Vol. 425 No. 8
49 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Finance the discussions, if any, he held with other heads of Government within the EC, particularly the British Prime Minister, during the ERM currency crisis as it related to the Irish punt; the efforts, if any, he made to seek assistance from his EC partners for the Irish punt in the final 48 hours before devaluation; whether he was satisfied with their response; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I maintain regular contact with my colleagues in the Community. The contacts the Taoiseach had with Heads of Government since September were referred to in the Taoiseach's speech yesterday in his contribution to the debate on the currency crisis to which I would refer the Deputy.
I am not aware of any plans to call a special Heads of Government meeting to discuss the currency crisis. A mandate has already been given by the Summit in Birmingham last year to the Council of Finance Ministers to examine the issue. This review is still to be completed.
Regular contact at official level was maintained during the days up to devaluaction but, as I have said already, the intimations of co-operative support received then was too little too late. I dealt with this issue in my contribution in yesterday's debate.
