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Irish PM says voting yes to EU treaty is vital for recovery

01 May 2012, 21:58 CET
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(DUBLIN) - Ireland's support for the European Union's new fiscal pact treaty is essential for economic recovery, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Tuesday as he launched the campaign for a yes vote in a referendum.

Kenny urged the Irish people to give his coalition government the authority to ratify the treaty by voting yes on May 31 and in doing so "take another positive and important step towards economic recovery".

"This decision is a vitally important one for Ireland's future," Kenny said as he kicked off the campaign of his centrist Fine Gael party.

"I am confident our people will reject the idea that we can stand outside of Europe."

He said voting against the pact would "put our recovery funds at risk, undermine the European economy that helps lift our own, and alarm the international companies and investors we rely on for new jobs".

Ireland is expected to be the only EU member to hold a plebiscite on the pact, which is designed to strengthen the euro through tighter oversight of public finances.

The latest opinion poll showed 47 percent in favour of treaty, 35 percent against and 18 percent undecided.

Kenny said solid progress had been made towards economic recovery since Ireland was forced to accept an 85-billion-euro ($113-billion) EU/IMF bailout in November 2010 when massive debt and deficit problems left it on the verge of collapse.

But there was still a long way to go and the creation of budget rules alone would not be enough to solve Europe's economic problems.

"I have consistently argued that Europe needs to develop a growth and jobs strategy alongside these new rules," he said.

"Following pressure from several heads of government, including myself, growth and jobs have now become central to the agenda of the European Council. This argument is being accepted by more and more governments."

The treaty is also being supported by Ireland's main Fianna Fail opposition party while the republican Sinn Fein, the Socialist Party and a number of independents are opposed.

The new fiscal pact, drawn up in response to the eurozone crisis, forces countries to enshrine in national law a so-called "golden rule" to balance budgets or face automatic sanctions.

Any state which fails to ratify the new pact, which comes into effect once 12 states have ratified, will lose the right to future EU bailouts.


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