The rejection of the Nice Treaty could allow the renegotiation of EU Stability and Growth Pact in terms more favourable to State¿s current needs, it was claimed today.
Tipperary South Independent TD, Mr Seamus Healy, said comments made today by Mr Dan Mc Loughlin, chief economist at Bank of Ireland, support his contention that the pact is a major factor in planned public expenditure cuts.
He said the pact, agreed as part of the Maastricht Treaty, determined that the overall deficit on combined current and capital spending cannot exceed 3 per cent.
This does not take into account the huge infrastructural deficit in this country, a position unique to this State, he said.
If the pact were renegotiated to allow the State to borrow, then the projects currently stalled under the National Development Plan could be completed, the TD suggested.
Mr Healy has called for the rejection of the Nice Treaty as a means of rejecting the proposed round of spending cuts.