TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has appealed to farmers and their
organisations to keep their "eye on
the ball" by voting for the Lisbon Treaty instead of using
the referendum to make a point about the current world trade
talks.
Speaking on a tour of towns in Meath and Kildare to promote the treaty, Mr Cowen urged farmers to distinguish between the issues at stake in the World Trade Organisation and what he saw as the pressing need to ensure the Lisbon Treaty goes through on June 12th. "They acknowledge that they don't see any problems in relation to the Lisbon Treaty itself," he told reporters during a halt for canvassing at Naas, Co Kildare. "So I'm saying, let's deal with the issue on June 12th. I don't know when the other issue will be dealt with, whether it will be dealt with in the short, medium or long term."
Pointing out that a mid-term review of the Common Agriculture Policy was coming up, he said: "We've really got to keep our eye on the ball here." Goodwill towards Ireland at EU level would be reduced by a No vote.
"What we have to do is make sure we get a Yes vote for Lisbon so that we will have a Minister for Agriculture who will be able to build the alliances as we have done in the past under successive governments, in making sure that the outcome in relation to Cap reform does not mean the death-knell of Irish agriculture."
He added: "You get good outcomes in negotiations by having goodwill towards your case and being able to build alliances."
Mr Cowen was accompanied at Naas by Ireland's European commissioner Charlie McCreevy. When it was pointed out that they both admitted not having read the entire treaty text, the Taoiseach replied that he nevertheless had a detailed knowledge of its content.
"I have negotiated this treaty line by line," he said. "So I know exactly what's in it." The issue of whether he had read the entire text was "semantic" and "a non-argument". Asked if the Government was holding back from making major cuts in the health services until after the treaty vote, Mr Cowen replied: "No."
He said: "What's involved obviously is, as you know, we have had an economic slowdown compared to where we were hoping to be this year, because of international factors in the main but not just those.
"It will be the job of Government to work within the budgets that we have agreed. We have arranged for a 9 per cent increase in public expenditure and what Minister [for Finance, Brian] Lenihan will be asking colleagues to do, and the Government will be considering, as in the normal course when you get to mid-year, is to see in what way we can make sure that we come in on budget.
"There's also the fact, of course, that our tax revenues won't be as buoyant as last year, but we're still committed to the capital expenditure programme. We have enough headroom to do that as a result of the successful policies implemented by successive governments including when Charlie [McCreevy] was minister for finance.
"We have halved our debt and we are in a position to continue with an ambitious capital programme because we want to put in the building blocks for future growth and be ready to take the pickup when it comes. Obviously this year and next year are going to be tight, everyone knows that and it's our job to manage the economy in that way," he said.
