Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Will the Government now take action to refuse to be constrained by the EU rules that amount to an undemocratic and neoliberal straitjacket?

I have three specific questions. First, does the Tánaiste accept that the blatant attempt by the European Commission to subvert the outcome of our general election, in other words, to dissolve the people, should be resisted and that this Dáil is free to abolish water charges? If so, will she dissociate herself from the comments of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State responsible for European Affairs, Deputy Dara Murphy, who have welcomed the Commission's intervention precisely because it backs up their own political position, subverting the ability of this Dáil to get rid of water charges and, incidentally, subverting Fine Gael's own agreement with Fianna Fáil?

Second, given that the Irish State is, incredibly, not allowed, because of the EU fiscal rules, to spend the €5 billion in the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund or use the €2.4 billion in cash that NAMA has to build homes to resolve the crisis, does the Tánaiste agree that those rules have to be broken and should be dismantled? Does she agree that the need of people to have homes comes before the Thatcherite dogma contained in the fiscal treaty that the Government side supported?

Finally, and this is important, does the Tánaiste agree that under no circumstances should the Government vote in favour of or accept the provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, between the European Union and Canada at the European Council? This includes a mechanism for investor-state dispute settlement, the element that has aroused most opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, because it effectively allows corporations to sue states if they interfere with their right to profit. As well as being completely odious to any vision of democracy and people's rights, its application without a vote in this House would be in contravention of the Constitution. Article 29.5.2° clearly requires the approval of the Dáil to be bound by an international agreement that could result in a charge on the State.

See this speech in context