Eurozone job creation - Let’s not get sidetracked by bickering

Only time will tell whether it was for better or worse that we signed up for membership of the euro.

But we are now involved and we should be trying to make the best of our lot.

It is not realistic for this country to go it alone and stand against the other 16 countries of the euro, if they are in agreement. There is, of course, an onus on the Government to fulfil election promises to work for a better deal for Ireland.

It is important that people should realise that yesterday’s new budget treaty, or “fiscal compact” — whatever one wishes to call it — is not a solution to the euro crisis; it is just a mechanism to deal with countries that break the agreed rules. There were reports that the Germans were insisting that an EU commissioner should be sent to Athens with the power to override the Greek government’s budgetary policy, because the Greeks have repeatedly failed to implement reforms.

Such an arrangement would undoubtedly have required a referendum if it were applied to Ireland. Ironically it was the British prime minister who threw a spanner into the German plans by threatening to veto the involvement of the European Commissioner, because this would involve Britain, which is outside the eurozone.

There have been reports that some people were determined to challenge any agreement on constitutional grounds in the Supreme Court. That is their right and this is the prescribed way to deal with such constitutional issues.

The proper consideration of such constitutional issues, or the mechanics of the “fiscal compact”, should not, in the interim, detract from what all seem to realise should be the bigger picture — the need to get Europe back on the road to economic recovery by getting people back to work.

Leaders arriving for yesterday’s summit in Brussels got a reminder on arrival that countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, are not the only ones with economic difficulties. There is currently a public sector strike in Belgium, which reflects the popular uneasiness over austerity measures throughout Europe.

The various leaders had to circumvent the strike by arriving at a military base outside of the Belgian capital. British Prime Minister David Cameron was at pains to stress on arrival that it is time for Europe to “get really serious” about jobs and growth in order to get the EU’s economy back on track.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny stressed the need to tackle youth unemployment and help small and medium firms. The Supreme Court can decide on any need for a referendum, but this should not be allowed to obscure the pressing need to generate employment.