Austin Deasy
Ceist:1 Mr. Deasy asked the asked the Taoiseach, the items he raised at the Edinburgh Summit.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Edinburgh Summit.
I made a detailed statement in the House on 16 December last on the Edinburgh European Council which I attended with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Finance, as well as the Minister of State for European Affairs. I have sent the Deputy a copy for his information. As the statement makes clear, we faced a very full and challenging agenda at Edinburgh, covering issues such as the future financing of the Community; the opening of the Community to new members; the question of Denmark and the Maastricht Treaty; subsidiarity and the related issue of openness/ transparency; and the question of concerted action by the Community to promote economic growth and to combat unemployment. The currency crisis was a major subject of a separate, parallel meeting in Edinburgh of Community Finance Ministers. I wish to assure the Deputy that there was no sparing of effort in pursuing our concerns on currency matters either at Edinburgh or in every other appropriate forum and manner, including through diplomatic channels. At Edinburgh, the key agenda item for Ireland was, of course, the question of Community financing up to the end of this century and in particular the resources to be allocated to us by way of the Structural Funds and the new Cohesion Fund. As everyone is aware, our negotiating efforts in the lead-up to Edinburgh and at the meeting itself met with enormous success, securing for Ireland over £8 billion over the period 1993 to 1999.
I thank the Taoiseach for letting me have the statement again in which he said:
The Edinburgh meeting has again underlined the commitment of the member states to implementing the Maastricht Treaty on the basis of solidarity and co-operation. The exchange rate mechanism of the EMS is a central building block in that process, and the Government are satisfied that the full solidarity——
The Deputy is placing the Chair in an invidious position because he must know that quotations at Question Time are not in order.
There is only one line left.
—and resources of all participants are available to uphold the ERM in the face of unwarranted speculation.
The Deputy is continuing to quote. This is not good enough.
Is the Taoiseach happy that the united front still holds?
It has been made clear by the Minister for Finance and others on many occasions that there are strict requirements on the ERM from member states that the country at the top of the band must support the country at the bottom of the band and that requirement was fully operational at all times.
In that context, did the Taoiseach seek a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor, Mr. Kohl, bearing in mind that the French Government, at a very senior political level in bilateral political contacts with Germany, managed to get what our Minister for Finance subsequently described as a "sweetheart deal" and which was reported here last week as having saved the French franc? Did the Taoiseach press at a high political level for such a meeting? Will he accept that a one line reference to the ERM in 120 pages of conclusions from the Edinburgh Summit represents an utter and object political failure on his part?
I accept what the Deputy says in part and I am sure he would agree that at all times I made our problems in relation to the ERM clear to our partners as far back as last October when I visited Prime Minister Gonzalez in Spain. When we met we both agreed to an early meeting under the presidency, the Birmingham Summit, which proved to be futile and unsuccessful in resolving the problems of the ERM. Consequently, it was passed on to the technical monetary committee to look at the weaknesses of the system and report to Edinburgh. During the lead-up to the Edinburgh Summit the presidency agreed with other members that the Finance Ministers as well as a technical committee should be also brought to Edinburgh for a parallel meeting to assess the situation in relation to the ERM. The weakness of the system needs to be rectified quickly — something we have pointed out at all times, albeit without success so far. The devaluation of the Irish punt brought home to other member states, the fact that the system — not a particular currency — was under attack. It is receiving a different type of attention now.
Was the Bundesbank represented at Edinburgh and, if so, did the Irish authorities make representations to it? Secondly, what proposals did Ireland table in regard to the ERM at Edinburgh?
Deputy Bruton, as a former Minister for Finance, should be fully aware of how these matters are handled. He previously attended one such meeting and should be aware that the Department of Finance handles all matters in relation to currency.
Consequently, this topic has been high on the agenda of all meetings of central bankers, monetary committees and ECOFIN Ministers for a number of months. We have spared no effort and lost no opportunity to voice our opinion in relation to the weaknesses of the system which have still to be rectified.
Let us not continue unduly long on any one question. I am calling Deputy Bruton for a brief question please, and I will call Deputy Austin Deasy for a final question.
I will try again. Did the Irish authorities make any representations to the Bundesbank at Edinburgh and did the Irish authorities table any proposals in relation to the ERM at Edinburgh?
The Governor of the Central Bank is, I am sure, one of the authorities the Deputy has in mind and, without having a specific statement from him, the Deputy can take it from me that the Central Bank, the Department of Finance, the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach took every opportunity at Edinburgh to let them know our position in relation to it.
That is not an answer to the question.
I cannot be more forthcoming.
I do not wish to be accused of repetition, although the question is similar. Did the Taoiseach specifically raise the matter of the ERM with regard to Ireland at that Edinburgh Summit and, if so, what response did he get?
I have already made clear all the efforts and the initiatives taken in regard to it and I have nothing further to add. I raised the matter in Spain at a bilateral meeting, again in Birmingham and also at the Edinburgh Summit. I raised it with Chancellor Kohl in November, during the election campaign, when I was there——
What response did the Taoiseach get?
——and I raised it at a private meeting en marge with Chancellor Kohl at Edinburgh itself whose best view at that time was that interest rates would probably come down at the end of January or the beginning of February.