SEANAD REPORT:THE MINISTER for Finance has questioned both Fine Gael's talks in Brussels on renegotiating the terms of the EU-IMF deal and calls by Labour for such negotiations to be done only on the basis of a mandate given by the people in a general election.
Brian Lenihan said the “idea that Ireland can unilaterally execute a démarche and renegotiate anything is a complete illusion”.
There was “scope for international discussions on this subject but these are not bilateral discussions between Ireland and some international ogre. They are multinational discussions which will have to take place between the Government of Ireland and the governments of all of the other European countries.”
Interest rates could be reduced by international consensus. That was different from arriving in Brussels with a “fresh mandate” and saying “you want to renegotiate this because you’ll be told to go home and cop yourself on”.
He added that "the Skibbereen Eagleapproach that believes the czar of all the Russians will listen to our representations is not the right approach in these matters".
Mr Lenihan was speaking during the second stage debate in the Seanad on the Finance Bill which was passed by 28 votes to 21.
During the debate, he said Ireland’s sovereignty was not compromised by the EU-IMF deal but by extensive borrowing from world money markets since 2008.
The debate about the EU-IMF funding had not progressed beyond “the elementary argument about sovereignty” and “once you have to visit a bank manager, you lose some of your sovereignty”.
He said it was the extensive borrowing “which compromised our sovereignty, not any particular decision to enter any particular arrangement”.
Mr Lenihan also hit out at the Green Party for pulling out of Government before tax matters relating to civil partnerships could be addressed in the Finance Bill. He regretted this could not be dealt with even though “work was far advanced in my department on preparing the necessary amendments”. It would have been desirable, he added, to have had a finance Bill clarifying the tax status of these relationships ahead of that.
Mr Lenihan also criticised Labour’s stance and described it as the Late Late Show doctrine in reference to Labour leader Eamon Gilmore’s appearance on the show.
“This doctrine states that you oppose all tax increases and expenditure cuts, after which you then tell people you won’t change matters if you enter into office.”
Referring to the need for a “renewed commitment” to reform the public service, he said “the real issue is how to manage the return to growth that already is under way, and how we ensure this return to growth is not squandered and wasted by unnecessary arrangements that waste public money in the delivery of public services or expenditure”.
