MEP for the North-West, Seán O Neachtain, has urged a ‘Yes’ vote in the upcoming EU referendum, saying that the economic arguments in favour of a voting for the treaty are overwhelming.

In a statement, Fianna Fáil’s Sean O Neachtain said that “it makes serious economic sense for Ireland to vote yes” for the provisions of the EU Reform Treaty.

The North West MEP, who is based in Galway said that the single market has clearly benefited the Irish economy. “The single market has been important both for the growth and diversification of Irish trade and for enhancing the attractiveness of Ireland for foreign direct investment.”

He criticised those opposed to the treaty, saying, “can those opposing this treaty point to any economic reason why we should oppose this treaty?”

However, Libertas founder and Galway-based businessman Declan Ganley has ridiculed the Government’s pro-Treaty stance, saying calling the Treaty the ‘reform treaty’ is “just Bertie spin”.

“The government, Sean Ó Neachtáin and IBEC’s line that the treaty is good for business and the economy doesn’t even bear up to the lightest scrutiny,” said Mr Ganley.

“Let’s take for example the fact that Nicolas Sarkozy has relegated the competition clause, a clause that had been in every European Treaty since the 1957 Treaty of Rome, while at the same time he publicly disparaged competition and advocated state protectionism all of which would be a disaster for Irish business and our investment climate,” he continued.

Mr Ganley also pointed out that the Treaty “proposes to give more power and authority to an entity that hasn’t had its accounts signed off by its own accountants for four years. If it was a business its directors would be sacked and struck off,” he said.

He said that Irish competitiveness would be “taxed away” and foreign investment would flow to mainland Europe as Ireland would be giving up its influence over monetary policy, commercial policy, including foreign direct investment.

“If one looks at this as a business deal, Ireland gives enormous value away and gets nothing in return that we didn’t already have to start with. If one of my executives proposed that I do a deal like that, they’d be looking for other pastures by lunchtime,” he concluded.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment