Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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108. To ask the Minister for Finance if European Union treaty change is necessary, thus triggering a referendum here, in order to legally create a single EU bailout agency and rescue fund; if he or his officials discussed this treaty change matter with the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble or his German officials either on the 14 May ECOFIN meeting in Brussels or beforehand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23549/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As Presidency, we are working to progress the ambitious agenda on Banking Union set by the European Council in December.

We have achieved agreement on the Single Supervisory Mechanism – a very significant step forward. We have also achieved agreement on the Capital Requirements Directive IV, which aims to strengthen the capital requirements for banks and the overall effectiveness of regulation for the sector and enhance financial stability.

We are working on the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive and on the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive as the essential next steps, with a view to agreement by June of this year, as envisaged by the European Council. Once this has been agreed, the European Commission is expected to submit a proposal for a single resolution authority shortly thereafter, which will build on the work now underway.

The broad position of the Ecofin is that the building blocks for Banking Union should be put in place as soon as possible. This is a sensible approach and our work is helping to advance Banking Union in as speedy a manner as possible.

Following the Declaration by Member States at the Informal Ecofin in April, the Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier, stated that treaty change is not a precondition for banking union, but if there were changes to the treaty later on these could be used to strengthen aspects of the banking union later on. This is the basis on which we are all working. My understanding in relation to what the German Finance Minister has said must be seen in this context.

Finally, as we move into the final weeks of our Presidency we will continue to afford top priority to the legislative files relating to Banking Union, including the BRRD, in line with the conclusions of the European Council which set out a time frame and series of steps for achieving this.