Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

I thank the Taoiseach for his very clear and definitive answer "No", to which I will hold him in the House. However, the constant debate in recent months has been totally about further integration and further fiscal union. Chancellor Angela Merkel says we cannot have a solution unless we first get to that full fiscal union. Will the Taoiseach tell Angela Merkel and Germany that the Irish people are not for a federal Europe and that the Irish people are not going to be walked down this road into giving up our sovereignty completely and following the lead of Germany and France, given the way they are dictating the pace of the Union for the future? Will the Taoiseach bring that message to Europe and will he tell Europe that the Irish people are not for a full federalised Europe and not for full integration, and that they will retain their sovereignty into the future?

See this speech in context