EU Referendum Sub-Committee begin intensive debate on Fiscal Treaty

A newly established Oireachtas sub-Committee will examine the EU Fiscal Treaty in detail next week, with a series of meetings with politicians, civil society leaders, academics and diplomats. Earlier this week, the Government announced that the referendum on the Treaty will take place on Thursday, 31 May.

The Sub-Committee on the Referendum on the Intergovernmental Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union will host a series of eight meetings, taking place over three days from Tuesday to Thursday, 3 to 5 April.

Those meeting the sub-committee next week include:

• Irish MEPs
• Parliamentarians from other Member States
• Other political voices including the Green Party and Libertas
• Academics and economists
• Representatives from leading civil society and interest groups
• Ambassadors of other EU Member States

A detailed progamme, outlining the details of the eight meetings, is below. Each meeting will be broadcast live on Oireachtas UPC Channel 801 and online on this website. Updates on the debates will be accessible via the EU Affairs Committee Facebook page.

Committee Chairman Dominic Hannigan TD says: “Our cross-party Sub-Committee will play a key role in connecting the new Treaty with the Irish public in the run up to referendum day on 31 May. Next week will provide us with an opportunity to hear from prominent voices in politics, civil society, academia and diplomacy.

“While the Joint Committee has undertaken a significant body of work on the Treaty in recent months, this series of meetings will afford the Committee an opportunity to consider the implications for Ireland of the Treaty in a focussed way. With the meetings being broadcast live on UPC Channel 801, consideration of the Treaty next week will go beyond the Committee rooms of Leinster House to 957,000 people in 328,000 homes.  

“By inviting both supporters and opponents from a range of backgrounds on the Treaty, next week’s deliberations will stimulate an informed and balanced national debate in the run up to referendum day.”

Later in April, the leaders of each of the political parties and groupings in the Oireachtas will also addresss the Sub-Committee.

Programme (subject to change)

Tuesday 3 April (Committee Room 3)

• Session 1 at 11 a.m. : Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E. Dr Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of Denmark, H.E. Niels Pultz, Ambassador of Greece, H.E. Diana Zagorianou-Prifti and Ambassador of Poland, H.E. Marcin Nawrot.
• Session 2 at 2 p.m. : William Cash MP, Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee of the House of Commons,  Nessa Childers, MEP for Ireland East, Marian Harkin, MEP for Ireland North-West, Mr. Paul Murphy, MEP for Dublin and Phil Prendergast, MEP for Ireland South.

Wednesday 4 April (Committee Room 2)

• Session 1 at 11 a.m.: Sharon Bowles, MEP for South East England and Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and Lord Lyndon Harrison, Chair of the House of Lords Sub-Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs and International Trade.
• Session 2 at 2 p.m.: Dan O’Brien, Economics Editor of The Irish Times, Prof Philip Lane, Professor of International     Macroeconomics at Trinity College Dublin and Jim Power, Chief Economist with Friends First.
• Session 3 at 4 p.m.: Dr Gavin Barrett LLB, UCD School of Law and Dr John O’Brennan, NUIM Department of Sociology

Thursday 5 April (Committee Room 3)

• Session 1 at 11.30 a.m.: Mark Fielding, Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), Brendan Bruen, Financial Services Ireland (FSI), John Bryan, Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Brendan Butler, Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC)
• Session 2 at 2 p.m.: Deirdre Garvey, The Wheel, Brendan Halligan, Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) and Noelle O’Connell, European Movement Ireland.
• Session 3 at 4 p.m.: Declan Ganley, Libertas Institute, and Roderic O’Gorman, Green Party

ENDS
For further information please contact:  
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +353 1 618 4844
M: +353  87 694 9926
Sub-Committee Membership
Deputies
Dominic Hannigan, TD (Chairman)
Paschal Donohoe, TD (Vice-Chairman)
Timmy Dooley, TD
Bernard J Durkan, TD
Colm Keaveney, TD
Seán Kyne, TD
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, TD
Joe O’Reilly, TD
Mick Wallace, TD
Senators
Colm Burke,
Fidelma Healy Eames,
James Heffernan,
Terry Leyden,
Kathryn Reilly