mr president i should like to thank the rapporteur for this report
the two major problems facing the european union are high unemployment and severe debt burdens
yesterday in dublin agreement was reached on the formation of a new government a government which is committed to bringing ireland out of one of the darkest hours in our history
ireland faces an unprecedented national economic emergency a fact of which colleagues in this house are all too well aware
indeed we need the understanding and support of our colleagues in order to recover from the difficulties
the incoming government has many challenges to face including awaiting the results of the second banking stress test due at the end of the month so that we will finally know the extent of the problem
these stress tests will be a damning indictment of the ineffective regulation of europe's banking sector and ireland's also but i say europe and i underline that point
there are lessons to be learned
on the employment front our focus will be to get people back to work
so on the issues in this report three taxation measures are proposed
the financial transaction tax has potential but we do need and i welcome the commissioner's comments about this an impact assessment before we make a final judgment
can i say that taxation should not be about punishment it is about the building of resources in a fair and equitable manner
regarding eurobonds again there are possibilities here for major infrastructure projects
those concerned about moral hazard should say that if we had good economic governance that fear should abate
lastly the carbon tax i have some concerns about this but at least we are debating these very important issues in this house and tomorrow we will take a vote on them
