Ross warns Ireland could lose sovereignty for second time

GERMAN CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel is calling for fiscal discipline not unity in efforts to deal with the euro crisis, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said as the Dáil was warned that Ireland could lose its sovereignty for the second time.

Downplaying the possibility of fiscal union, Mr Kenny said the immediate crisis called for “fiscal discipline”.

He was responding during Leaders’ Questions to Independent Dublin South TD Shane Ross, who said next week’s budget might be “one of the last meaningful budgets in the history of this State if events take the sort of shape they’re looking to take in Europe in the next few weeks”.

Referring to EU negotiations on resolving the euro zone crisis, Mr Ross warned that Ireland would face treaty change and could be surrendering sovereignty.

“The first surrender was to the European banks by the last government and that will be swopped if we get the deal which is looking possible with the surrender of our independence to the bigger European nations.” He said Dr Merkel had last week called for Europe to “take one big step towards fiscal union”.

Mr Ross believed the deal to be discussed by EU leaders on December 9th would have weaker EU countries “conceding fiscal union”. He called on the Taoiseach to “assure the House that he will never put any referendum to the Irish people that permanently hands over our economic and fiscal sovereignty to any external European body”.

Mr Kenny insisted Dr Merkel was talking about fiscal discipline, not unity. “The crisis is now, and it has got to be dealt with with the facilities and tools that are now available.”

He said the chancellor’s view “is that if countries sign on for a set of conditions that these conditions should be seen to be enforceable”.

She believed the European Court of Justice should be enabled to impose sanctions upon a country whose fiscal discipline did not measure up.

“The French president takes a different view about the requirement for fiscal union, which is an entirely different matter.” The problem “is that countries have signed on for conditions to which they have not adhered and this causes a lot of angst naturally for countries who are providing the loans”.

Mr Ross said Dr Merkel “specifically talked about fiscal union” and it was on the agenda “even if it is put down the road”.

He called on the Taoiseach for assurances “that you will not countenance any talk or quid pro quo of any change in the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate”.

Mr Kenny said: “I have no intention of doing anything disruptive to our corporate tax system, and we will focus on every attempt that we can to retrieve our economic independence and sovereignty.”