Dáil unity on 12.5% tax and a better EU deal

DEFENCE of the country’s low corporation tax and the need for a better deal from the EU united the Dáil as it met in special session to mark Europe Day.

Addressing the gathering, Ireland’s EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn gave strong backing for a cut in the interest rate the European Central Bank is charging Dublin for the emergency bailout loans.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted that the 12.5% corporation tax was non-negotiable and was key to achieving growth rates needed to haul Ireland out of the economic slump.

“We carry a heavy burden of debt. Without strong growth, questions of sustainability will remain. There is no doubt that a reduction in the interest rate on the moneys we are borrowing from Europe would be a meaningful and appreciated measure,” he told TDs.

However, Richard Boyd Barrett of the United Left Alliance was heavily critical of the EU and the bailout. He and other left-wing independents refused to join in the applause for Ms Geoghegan-Quinn.

Mr Boyd Barrett said the idea of the Dáil celebrating Europe Day was “a sick joke of a bankrupt Government” as he said the EU/IMF deal was “crucifying” the Irish people.

Ms Geoghegan-Quinn used the occasion to strongly hint that a change in the interest rate for the EU bailout to Ireland will happen, probably at next week’s meeting of EU finance ministers.

She told the Dáil there was strong support in the EU for such a move.

Mr Kenny called for a far more flexible approach by the European Central Bank towards countries in economic crisis and said the ECB should be more accountable.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin called for an urgent review of how the European Central Bank operated.

Sinn Féin’s Padraig MacLochlainn insisted the ECB fuelled the current crisis and was fundamentally undermining the European project.