EU rules ‘need to be relaxed’

EU budgetary rules need to be relaxed to allow Ireland to borrow more money for infrastructure projects, the Tánaiste said yesterday.

Flexibility in the EU Growth and Stability Pact was required as Ireland had a low rate of debt and did not need to be so restricted in terms of the amount of borrowing, Ms Harney said.

At a Progressive Democrats conference on the future Europe, the Tánaiste said she agreed with the economic think tank, the Economic and Social Research Institute, when it said the Government should push for an easing of budgetary restraints. But also at the PD conference, former EU Commissioner Peter Sutherland warned against breaking away from the stability and growth pact.