EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn today said no unilateral renegotiation of the loan terms of the EU-IMF bailout would be allowed.
Speaking after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels today, Mr Rehn said he was following the Irish debate closely, adding “the European member states have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Ireland. We expect continuity of the memorandum”.
Mr Rehn said if any changes were to be made to the pricing policy, they would “take place for European reasons”.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny emphasised the importance of the country’s 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate during a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today
Mr Kenny said he told Dr Merkel that changing the State’s corporate tax was not acceptable as it was crucial to the Irish economy.
“I made it perfectly clear to the chancellor that, from our point of view, the corporation tax and the consolidated tax base are of absolute fundamental importance to Ireland and that we could not concede any movement on those,” he said after the meeting.
However, Mr Rehn suggested talks would not achieve anything in 2010 but that the cost of the rescue package could be reduced in the following years.
“Concerning outer years, there is more room for manoeuvre,”he said.
Asked whether Dr Merkel supported Mr Kenny's stance, Mr Kenny said that Dr Merkel "is very much aware of how important the issue is in Ireland". Fine Gael and Dr Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union are both members of the centre-right European People’s Party, the largest grouping in the European Parliament.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin earlier dismissed Mr Kenny’s trip to Berlin as a “photo-opportunity to make himself look prime ministerial”.
Mr Kenny and Mr Martin will participate in a five-way leaders' debate, also featuring Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and Green Party leader John Gormley, on RTÉ's Frontline programme at 9.30pm tonight.
Earlier today, Sinn Féin announced its plans for the health sector; Labour outlined proposals for jobseekers and Fine Gael published its plans for holding rogue bankers to account.
Replacing Fás with a national employment service is among the proposals in the Labour policy document unveiled at the party’s election headquarters in Dublin.
Mr Gormley this morning acknowledged that the Green Party was fighting for survival in the general election but he insisted it was not facing oblivion.
“We are party that has a set of beliefs, we really do believe what we are doing and it’s not a case of comparing us to the PDs - we’re here for the very long haul," he said.
Mr Martin said that, if returned to government, Fianna Fáil would appoint outside experts to ministerial portfolios such as energy, communications and technology.
"We need to dramatically change how we do politics and how we form governments," he told a Dublin Web Summit briefing this morning. “"I believe that Ireland can be a global innovation hub. This is not an empty phrase. It is achievable with the right policies.”
Mr Martin also said today that Enterprise Ireland and the IDA would create 30,000 new jobs next year under a Fianna Fáil plan.
Separately, Fine Gael justice spokesman Alan Shatter called on Brian Cowen to make a statement to gardaí disclosing details of a March 2008 phone call with then Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick.
“I’m not suggesting that Brian Cowen has done anything criminal. . . . I’m simply saying the fact that he was minister for finance and the fact that he is now Taoiseach doesn’t grant him immunity from assisting the gardaí with their enquiries,” Mr Shatter said.
Fine Gael’s finance spokesman Michael Noonan claimed Labour’s “spurious growth projections” would make further income tax rises inevitable, while his Labour counterpart Joan Burton insisted Fine Gael’s austerity plans would require an extra €5 billion in taxes and cuts.