Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

If the Chief Whip is listening, I urge him to move to change the situation.

I have not been able to follow the Council statements or this debate because I have been attending a committee meeting. If we are to be more efficient and to participate properly in the workings of this House, we could make another improvement to our work in this regard.

When the second Lisbon referendum was passed, the consensus was there had been a change from the inward examination of what Europe was trying to achieve, whether integration was improving or whether European functionality needed to change. The idea became one of whether the EU was performing outwardly, that is, in its foreign relations and other aspects of its work. As we now know, that analysis was wrong. Our relationship with Europe and the European project is continuing to change, particularly in terms of its internal functionality. It is a fact of our relationship with Europe that we proceed via referendum, in that we consult the people on the main issues of the day before we continue. We will consult them again in the near future, as it is certain there is more to come in our quest to save the euro. There must be. However, we do not need to march blindly on, wondering what changes may come and when, and only discussing them at the last minute in the pressure of a referendum campaign in which other interests and political motivations come into play. A significant shift in the functioning of the EU is under way through these efforts to make the currency union viable.

It is time we started discussing the end game, what the currency union should be for us and for Europe and what we are willing to do to achieve it. We need to discuss our vision for Europe and our place in it. We now have the room to have that discussion. We passed the stability treaty and our funding post 2013 is secure. As elected Members, it is important we begin the discussion on what the euro will look like in the coming years. We have a fiscal stability plan, but currency unions, euro bonds and the ESM directly intervening in Europe's banking system require more than that. They require more than just coherence of planning. They at least require coherence in fiscal instruments, if not some sort of central control of the fiscal levers of the State. This was mentioned at the outset of the euro project, but it is only being understood now.

It is time we figure out where we stand on some of the key taxation issues if we are to understand and chart the right direction for the future of Europe with us at its core in the euro. We have stated we will not move on the financial transaction tax without our UK partners, as we would not want to put the IFSC at a competitive disadvantage. The UK is not inside the euro and will face different questions than the ones we face. We have stated our corporation tax rate of 12.5% is sacrosanct, which is true. However, would we agree to changing it if we were offered a forgiveness of our banking debt in return? This question deserves consideration, even if control was only given up in principle. If we do not give up any control of our taxation measures, it will have implications for the path we will chart in Europe and for the euro.

These are key questions, given the direction Europe is taking, led by Chancellor Merkel. It is better and more prudent to prepare ourselves and Europe for that future now. A larger referendum is sure to be held in the next few years. We need the euro to survive and it is time to start asking ourselves honest questions about what we are willing to do to ensure its survival and our own with it. I raise this issue now because the constitutional convention is to begin its work shortly. This is an important question for the convention to consider. As a priority, the convention should deliberate on Europe and where we want to be in it. Putting this question at the top of the convention's agenda would make sense. It would also make sense were the Dáil to establish a committee to examine the same issues in tandem. If Europe is moving towards a fiscal union of one form or another, be it a single taxation system or a commonality of taxation policies, we must know what it might look like in order that we can start preparing and decide what we want from it.

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