Vote on treaty 'puts it up to Brussels'
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The referendum on the fiscal compact treaty "puts it up to Brussels" to grant Ireland a cheaper deal on the Anglo bailout, a senior minister has said.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday confirmed that the Government would hold a referendum on the treaty following legal advice from the Attorney General.
It comes as the Coalition continues its efforts to secure a deal from the EU and ECB on a cheaper alternative to the promissory note system funding the Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide bailout.
That system is scheduled to cost Ireland €47.4bn over the next 20 years.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív has been accused of breaking ranks with his party after he refused to state how he intended voting during a TG4 debate yesterday.
One senior minister told the Irish Examiner the decision could work to Ireland's advantage, as the EU and ECB would now be under pressure to deliver a cheaper bailout deal to enhance the chances of a yes vote.
"I think it does work to our advantage," the minister said, adding the referendum "puts it up to Brussels as well" as the Government.
However, the decision to hold a referendum was greeted with disbelief in the EU, with officials fearing it would open a "Pandora's box" of other countries also deciding to hold votes. And there were warnings there would be no agreement on the promissory notes until the treaty was passed.
The aim of the treaty — which has been agreed by 25 of the 27 member states — is to put tighter budget rules and sanctions in place to tackle the eurozone debt crisis.
The referendum is set to take place in late May, meaning the referendum on children's rights will be pushed back to October.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore last night pledged that, unlike the situation with the Nice and Lisbon treaties, there would be no second referendum if the fiscal treaty was defeated first time round.
A no vote would not affect Ireland's current troika bailout, but it would mean if Ireland required assistance after that, it would be locked out of the European Stability Mechanism, the EU's future bailout fund.
The treaty requires only 12 of the 17 states using the euro to ratify it.
Mr Kenny will formally sign the treaty on Friday morning at a summit in Brussels, and declared confidence yesterday that the public would "emphatically" endorse it.
"I strongly believe that it is very much in Ireland's national interest that this treaty be approved, as doing so will build on the steady progress the country has made in the past year," he told the Dáil.
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