asked the Taoiseach if his statement after his meeting with the French Prime Minister, that our case for special aid had been raised, refers to our previous submission for £650 million resources transfer over a five year period.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - European Monetary System.
5.
Assuming the Deputy is referring to my meeting with the President of the French Republic, the answer is "Yes".
Can the Taoiseach reconcile his expressions of optimism after the meeting, since the French authorities did not indicate publicly any support for the special grant aid requested by the Government? How does the Taoiseach reconcile his expressions of optimism after the meeting in the absence of any public expression of support for our request for special grant aid previously sought by the Government?
I had a meeting with the President of the French Republic and I was very pleased at his response to the requirement of this country to get special assistance in the event of us becoming members of the EMS. I stated specifically and publicly that there was no agreement between us on the form or the amount. That remains the position as far as my meeting with the French President was concerned.
There was no support from the French authorities at that meeting for our request for £650 million grant aid, the amount sought by the Government over a five year period?
This morning I indicated that I will be making a statement tomorrow and also that we are still in a discussion situation. I do not wish to speculate on what reactions are likely to be at the end of the day.
Will the Taoiseach accept that when he makes visits of this kind, and subsequently briefs correspondents and statements are made which seem to come from him and with his authority, that it is unsatisfactory for the House to be unable to ascertain whether they are correct or not? In these circumstances is the Taoiseach prepared to tell the House whether, after his visit to the German Chancellor and the French President, there was a willingness to effect the transfers as distinct from loans which the Taoiseach sought?
The Taoiseach has already indicated that a statement will be made to the House on this matter tomorrow. We cannot go into it now.
What the correspondents reported was a faithful indication of my briefings with them.
Did the Taoiseach say "fateful"?
I said "faithful".
6.
asked the Taoiseach if he will publish the necessary documents to enable the Dáil and public opinion, in advance of the December European Council Meeting, to assess the merits of Irish membership of the proposed European system.
7.
asked the Taoiseach if he will make arrangements for a debate to take place on the European Monetary System prior to the December European Council Meeting.
8.
asked the Taoiseach if the December European Council Meeting will make a decision in relation to the European Monetary System.
9.
asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his recent discussions with Heads of Government of other EEC countries.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 together.
I propose to make a statement after the Order of Business tomorrow on my meetings with the French, British and German Heads of Government. The statement will cover the subject-matter of these questions.
Does the Taoiseach accept that his statement in the Dáil in relation to the question raised of a more substantive debate than the preliminary debate when he said, "I would not think there is any possibility that we will enter the EMS before the Dáil has an opportunity of fully debating the position" imposes an obligation on him to provide time for such a debate?
I would remind the Deputy that quotations are not permitted at Question Time.
I have plenty of quotations here. I think the Deputy is stretching the interpretation of it. In what he has said the quotation is correct. The Dáil will have an opportunity of debating the terms of entry as soon as they have been arrived at if we intend to enter the EMS.
Before we enter?
Nobody is suggesting that we will agree to the terms. I have indicated already that if the terms appear to me to be acceptable then I could give an indication that I would recommend them to my Government and to my Parliament and, in the event of the terms being approved by Government and Parliament, we would go in on these terms.
Without any prior discussion even of the purposes to which the aid might be put or the problems that will be created for our economy that have emerged in the past few weeks as people have discussed the matter? Will it be the case that no such discussion will take place before the Taoiseach enters into this fateful commitment?
We had a very protracted debate in which all of that was set out. Certainly I set it out, as did the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Economic Planning and Development.
Will the Taoiseach not accept that the debate took place many weeks before the possibility was mooted for the first time that Britain might half join, that she might become associated with it but not come into the system? That poses totally new issues for this country. This House has had no chance to consider those issues. The Taoiseach is going to enter into commitments possibly on the basis of that, an eventuality that the House never had a chance to consider and which the Taoiseach or the Minister did not put forward to the House as a possibility.
This House will have the last say on the terms that will be put forward.
Will the Taoiseach state if it would be a prime criterion in the Taoiseach's mind before he gives his consent to entry into the EMS and before the discussion in the House, that it would be a transfer of resources that would be agreed to rather than loans?
That has been our stated position.
And remains the position?
Yes. That has been what we are looking for and what we would prefer to get. We will assess the value of any other alternatives in the light of our request for cash transfers.
The prime criterion would be the transfer of resources, as previously requested?
It is one of the priorities we put forward in regard to the kind of cash transfers we want.