John Bruton
Ceist:54 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the steps, if any, taken in 1998 by his Department to advance its priority to effect Irish input to the work of the European Council on the EMU process. [1724/98]
Written Answers - EMU Preparations.
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:155 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Finance the arrangements, if any, being made by him to prepare for the European summit to be held on 2 May 1998; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3443/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 155 together.
My Department and I are preparing actively for the decisions to be made at the beginning of May this year, in relation to the adoption of the single currency and the beginning of the third stage of EMU.
The decision on who will participate in the third stage of EMU is to be made in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 109j of the Treaty. The ECOFIN Council will assess whether each member state fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of a single currency, on the basis of convergence reports from the European Commission and the EMI. On the basis of these reports, ECOFIN, acting by a qualified majority on a recommendation from the Commission, will recommend its findings to the Council, meeting in the composition of the Heads of State or Government, who will, after receiving the opinion of the European Parliament, confirm which member states fulfil the conditions.
It is expected that the Commission and the EMI will produce their convergence reports on 25 March next, allowing time for the Council and the European Parliament to examine them in detail before their formal decisions. The Commission will make its recommendations on the same date.
Deputies will be aware that my Department has transmitted to the European Commission a return under Council Regulation EC/3605/93, in relation to the general government budgetary position and the general government debt. This return showed that Ireland has continued its successful performance against the relevant Maastricht convergence criteria.
The Oireachtas has continued to be kept informed of developments in recent months. EMU was the subject of statements in the Seanad on 16 October 1997, where I addressed the House at length. EMU was also the subject of consideration by joint Oireachtas committees: I addressed a joint meeting of the Joint Committees on Enterprise and Small Business and on Finance and the Public Service on 4 February this year. The Government would be anxious to facilitiate a Dáil discussion of the convergence reports, to be published by the Commission and the EMI, before the Easter recess. Of course, the provisions relating to economic and monetary union in the Maastricht Treaty have already been ratified by the Oireachtas and endorsed by referendum.
The Central Bank Bill, 1997, which will bring the legislation governing the Central Bank of Ireland into conformity with the relevant Treaty provisions on EMU, is proceeding through the Houses of the Oireachtas and is expected to be enacted before the end of March. My Department is also preparing an Economic and Monetary Union Bill which, when enacted, will ensure a clear and comprehensive framework in Irish monetary law following the introduction of the euro and will remove incompatibilities between Irish monetary law and the EU regulations for the use of the euro.
9 As regards practical preparations, my Department has responsibility for co-ordinating the preparations of the Irish public administration and has a key role in helping the rest of the economy to prepare itself for the changeover. On 14 January, I published the second edition of the national changeover plan, which sets out the changeover arrangements that will be made by the public sector and financial institutions. The business awareness campaign run by Forfás, under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, will be extended in 1998.
Assuming it is confirmed that Ireland fulfils the necessary conditions for entering EMU, a currency changeover board will be established under the aegis of my Department to oversee detailed implementation of the changeover, including the areas of public and consumer information.
At European level, the UK Presidency has included preparations for the third stage of EMU as an item on all ECOFIN meetings since the beginning of the year, and has stated that it will continue to do so for the duration of its Presidency. Preparations are also ongoing at the monetary committee, on which my Department and the Central Bnak of Ireland are represented.
I assure Deputies that my Department and I will continue with all necessary preparations for the May weekend, both here in Ireland and in the EU fora.