongly supports the project bond initiative as having the capacity to leverage private funding for important infrastructural projects, but scale cannot become an obstacle to delivering investment and money to where it is most needed.

We need to look at what remains within the framework of the Union's existing budget and consider how it can be deployed to best effect. We need also to look to the budget currently being negotiated for 2014 onwards. This must be directed, to the greatest extent possible, to growth and jobs. This is a budget of over €1 trillion so it is not insignificant. It is of vital importance to the agrifood sector in this country. Some 85% of our funding under the new EU budget comes through the Common Agricultural Policy to the agrifood sector. It is not to be sniffed at.

President Van Rompuy has left the agenda for tomorrow's meeting open to innovative or even controversial ideas, as he puts it. I hope people will take this in the spirit in which it is intended and will be prepared to engage in new thinking and to move beyond established positions. It is a discussion that must happen if we are to build recovery and a sustainable economic future. We need to tackle all the difficult issues, whether it is eurobonds or looking critically at the mandate of the ECB. I am personally supportive of those two elements.

Not everything is for the immediate period ahead but Europe has to demonstrate the capacity to think strategically into the medium and long-term future, particularly if we are to restore credibility with international partners and with the markets. Tomorrow's meeting of EU leaders will provide an excellent opportunity to reach the widest possible agreement on the decisions necessary to boost sustainable job creation and growth in Ireland and across the entire Union over the months and years ahead. A fully fleshed-out and intelligent action plan for growth will complement the work we have done and are doing to end crisis and to restore stability, including through the new treaty. Stability and growth are two sides of one coin. It is a fallacy to believe we can have one without the other.

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