IRISH REACTION:THE LATEST initiative by President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel to defend the euro has been welcomed by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, but he emphasised that any constitutional change to limit national deficits was a matter for consideration by the Government.
He also said there was no agreement at EU level for a levy on financial transactions proposed by the two leaders.
“I will be directly feeding Ireland’s views into the discussions on the proposals at Euro Group and Ecofin meetings and with my other finance minister colleagues,” said Mr Noonan in a statement last night.
He noted that European Council president Herman van Rompuy would be given responsibility for ensuring a more co-ordinated fiscal approach across the euro zone.
“Ireland remains fully committed to bringing our deficit to 3 per cent by 2015,” said Mr Noonan, who added that the Department of Finance had already undertaken detailed work on the preparation of a fiscal responsibility Bill as well as establishing a fiscal advisory council.
He said any proposal for a constitutional amendment to limit the size of national deficits was a matter for the Government.
“I note President Sarkozy’s indication that the use of guarantees could be considered in the context of future funding for countries,” said the Minister.
Such a move would involve the European Financial Stability Fund or some other European institution guaranteeing bonds issued by member states. The Government has called for them to allow Ireland return to the markets to raise funds rather than relying on aid from the EU and IMF.
Mr Noonan added that Ireland had already signalled a willingness to constructively engage on the issue of a combined corporate tax base and that remained the case.
“While I note that the French and German finance ministers will table a joint proposal at the EU level next September for a tax on financial transactions, this issue was considered at the last European Council meeting and it was not included in the final agreement,” said Mr Noonan.
