Fiscal Compact Treaty

Alan Farrell TD

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Contact Details:

Leinster House, Dáil Eireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 . Tel: 01 618 4008 alan.farrell@oir.ie • www.alanfarrell.ie • www.twitter.com/alanfarrell

Alan Farrell’s Constituency Office is now open at 11 Old Street Malahide

alan Farrell td invites you to A public info meeting on the fiscAl compAct treAty with ForMer taoiseach John Bruton

Opening Hours: Monday 10 am - 5.30pm; Friday 10 am - 5.30pm For an appointment please call in or contact the office on 01 618 4008

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CLLR

Anthony Lavin

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Contact Details:

28 Chalfont Road, Malahide, Co Dublin. Mob: 087 9931329 anthony.lavin@fingalcoco.ie

Please feel free to contact Alan or Anthony with any query you may have, local or national.

Mon 26th March 8pm Grand hotel supported By cllr anthony lavin FiscalStability_A1 Poster.indd 1

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This Treaty supports jobs and recovery. It protects all our interests – yours, mine and our children’s.

Why has it come about?

• Because the Euro doesn’t have adequate systems to protect itself.

As a result, the present crisis has hugely damaged the EU’s central objectives of “sustainable growth, employment, competitiveness and social cohesion”. This must be fixed.

WHAT BENEFITS WILL THE TREATY OFFER? • Members of the Euro will co-ordinate their policies to prevent a crisis developing and becoming “contagious”, spreading the impact from one to another.

• Members who approve the Treaty will be able to access the Emergency Borrowing facilities established to help countries who can’t borrow because international lenders have lost confidence in them. The markets cannot be allowed starve countries of credit or try to drive them out of the Euro.

• Re-establish Ireland internationally as the only English speaking country in the Eurozone.

WILL THIS SOLVE THE CRISIS?

• Not on its own. However, it is an essential piece in the jigsaw. It ensures that the safety nets being developed will not be abused.

WILL THIS TREATY REQUIRE IRELAND TO MAKE MORE CUTS?

WHAT DOES THE TREATY REQUIRE COUNTRIES TO DO? • The governments in the Euro will work together on reforms to promote jobs, growth and competitiveness within the Euro area, and will meet twice a year with the European Central Bank to discuss how best to manage the currency.

• It requires all governments in the Euro to keep their borrowing and debts within set limits, close to a balanced budget, taking account of peaks and troughs.

• Governments who stray significantly outside the limits must take steps to correct the problem over a defined period of time.

• It allows the European Commission to make recommendations about the type of correction needed and to monitor the implementation.

• It builds flexibility into the operation of these rules, to take account of exceptional circumstances, or where a qualified majority of other Euro members disagree with their application. Such flexibility is important in uncertain times.

• A government which fails to implement a programme of correction can be taken to the European Court of Justice, which can rule on measures that must be taken.

• Refusal to follow the Court ruling can result in a government being fined.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE TREATY IS REJECTED? • Unlike previous EU Treaty votes, an Irish ‘No’ cannot stop the other countries going on without us. A ‘No’ will create serious uncertainty about how we will fund ourselves in 2 years’ time. We will have no safety net. This uncertainty will damage international confidence which is returning – as recent job announcements show. It is a huge risk, certain to force more austerity on our people.

• No. Ireland has already committed to borrowing targets, agreed with the Troika, which are unaffected by the Treaty. However, if the Treaty is rejected, Ireland will not have access to low interest emergency funds after 2013, and would have to cut faster in preparation.

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